CINCINNATI (93.7 The Fan) – The Bengals were dead last in the NFL in rushing and it wasn’t even close, Thursday night the Bengals rushed for 142 yards, 6.2 per carry and when they weren’t rushing it, Joe Flacco threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 Cincinnati win.
“It seemed like everything,” said TJ Watt when asked about what was wrong with the defense. “We didn’t have enough on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.”
“We just weren’t doing what we’ve been doing,” said linebacker Patrick Queen. “We weren’t maintaining our gap. Everybody has a job and has to stick to their job, starting with me. I got to be better. I had two chances to make a play and didn’t make a play and it turned into a big run.”
It started with that run and not just the methodical runs, but they popped a 27 and 37-yarder in the second quarter.
“They obviously were running the ball effectively, I think that’s where it started,” said linebacker Alex Highsmith. “We weren’t stopping the run good enough. We didn’t make the plays that needed to be made.”
“Stopping the run is a calling card day-in and day-out,” said Steelers captain Cam Heyward. “It’s simple to talk about it, it’s another thing to execute it. I believe they were last in rushing and the way we gave it up today, that takes the cake.”
He would later say we got to stop the f-ing run.
“We got to do our job at a high level,” Queen said. “Whatever gap we are supposed to have, whatever drop, we got to drop when we are supposed to. We got to get the ball. We got to make plays and get the ball back to our offense. When we get the ball to A-Rod, he goes down there and he scores.”
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When they weren’t stopping the run, they weren’t stopping the pass either. In his second game with Cincinnati, Joe Flacco threw for the most yards in a win since Christmas Eve 2023, 342 yards with three touchdowns. He was only sacked twice.
He was also able to find receiver Ja’Marr Chase on slant, after slant, after slant. He caught 16 passes on 23 targets for 161 yards. Tee Higgins had six catches for 96 yards, both caught touchdowns.
“We didn’t execute,” Highsmith said. “We didn’t make the plays that need to be made. It’s unacceptable.”
“It’s about being consistent,” Heyward said. “There’s high and lows. You may dominate a play, but it’s about doing it play-in and play-out. That’s what the greats are about. We are all accountable out there. When you are out there, you are there to stop the run first and then get after the pass.”
On top of all the yards, which they gave up yards against the Patriots and Vikings, but were able to get turnovers. For the second straight game, no turnovers.
“We pride ourselves on getting that splash,” Watt said. “I don’t think we had one last week, and we didn’t have one this week. If you’re not stopping the run and getting off the field, and then not creating turnovers, you’re in a whole world of hurt.”
“We didn’t do a good enough job of getting it tonight,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting it. When you are minus-2 on the road, you don’t win a lot of those games.”
Along with the 470 total yards, including 142 rushing to the worst rushing team in the league and getting no turnovers, they allowed 50% conversion on third down and 1-1 on fourth down and a 34:32-25:28 time of possession advantage by Cincinnati.
Then there were penalties, a couple of key pass interference calls. One against Jalen Ramsey and two on Joey Porter, who said the refs got to let them play. Ramsey said its part of the game and they got to play better. Ramsey said you know receivers, especially stars, are going to get away with stuff.
“It’s frustrating because we know the type of defense we are and the type of players we have,” Highsmith said. “It’s just frustrating how good we’ve been playing and to have this happen. We have to analyze the film and get back to work.”
“We just got to go back to work,” Ramsey said. “We didn’t get the goal accomplished today. Straight up, that’s what it is. We got to get back to work. We will see them again, that’s the good thing about it.”