The good, the bad and the ugly from the Steelers win against the Bengals

The Steelers earned their first win of the 2019 season.  Let’s take a look at how they got into the win column.

The Steelers earned their first victory of the 2019 season.  Hallelujah!  As the game was winding down, my 21-year-old son said to me, “Dad, I really thought we were going 0-16 this year.  I guess not,”.  It’s a great feeling as a fan and as a father to not have to explain to your son how the team for which he grew up rooting did not win a single game in 2019.  Kudos to the Steelers for letting me off the hook.

The win against the Bengals was a good win.  Notwithstanding the obvious, getting the first win under our belts, the success showed us what this team is capable of when their backs were against the wall.  Make no mistake; their backs were against the wall.

Had the Steelers lost to Bengals at home on Monday night, it would have taken whatever wind was left in their sails and expelled it into the night air that surrounded Heinz Field.  By convincingly beating the Bengals, the Steelers now have some momentum and positivity upon which to build.

As with any game, there exist good, bad, and ugly elements. Admittedly, there were a lot of good aspects of the game.  First, the defense played exceptionally well, surrendering a lone field goal. To put this into perspective, the Steelers defense was ranked 29th through three weeks of the 2019 season.  Because of their performance at home on Monday Night Football, the defense is now ranked 19th, according to the official website of the NFL.

Let’s delve a little deeper into the defensive performance.