PITTSBURGH — The Cincinnati Bengals spent the last two years recalibrating the hierarchy of the AFC North. Back-to-back division titles put Cincinnati on the throne.
A division long defined by physicality and defense saw the high-flying Bengals passing attack spread and shred old stereotypes.
In 2023, the Bengals weren’t just removed from the throne. They were suplexed, suffocated and given a flying elbow off the top rope, the latest smackdown coming Saturday with a 34-11 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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In moving to 0-5 in the North, they were also reminded what matters.
“Physicality and turnovers,” said Mike Hilton, a former Steeler who’s spent all seven years of his career in this rivalry. “You do those two things, you can definitely win this division.”
.@P2 the safety with the INT!
📺: #CINvsPIT on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/yewPow3ekF pic.twitter.com/l4bwUcjliy— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2023
This version of the Bengals was not tough enough to compete in the North. Not at the beginning against Cleveland. Not at the midpoint in Baltimore. Not in Week 16 in Pittsburgh.
Fittingly, the postseason hopes of the Bengals’ season were placed on life support by yet another divisional debacle. Another game bemoaning short-yardage failures, struggles in the run game and early onslaughts.
“You don’t lose those games if we were more physical,” Sam Hubbard said. “Obviously there’s something that needs to be corrected. Being the winner for the last two years, obviously we had a target on our back.”
The last time the Bengals went winless in the division was 2002. We’re talking pre-Marvin Lewis, lost-decade stuff. Few games in the last three years have been more reminiscent of that era than Saturday.
The Bengals were beaten up and demoralized.
“This is a humbling league,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “This is a humbling day.”
Humbling like T.J. Watt pulling off the superfecta of a sack, fumble, holding penalty drawn and signature kicking celebration in the end zone to a sea of Terrible Towels.
Humbling like 5-foot-9 running back Jaylen Warren de-cleating linebacker Germaine Pratt on Calvin Austin’s 7-yard touchdown run.
Humbling like three plays desperately needing 1 yard at the Steelers’ 5 in the second quarter and coming away with nothing more than a reminder that this collection of people movers up front too often doesn’t move anyone.
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Humbling like 66,646 people chanting “Ma-son Ru-dolph” as the former third-string QB hit embattled receiver George Pickens for three explosive catches totaling 196 yards and two touchdowns like it was Terry Bradshaw to Lynn Swann.
“Not much pontificating on anything now,” Ted Karras said. “We got beat pretty bad today. Disappointing. A letdown performance.”
How did this happen? How did a team go from back-to-back division titles to winless in the division? And how did they do it in a year when they are 8-2 against the rest of the NFL?
The one common thread around a locker room full of players standing up and taking accountability was what doomed Saturday’s devastating shot to their playoff hopes.
“Win the turnover margin, No. 1,” Hubbard said. “Stop the run, run the ball and outphysical the other team. We underperformed in the division this year, there is no way around it.”
The Bengals will always be a pass-first team, and they did win back-to-back titles with that approach. There’s not necessarily a fault in style there. The problem with the above numbers is the success percentage. In these games, there comes a time when you need to power the ball ahead. This team far too often ends up on the wrong side of the above math.
That shows up even more when forced to play from behind, which has happened on repeat in these division games. The situation of these two teams made it of the utmost importance.
The Bengals could not allow a spiraling Steelers team or their frustrated fans to find momentum. They couldn’t allow Pickens to gain belief in himself. And they certainly couldn’t let Mason Rudolph find confidence with early success.
On one slant and a blur of missed tackles set off by a disastrous angle from safety Dax Hill, all those plans for this game were kicking off Pickens’ heels as he crossed the goal line with hands raised to an ignited fan base.
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The play was felt as far more than seven points.
“For sure,” Hilton said. “You could tell from our sideline that kind of sucked the energy out of us. We were never able to recover. It was a domino effect after that. We weren’t able to fight our way out of the position.”
There was a moment when a second-half surge and repeat of last week’s stunning comeback against Minnesota appeared possible when Tee Higgins took a slant of his own 80 yards and Joe Mixon caught a two-point conversion on the first play of the third quarter.
Higgins to the 🏠#ProBowlVote x Tee Higgins pic.twitter.com/M8aEenmWAm
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 23, 2023
Only, the failure to stop explosive plays showed up again. This time Pickens blew past Chidobe Awuzie on third down to put a 66-yard exclamation point on a disappointing 2023 and crush any realistic hopes.
“I played terrible,” said Awuzie, who also got beat on third-and-15 by Pickens for a 44-yard go ball. “Very uncharacteristic for us. He gets paid, too. I put that one on us. Especially on me. I knew certain plays were coming but just reacting poorly to my keys and everything. That’s why I am kicking myself because if I know what’s coming, then I should stop it. I just put everything on me. I should have done a way better job.”
The most net yards the Steelers gained all year outside of the Bengals were 333 against Las Vegas in September. They posted 421 in Cincinnati and an easy 397 while easing up Saturday.
Getting handled on a day when Jake Browning came back to earth only exacerbated the worst-case scenario.
Browning threw three interceptions, the first two particularly debilitating in letting the game script flip into Pittsburgh’s favor.
“Stupid,” Browning said of his first interception, a ball he was trying to throw out of the back of the end zone, only to land easily in the hands of Patrick Peterson. The second was equally poor, throwing into triple coverage deep despite a check-down wide open. “Dumb decisions.”
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Those provided a 10-point swing and marred Browning’s performance throwing for 335 yards and a touchdown.
“I got to find a way to make those three throws incompletions,” Browning said. “Who knows how it affects the outcomes of the game? It’s definitely not as bad as today was. They kicked our ass and I made some dumb decisions with the ball in my hand.”
The odds are not in the Bengals’ favor now. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo called it a “playoff game” this week. Cincinnati isn’t eliminated, but it will need help. The New York Times playoff predictor puts the odds at 11 percent as of Saturday night. That’s before Patrick Mahomes gets a chance to take aim at the Bengals secondary that let Rudolph and Nick Mullens combine for 593 yards in two weeks.
Even if they can find a way in Kansas City, one last shot at the North awaits. And facing the problems that put them in this predicament, not to mention an offseason of evaluating how to rectify it quickly approaching.
“We only had one chance at this game,” Awuzie said. “We played poorly and we failed.”
(Photo: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)
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