Steelers vs Bengals: 6 big takeaways from the win
After struggling to put away games in recent weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers came out and put aside any worries that they are capable of dominating a game as they blew out the Cincinnati Bengals 36-10. It wasn’t a perfect performance but it was as close as we’ve seen from Pittsburgh this season.
Here are our big takeaways from this week’s game.
This was exactly the game the Pittsburgh Steelers needed
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh has spent the last two weeks listening to the pundits wonder out loud if the Steelers really are as good as their record. So just to quiet everyone down they come out and lean on the Bengals and should have quieted many of the voices with doubts.
Steelers dominate third downs on defense
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Over the last few weeks we've seen an old problem with the Steelers defense show its face again. The Steelers were struggling to get off the field on third down. On Sunday the Steelers did not allow a single third-down conversion.
Ben Roethlisberger asserts himself
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A week on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, banged up knees and a windy day all added up to a poor performance by Ben Roethlisberger, right? Wrong, Roethlisberger dominated the Bengals defense to the tune of 333 passing yard and four passing touchdowns.
The run game is still broken
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
We will dig deeper into the problems with the Steelers run game this week but for now just know it is still broken. After starting the season with a very balanced offense, Pittsburgh now seems content with only running the absolute minimum and just airing it out the rest of the game.
The Steelers edge rushers getting the shaft
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt combined for three sacks of quarterback Joe Burrow but should have had even more. The Bengals offensive like did everything in their power to keep them out of the backfield including hold after hold that went uncalled. The Cincinnati tackles might as well have been wearing jerseys that said "free hugs" on them.
Special teams with the bounceback
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Between kicker Chris Boswell and returner Ray-Ray McCloud, the special teams showed up big on Sunday. Boswell hit all three of his field-goal attempts and all three of his extra-point tries even on a windy day in a tough stadium. As for McCloud, he's a magician with the football in his hands and nearly took a return to the house.
