Bengals portray why no one takes the Steelers seriously anymore

After Monday night’s stunning loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh has completely proven the haters right.

A loss to the Washington Football Team is never something that is justifiable for an 11-0 Steelers squad on their own home turf. However, the Football Team has looked pretty good in the past month or so, with their 4-game winning streak just recently coming to an end against a playoff-worthy Seattle within a measly five points.

Then it was the loss at Buffalo. But hold on a minute, the Bills are 10-3 and quite possibly one of the darkest horses heading towards the NFL playoffs. In addition, that loss was on the road, so there is no shame at all in losing that one. But now, it’s just too much.

On Monday night, Pittsburgh headed into Cincinnati to face off against a Bengals team who they had already whooped once this year, 36-10. And this time, they were without Joe Burrow, the starting rookie quarterback. What could go wrong?

Steelers embarrassed themselves

Well as it turns out, just about everything. The Steelers, along with their entire fanbase, were slapped across their faces with a 17-0 halftime deficit…to a team who previously only had 2 wins. However, Pittsburgh still had a half of play to go, and if their first matchup with the Ravens was any implication, then they could pull out a win no matter how bad of a start they had.

Unfortunately, a struggling team can only have so many miracles, as while a comeback seemed to begin to take form, it had no solidity in the end. The Bengals held on to prevail, 27-17.

Now, what does this tell us? Two things, most namely: First off, the Steelers questionable ways of winning have officially caught up to them, with three straight losses–two of those being to undeniably inferior opponents. Secondly, it tells us that all of the hating, and all of the doubting, was valid. There are no good reasons to lose like this, even for a subpar NFL team. But this is the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise we’re talking about. One of the most storied to ever grace the professional football world. And to make matters worse, this is all following such an admirable 11-0 start.

No more talking, just time for acceptance: The Pittsburgh Steelers are a joke now. No more defending the record, the quality wins, the “understandable” losses. We are officially no longer a competitor until further notice. So JuJu Smith-Schuster, stop the dancing. It’s time for you guys to win like you claim you still can.