And so ends a season for the Steelers that began with so much promise and ended with, well, a thud.
This was about as lackluster as they played this season -- not on defense, mind you. The M.A.S.H. unit-offense the Bengals sent onto the field Sunday could have played four more quarters and not found the end zone. Heck, it could have taken the field by itself and found ways to not get in.
That the Steelers won this game, 16-13, was an afterthought.
No, it was those moments when the players -- and a good number of fans -- stared longingly up at the Heinz Field Jumbtron trying to will the Browns to one more first down against the Ravens, only to see them fall short. Just as the Steelers' playoff chances had.
This is what happens when you put yourself in these situations.
How did we get here?
Too many close losses, games the team won a year before. The Steelers played 12 games this season decided by a touchdown or less. That's 75 percent of the schedule.
And in those games they went 6-5-1 a year after posting an 8-2 record in similar circumstances.
"We can’t look at this as anybody’s fault but ours," Cam Heyward said succinctly.
No they can't. And the blame falls on everyone.
There were 26 turnovers, each one of them damaging to the team's chances of winning. And while Ben Roethlisberger was responsible for 18 of those -- 16 interceptions and two fumbles -- it was often some of the others that did the most damage. A James Conner fumble in Cleveland. Xavier Grimble and Conner fumbles in Denver. Stevan Ridley and JuJu Smith-Schuster losing the ball in New Orleans.
There were personnel mistakes made, from trusting Le'Veon Bell to do what he had done the previous year and report at the start of the season, to cutting Landry Jones, a veteran backup quarterback who certainly could have helped win a loss in Oakland, to thinking the combination of John Bostic and Morgan Burnett could work at inside linebacker, to perhaps sticking with Chris Boswell too long.
And there were coaching mistakes, as well, such as Mike Tomlin waiting too long to insert Roethlisberger back into the game at Oakland, mismanaging the clock at the end of that game or getting outschemed by the Ravens in the first meeting in Pittsburgh.
It's easy just to blame one facet of this or that. That's the simple way out. And if it was only the players, or only the front office or only the coaching staff it would be a simple fix.
But it wasn't. And that's what will make this an interesting, and long, offseason.
Assessing blame for the Steelers' missed opportunity in 2018 is simple yet complex at the same time.
• Some have suggested this was the biggest collapse in Steelers' history, or at least recently so. To go from 7-2-1 to out of the playoffs is a serious collapse.
But the Steelers were 5-2, then 6-3, then 7-4 in 1998, a year after playing in the AFC Championship. After getting to 7-4, they lost their final five games by a combined 49 points to finish 7-9.
Yes, this team went 2-4 down the stretch. And that stinks. But at least it didn't lose its final five games, three by two or more touchdowns.
At least it still had a chance to make the playoffs in the final week of the season. That didn't happen in 1998.
And you could really look at a play here or there with this team that could have changed each one.
When asked about this year's team on Steelers Nation Radio before the game, team president Art Rooney II said his team, "played what I thought was a good game against a tough opponent in maybe the toughest place to play. Really was proud, even though we didn’t quite get it done."
Rooney was talking about a 31-28 loss to the Saints, but just as easily could have been talking about the loss to the Chargers or in Denver, which had just beaten the Chargers before being devastated by injuries to its best offensive weapon (Emmanuel Sanders) and Pro Bowl corner Chris Harris Jr. immediately after beating the Steelers.
• So what do the Steelers need to fix this?
Playmakers on defense -- regardless of position -- would be a good start. To have a defense play an entire season and force only 15 turnovers is just unacceptable. And it led to a minus-11 turnover ratio. Cutting down the offensive turnovers is something the Steelers are capable of doing with their current weapons, but improving the defensive turnovers is both schematic and talent-driven.
Scheme can lead to more turnovers by allowing players to be a little more aggressive. You do, however, risk allowing more big plays.
The more sound fix is acquiring players who are capable of either forcing turnovers or helping other players make them.
So another pass rusher, whether it be in the form of an outside linebacker or defensive lineman, could be useful. And there are obvious needs at cornerback and inside linebacker. But a playmaking safety also would fit the bill.
The Steelers will be picking 2oth in next year's draft, their highest spot since taking Ryan Shazier 15th in 2014.
It might not seem like much. But the Steelers missed out on all of the inside linebackers in this year's draft because they were picking 28th.
In 2017, they were fortunate T.J. Watt fell to them at 30. But had they been at 20 in that draft, they would have had their pick of Watt, safety Jabrill Peppers or corners Tre'Davious White or Gareon Conley.
You get the idea. The Steelers will have a much better chance of landing an immediate impact defensive player picking at 20 — again, their best position since 2014.
And they landed both Shazier and Stephon Tuitt that year.
• James Conner did a good job as the lead back this season. But Jaylen Samuels continues to struggle in pass protection -- he was responsible for another sack against the Bengals.
That doesn't mean Samuels won't get better at protection, and he's certainly shown to be a capable receiver, but Conner's running style does lend itself to injuries.
And Stevan Ridley proved to not be the answer.
The Steelers have the available cap space -- thanks Le'Veon -- to get an upgrade at running back. They should do so.
With players such as Latavius Murray, Doug Martin and Jay Ajayi among the players set to be free agents, acquiring a veteran backup for Conner in the role DeAngelo Williams once played would be welcome.
• The next part of that equation would be getting Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner to buy into running the ball more.
Part of the reason the Steelers didn't lean on Conner more was because they were concerned about his workload. Having another capable back would help alleviate that issue.
• I've dismissed it summarily before, but moving to a 4-3 base defense could also be done now.
The Steelers toyed with that look some down the stretch and obviously play a four-man defensive front in their nickel and dime defenses.
Watt is excellent coming off the edge, but is versatile enough to be employed as a chess piece all over the field as a true 4-3 linebacker.
And this is a strong defensive line draft. Some of the Steelers' issues closing out games late could be because they only carry six defensive linemen and typically only have five active on game days.
The most exhausting aspect of playing on the defensive line is pass rushing. And when you only have five, even with a rotation, it's difficult to ask them to keep chasing the quarterback for 10-straight plays, especially late in games.
Heyward, Tuitt and Javon Hargrave are solid, if not exceptional, defensive linemen. Adding to that group is critical. Again, the Steelers have the money and draft capital to do so.
• So is Matt McCrane a possibility to replace Boswell long term? Perhaps.
McCrane said after this game he signed a two-year deal with the Steelers on Friday.
"I signed a two-year deal," McCrane said. "Of course, in the National Football League, nothing is guaranteed, so we’ll see. I’ll talk with my agent, talk with guys. If they want me to stay behind and learn from Bos, he’s played in the NFL for four years and I can learn a little bit."
With Boswell coming off a season in which he made just 13 of his 20 field goals, competition is needed.
• So what kind of turnover are we looking at on this team?
Ramon Foster is set to be an unrestricted free agent. And, with Foster set to turn 33, he's not expected back, though he certainly didn't want to talk about the potential for that after this game.
"It will be interesting, I guess," Foster said. "Give it a week or two. The emotions are still high. I don’t want to jump out there and say something. I don’t want to do that right now."
The Steelers did offer Foster a contract extension in training camp, but he turned it down. He wants to be paid as one of the best guards in the league and given the state of offensive lines around the league, somebody will give him a decent big-money deal.
The Steelers do have B.J. Finney waiting in the wings, though he'll be a restricted free agent, as well. But look for the Steelers to try to lock Finney up long term before free agency opens in March.
Other than that, there's really nobody set to become a free agent that can't be replaced.
Punter Jordan Berry? Nice player, who rebounded well after a slow start. But he cost the Steelers $1.9 million this season. They can find a cheaper option there.
Coty Sensabaugh? Had a solid season, but you need to have more as the starter opposite Joe Haden.
Jesse James? See Berry.
The same goes for Tyson Alualu and Anthony Chickillo.
Some of those players might be re-signed if they want to stay and provide depth. But this could be an offseason where the bottom of the roster is turned over more than usual.
• The 2019 season should be a very interesting one. The Ravens and Browns are improving, but the Browns seem more of a threat than the Ravens.
Their roster has been built largely with players selected in the past two drafts and Baker Mayfield looks like the real deal at quarterback, while the Ravens are going to have some key players up for free agency this offseason, including inside linebacker C.J. Mosley, receiver John Brown, ageless veteran Terrell Suggs and outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith.
In fact, the Steelers should be interested in signing Smith, who had 8.5 sacks this season in a part-time role with the Ravens. It would be costly, but Dupree's former teammate at Kentucky is more deserving of the $9.2-million contract Dupree is set to earn in 2018.
The Steelers can, after all, still pull the option they picked up on his fifth season. And while Dupree isn't the "bust" some claim, that's way more money than he is worth.
• The Steelers will now have to wait another season to add to their three playoff wins in the past eight seasons.
Some are pointing at that as a reason Tomlin and his coaching staff must be replaced.
But realize that after going to the Super Bowl in 1995, Bill Cowher won four playoff games over his next eight seasons. And those eight seasons included the aforementioned five-game losing streak to close out the 1998 season and two other losing seasons, including a pair of 6-10 campaigns.
Chuck Noll won two playoff games in the entire decade of the 1980s.
The bottom line is that since the NFL began playing the Super Bowl in 1966, there have been 372 men who have coached at least one game. Of those 372, 11 have led their teams to multiple Super Bowls. That's 2.9 percent. Of those 11, three have coached the Steelers in that period. That's 27 percent of the coaches who have led their teams to multiple Super Bowls.
That's a pretty good track record.
Tomlin has his warts. All coaches do. But to argue that he's not good at his job or fit enough to be the head coach of the Steelers, given the expectations, is a falsehood.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Bengals, Heinz Field, Dec. 30, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS