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What the Steelers must do to defeat the Bengals on MNF

By Jobe Morrison

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 30: JuJu Smith-Schuster #19 of the Pittsburgh Steelers reaches into the end zone for a 11 yard touchdown reception as Jessie Bates #30 of the Cincinnati Bengals defends in the third quarter during the game at Heinz Field on December 30, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 30: JuJu Smith-Schuster #19 of the Pittsburgh Steelers reaches into the end zone for a 11 yard touchdown reception as Jessie Bates #30 of the Cincinnati Bengals defends in the third quarter during the game at Heinz Field on December 30, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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The lumps keep on coming as the Steelers came back home empty-handed Sunday evening. They face their third 0-3 start in this millennium (2000 & 2013.) In both seasons, they bounced back to finish with non-losing seasons–but missed the playoffs.

Are we having fun yet? What a disappointing finish for the Steelers in San Francisco.

It really feels like both sides of the ball can’t synchronize and execute together. That was on display again this week.

After the offense sputtered in the first half against the Seahawks, the defense played a fairly dominant game. The second half? The offense finally got it rolling, but by then the defense was worn down and couldn’t create big stops in the second half.

To answer your question, yes, that does sound familiar… because it happened again this week.

After forcing 4 turnovers in the first half, the Steelers offense didn’t cash in… they chump changed in scoring only 6 points. For those of you keeping count, that’s 1.5 points per turnover. If they had score 4 field goals off of those 4 turnovers in total alone, the Steelers would’ve won.

Then, of course, the real wild show began in the second half. Somebody hit the “on” switch for Randy Fichtner, and they scored two touchdowns on long passes to take the lead twice.

The defense for the third week in a row saw 65+ snaps and got visibly worn down. After allowing 200 yards in the first half (only 50 on the ground) the 49ers took advantage of a gassed defense and racked up another 230+ (118 on the ground.) They pounded the defense into submission and took advantage of the play action.

I wrote last week they would have to take away the ground game, and though things started decently, the offense did not help their defense early or often enough. By the time the Steelers said “screw it” for the offensive game plan, it was too late–they were behind in the whole marathon.

This week the Bengals come into town for a Monday Night showdown between two winless teams. Only four teams have rebounded from an 0-3 start and made the playoffs. The Steelers will have to do several things to get going in the right direction to make history.

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