CINCINNATI -- Is it crazy to think the Bengals are the best team in the AFC? They sure looked like it Sunday when they dismantled the Steelers, 41-10, sweeping the season series with their Ohio River counterparts for the first time since 2009.
And after watching the Ravens and Browns slog through their first meeting in three weeks Sunday night, a 16-10 win by Baltimore, it doesn't seem all that crazy.
Yes, the Ravens improved to 8-3 with their victory over the Browns, who fell to 5-6 and stayed behind the Steelers in last place in the AFC North standings. But the Bengals are just one game behind the Ravens and improved to 3-1 in the division, having beaten the Steelers soundly twice and the Ravens once.
Even if that's the case, the Steelers shouldn't feel good about what happened here Sunday. They, quite frankly, didn't show up for this one.
Or, perhaps more properly, they showed up, they just didn't have the horses to compete with the Bengals, who were by far the more physical team.
That's the thing that had the Steelers so downtrodden after this game was finished. They didn't just get beaten, they were physically manhandled.
The Bengals used to play the tough guy in their meetings with the Steelers. They tried to out-bully the Steelers. But they weren't capable of doing it. They often ended up just committing dumb penalties in an effort to act physical.
This Steelers team? It's proving to be, well, soft. This Steelers team can't stop the run and can't establish the line of scrimmage on offense consistently.
"We got beat up front on both sides of the ball, and they won the line of scrimmage," Mike Tomlin said. "When you win the line of scrimmage, they game has a chance to look like that. So, we've got a lot of work in front of us. We make no excuses. We seek no comfort in it."
They'll get none, not with the Ravens coming to Heinz Field next week for the first of two meetings in their final six games.
The Steelers are a flawed team in a league -- and particularly a conference -- loaded with them. But as the Bengals of old found out, you can't fake toughness at the line of scrimmage.
It's a flaw for NFL teams that cannot be overcome.
• So, what's the problem with the rushing defense? It all starts up front. And it pretty much ends there.
Earlier in the season, I wrote that the Steelers defensive line was Cam Heyward and the Pips. The Pips are too good, to much of a quality backing group to be mentioned in the same breath as the Steelers defensive linemen not named Heyward.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Steelers' first-round draft pick in 2022 is not an offensive lineman or quarterback, but a young, stud defensive lineman. At the very least, the Steelers need to add a good, young player and potentially a veteran to this group.
Quite frankly, Heyward and rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk are the only defensive line players on this team who should be counted on for 2022.
Isaiah Buggs went from starting a week ago against the Chargers to inactive Sunday against the Bengals. Chris Wormley is a veteran who should be playing 10 snaps per game, not the 40 he is now. Henry Mondeaux is a try-hard player who might be a special teams player -- at best. Rookie Daniel Archibong was brought up off the practice squad in each of the past two weeks.
Gladys Knight would sound like me singing "Midnight Train to Georgia" with that backing group.
• Devin Bush was benched briefly in this game on the Bengals' first offensive possession after failing to get Joe Mixon on the ground with a half-hearted arm-tackle attempt on his first run of the game, then drawing an offside penalty a couple of plays later.
Bush has become the poster child for all that is wrong with the Steelers defense. And while he deserves the public scorn for his poor play, it was somewhat ironic he got benched -- however briefly -- on the same field on which the Steelers saw their dire need to acquire him take place.
Dec. 4 will mark the four-year anniversary of the date Ryan Shazier's career came to an unfortunate end at Paul Brown Stadium. Quite frankly, despite trying to fill the void left by Shazier's career-ending back injury in free agency, via trade and in the draft, the Steelers still haven't done so.
• Chase Claypool had two penalties in this game and two pretty bad drops. That gives him nine penalties for the season, by far the most of any wide receiver in the league.
Claypool remains something of an enigma for this team. He had three catches for 82 yards in this game. But he also was targeted eight times.
And for goodness sakes, it's OK to stay on your feet to make a catch. That is, after all, how many touchdowns are scored on passes.
• There wasn't one Steelers offensive player in this game, not one, who should come out of this feeling they did their best to provide the team with a winning performance with the lone exceptions of Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth.
And Freiermuth ended the game being checked for a concussion after taking a big hit late in the game.
I have no issue with Tomlin leaving guys in the game. As a competitor, you want to finish what you started. And Heyward and Ben Roethlisberger both said they wanted to finish this game -- take in every single stinking moment of this defeat.
"Hell yeah," Heyward replied, almost incredulous at being asked if he wants to stay in the game in those situations. "I'm here for four quarters. You'll never see me shy away from that. I don't care if a game's out of reach, there's a lot to be learned, whether it's trying to get back in the thick of things or getting your technique right. If they allow me to go back out there, I'll be out there."
• One problem I did have was with a couple of the coaching decisions.
First, the Steelers got the ball back down 24-3 with 2:43 remaining in the first half. They had the ball and were going to get the ball to open the second half, as well.
Score twice there and you're right back in the game. Heck, even two field goals or a touchdown and a field goal turn a three-score game into a two-score game.
The Steelers came out and ran Najee Harris, who had three carries to that point, twice for nine yards to run the clock down to the two-minute warning.
On third-and-1 from the 34, Claypool juggled a catch over the middle, allowing Jessie Bates to take him to the ground and knock the ball free.
Needing a yard and down three scores, the Steelers punted with 1:55 left in the half, knowing that the Bengals had four possessions to that point and had scored on all four of them.
Why offensive coordinator Matt Canada chose to try to establish the running game at that point, is beyond questionable, as was Tomlin's decision to punt and trust his defense in that situation instead of keeping the offense on the field.
Minkah Fitzpatrick came up with an interception -- his first of the season -- at the Pittsburgh 3 to avert a 31-3 halftime deficit, only to have Roethlisberger get picked off by Mike Hilton on the first play after the Steelers got the ball back. Hilton returned the interception for a touchdown, and the 31-3 lead was set in stone.
I'm not a big believer in the analytics that say you should always go for it on fourth down, but with a struggling defense and the game already getting close to being out of reach, keeping the offense on the field in that situation would have been the right move.
• So, what did the Bengals have to say after this, given that they've now won three games in a row against the Steelers for the first time since the 1988 through 1990 seasons -- before many players on their roster were even born?
"Absolutely, no question about it," Hilton said when asked if the Bengals now have the upper hand. "Beating these guys, for me twice, and for some of these other guys, three times straight, it's a big change in the guard in our opinion. It's giving us a lot of confidence, and guys are excited to see how the rest of the season plays out."
That's not what you want to do against an opponent you've consistently handled over the years.
But the Bengals dominated this game from the opening. They rushed for 59 yards on their opening possession.
"It showed that we can go out and dominate," said wide receiver Tee Higgins. "And once our defense went out and got that pick, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, we ready today.'"
• It's no secret at this point that Tomlin is the de facto defensive coordinator on this team. Keith Butler has the title and handles some of the duties, but it's Tomlin who makes the defensive play calls.
Much like head coaches who call offensive plays and struggle doing so because of the focus it takes to run the team, Tomlin needs to give up those duties.
Give Teryl Austin a chance to do it if he doesn't feel Butler is capable any longer. Anything should be on the table because what's happening right now isn't working.
The Steelers have allowed 82 points in their past two games. That's their most in a back-to-back games since the 1989 team opened the season getting outscored 92-10.
The difference is that those two games in 1989 came at the start of the season. That team rebounded from an 0-2 and then 4-6 start to sneak into the playoffs and come within a play of making it to the AFC Championship.
"We're open to doing whatever is required to change what's trending," Tomlin said.
That should include Tomlin not making the defensive calls. He's guessed wrong or thought too highly of the players he's putting on the field too often this season.
• In his last two games in Cincinnati, Roethlisberger has completed 44 of 79 passes for 440 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He's fumbled four times, losing two, posting a passer rating of 64.3.
But let's be honest, much of the passing yardage in this game came well after the game had been decided. In fact, the Steelers didn't reach 200 total yards in the game until Roethlisberger threw a 16-yard pass to Johnson with 6:11 remaining in the game.
They finished with 301 total yards, but they were largely like eating a whole bag of potato chips -- empty calories.
• So, this is now a six-game season remaining that will be a referendum on who stays and who goes in the offseason.
According to Spotrac.com, the Steelers will have $46 million in available cap space. They'll have the rare ability -- at least for them -- to be buyers on the free agent market.
That doesn't mean they'll go crazy in free agency. But neither did the Bengals the past two offseasons. Trey Hendrickson was a big addition at $60 million over four years, but the Steelers won't be shopping for edge rushers.
The Bengals also signed corners Hilton (four years, $24 million) and Chidobi Awuzie (three years, $21.75 million), defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (one year, $6.2 million) and right tackle Riley Reiff (one year, $7.5 million), among some other minor signings.
Even counting Hendrickson's $12.474-million cap hit this season, those five starters cost the Bengals $35 million this season.
It's not necessarily about making a big splash in free agency and winning the offseason -- are you listening, Cleveland? -- it's about making prudent signings. Oh, and it doesn't hurt to have a couple of top-10 picks on the roster that hit, including a quarterback such as Joe Burrow.
