Steelers Set Back Vs. Bengals

A day after the time was set back, the Steelers took a big setback with a devastating loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.  They were setback in their chance of winning the AFC North, which is now basically impossible as the black and gold sit at 4-4 and the Bengals 7-0 with a win over the Steelers, on the road, in their pocket.

The offense was setback in the much anticipated return of Big Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben looked great on the first drive of the game, marching the troops down the field and throwing a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown to put the Steelers up 7-0. Beyond that, he wasn’t very good, throwing three interceptions, two at the end of the game that led to 10 points and a six point loss. Ben took blame for the loss and while it was largely his fault, it wasn’t entirely.

Mike Tomlin once again needs to be looked at for his time management issues. With 2:38 left in the game and the Steelers having stopped the Bengals on first down, Tomlin elected not to take a time out, despite the team having all three left. The Bengals were able to take all 38 seconds off the clock, run two plays after the two minute warning, kick a field goal and effectively end the game.  It is completely unacceptable that Tomlin did not take the time out when appropriate; in fact, it’s mind boggling that nine years into the league as a head coach, Tomlin still doesn’t get it. He claims the timeout was more valuable than the actual time itself in that scenario. On what planet? The coach needs a coach or at least a mathematician.   

The biggest setback, however, was the loss of LeVeon Bell for the season due to a right knee MCL tear. The loss of Bell is a massive blow to an offense whose potential to be great is as high as the sky but whose results have been lacking over the last month.  DeAngelo Williams is a very solid back and will fill in nicely but he’s not LeVeon Bell. He doesn’t have the same ability to get additional yards, to catch out of the backfield or to scare defenses the way Bell does. 

So, at 4-4 the Steelers possess a mediocre record with what may just be a truly mediocre roster. They have amazing talent across the board on the starter level but most of the backups are just not ‘next man up’ caliber.  The Steelers will more than likely need to go 6-2 or at least 5-3 in order to have a realistic shot at the wild card. Having four AFC losses already is a big blow and the second half of the season now starts by playing a surprising 4-3 Oakland Raiders team. If the Steelers don’t take care of their business at home over the next couple of weeks, the season will be over. A season with so much promise, lost due to injuries, poor play and poor coaching.

The Steelers have suffered a few setbacks throughout the first half of the year, the second half will need them to spring forward if they want to live up to the potential we all thought they had to start the year.