Three of Pittsburgh’s biggest explosives came in third-down situations with 11 yards or more to go, as the Steelers seemed to convert those plays with ease. Roman Wilson and Darnell Washington each caught short passes for 17-yard pickups to move the chains in the third quarter, and Kenneth Gainwell turned a short pass into a 20-yard gain in the fourth quarter on third-and-11.
Each time, the Bengals flew to the ball and couldn’t wrap up the receiver, and Pittsburgh took advantage to turn a four-point lead into a blowout victory. Cincinnati had shown improvement during the first half only to shift the narrative back to its usual defensive struggles by the end.
“I understand some of it looks bad,” Taylor said. “You can’t run from that. And the hard part was, there were some situations we were great on first and second down. We got them into the situations we wanted, you know, second-and-long, third-and-long, and then you just got to get a guy down in space. And we didn’t do a good enough job of that.”
Cincinnati had 16 missed tackles Sunday and is up to 109 missed tackles this season — 28 more than any other team.
The Bengals have talked over and over again about missed tackles. Taylor said it comes down to technique, but defensive coordinator Al Golden didn’t mince words.
“It’s effort,” Golden said. “Effort, anticipation, vision. … That anticipation will get more hats to the ball for sure. And then it’s effort. We have to have elite effort all the time. We had so many plays where we had great effort. Just chase plays. Guys on the perimeter. We need the same to be true on a couple of those plays as well.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Those struggles came against a Pittsburgh offense that has floundered this season and that was relying on backup quarterback Mason Rudolph the entire second half.
This week’s test against New England (9-2) should be even tougher. The Patriots rank in the top 10 in points scored and net offense, as they average 26.5 points and 357 yards per game behind quarterback Drake Maye and his 2,836 yards passing and 20 touchdowns.
At this point, it’s looking like a lost cause for Cincinnati and its defense.
Taylor said the Bengals can only look forward. They might be learning about their future now as well.
“I hate the record we have,” Taylor said. “I hate the position we are in. The silver lining is you learn so much about people right now that when we are going to be back up here (succeeding), you found out a lot about who handles adversity and who can be in the thick of this. Because we are in the NFL. There are a lot of those moments. I have been in a lot of them. I know what can be on the other side, and I know how to get there. And I know that we are going to get there.”
After initially saying after the game Sunday that personnel changes were not needed, Taylor acknowledged Monday that there could be shakeups to the lineup. The Bengals already moved on from linebacker Logan Wilson in favor of rookie Barrett Carter, and on Sunday, Week 1 starter Demetrius Knight was splitting snaps with Oren Burks.
There aren’t many more options in the linebacker room, the defensive line is missing four-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson and first-round draft pick Shemar Stewart due to injuries, and the secondary is down a cornerback with Cam Taylor-Britt likely needing foot surgery.
Golden isn’t just looking at who can be a solution next year. He’s still trying to find answers in 2025 that might not be there.
“I think obviously we’re trying to get the best version of them, and that’s the same with the coaches,” Golden said. “Whatever we need to do to make everybody the best possible version of themselves improve. When individuals improve, the unit improves.
“There was a lot of little things in there that we set out to improve on, and we did improve on so that’s really where our focus is right now. It’s not on next year or anything like that. Our focus is on how do we be as good as we can be, and improve the things that we need to improve to put a better product out on the field. … New England’s going to test that. We made strides, and some of the other things that is going to be tested on Sunday, and now we have to do a better job on third down, for sure, and taking the ball away.”
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