4 takeaways from Steelers blowout win over the Bengals
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers pulverized the Bengals in Week 10, but there are still some things they need to work on moving forward.
The Steelers performance against the Dallas Cowboys last week was gutwrenching. Despite playing a 2-6 football team that was without their star quarterback and both starting offensive tackles, Pittsburgh struggled mightily in all three phases of the game. Luckily, Mike Tomlin’s team was able to take the lead with just 2:14 remaining in the game to keep their impressive win streak alive – giving them the best start to a season in the history of the franchise.
When it came time to host the Bengals this week, we had some reason for doubt after their lackluster performance against the Cowboys. However, after a bit of a sluggish start, Pittsburgh’s offense caught fire and their defense clamped down – eventually resulting in a 36-10 blowout win against Cincinnati. Despite starting the season 9-0, there are some things the Steelers need to work on moving forward. Here are my takeaways from Pittsburgh’s big win over the Bengals:
Ben Roethlisberger showing improvements
To be honest, I thought we were going to see another unimpressive performance from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after the first quarter. Despite the Steelers recovering two fumbles within scoring distance, Pittsburgh came away with just a pair of field goals. Additionally, Roethlisberger was off the mark on several passes early on. However, he quickly emerged from this slump to put together one of his most impressive performances of the season.
Big Ben did an excellent job spreading the ball around in the second half and three different receivers saw at least 10 targets in this contest. As a result of going through his progressions and finding the open man, Roethlisberger threw for 333 yards (7.2 yards per attempt) and pitched in 4 touchdown passes.
It appears Ben is starting to hit his midseason stride, and he looked impressive for the most part in Week 10 against the Bengals. Let’s hope he continues to improve on this performance.