Statistically speaking, the Steelers did a relatively fine job of containing Cincinnati's rushing attack during Sunday's 37-30 defeat.
But one player made all of the difference in a game which altered course upon Joe Mixon's exit.
It was sixth-year veteran Samaje Perine who made splashes within the Bengals' offense. His three receiving touchdowns, including two in the first quarter, were game-changing plays from an unlikely game-changing player.
Perine was relatively kept in check on the ground -- he carried it 11 times for a team-high 30 yards -- but the receiving game allowed the Bengals to establish rhythm, and it provided a new player for the Steelers to keep its eyes on, even with an All-Pro caliber running back leaving the game with a concussion.
"I feel like we had a good game plan going into it, and we just didn't execute it well," Alex Highsmith told me during Monday's open locker room session on the South Side. "They used Perine in a lot of ways. He took advantage of that, and so Joe Burrow's a guy where you can't not execute against him. You've got to be on your Ps and Qs, and if you're not, he'll exploit it. We've just got to execute better."
It was Mixon's 24-yard run which helped set up the first Perine touchdown. Burrow hit Perine for a screen pass, which he caught behind the line of scrimmage and rushed up the far sideline untouched for the 29-yard score and a 10-3 Bengals lead at the end of the first quarter.
On the Bengals' next offensive possession, Perine capped off a 10-play, 92-yard drive with his 11-yard scoring reception, on which he shed through a Robert Spillane tackle and beat a pair of defenders to the pylon. He recorded a six-yard catch that brought the Bengals to the Steelers' 23-yard line, and the TD reception came two plays later.
He had two key runs on first down on the Bengals' second possession of the second half which helped set up a 1-yard TD connection from Burrow to Trenton Irwin.
Perine's third touchdown, a six-yard pass from Burrow, capped an eight-play, 93-yard drive and gave Cincinnati a 34-23 lead with 4:30 left in the game. He touched the ball four times on that drive, including three consecutive plays and the TD reception.
Perine finished the game with four catches for a season-high 52 receiving yards and his three TDs and was the difference maker in big-play situations. . He was second on the team in catches and yards behind Tee Higgins, who caught nine passes for 148 yards.
The Bengals are not world beaters by any stretch in running the football, outside of some explosive games from Mixon -- their rushing offense is fifth-worst in the NFL at 95.1 yards per game, and the Steelers' rushing defense is seventh in the NFL with 103.4 yards per game allowed.
But, Burrow presents a prolific challenge in his own right. The Steelers have had success in defending the former No. 1 overall pick this season, as six of his eight interceptions thrown in 2022 have come against the Steelers, with two coming on Sunday. Levi Wallace picked off Burrow in the first half, and T.J. Watt's unbelievable swat and interception at the line came in the second half.
"I just think we have guys on the back end, you know, who make some great plays," Highsmith told me. "I think we were able to get some pressure on him. I know we didn't get all the sacks we wanted, but I felt like we were able to get some good pressure on him and forced him to cause some bad throws. I feel like, those guys just being ready for the play to come their way."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• On an otherwise mostly quiet open locker room session on Monday, I saw Mason Cole wearing a walking boot on his right foot, after injuring it in Sunday's game.
• With Cole out, J.C. Hassenauer stepped in to play center for the Steelers against the Bengals.
"The hardest part about being the backup is you have to prepare as if you're the starter every week," Hassenauer said. "You may not get the glory of reaping the benefit of starting or whatever, so, it's the hardest part. You've got to get all the mental preparation done, as you can, and then you might go in, you might not. Every week you just have to prepare as if you're going to go in and start the game."
• I spotted Cam Heyward wearing a scarlet Ohio State T-shirt with font surrounding their trademark "Block O" logo that read “Together As Buckeyes.” Heyward's second-ranked Buckeyes oppose fourth-ranked Michigan in "The Game" on Saturday.
