In a sport as competitive as the NFL, a final score of 41-10 is unacceptable. That is especially the case when it’s the Bengals beating the Steelers.
It’s not news to anyone that the Pittsburgh Steelers have not exactly been playing up to their expectations in recent memory. But a line has to be drawn somewhere, and a 41-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals just might be where.
Yes, the Bengals are looking pretty solid this year (Sunday’s win gives them a 7-4 record). However, the Steelers have both the coaching and roster to compete with/beat them, yet we’ve lost to them twice — and not close. Rather, by an average of 22.5 points.
As previously established, the NFL is supposed to be a competitive league, which means that 31-point blowouts are supposed to be all the less likely, right? So to pose the question delicately: What gives?
Who is to blame for Steelers loss?
Pittsburgh’s veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played a huge role in the hideousness of the team’s loss this weekend, as he turned the ball over three times. With that said, the Ben hate is in full swing, and it should be. Roethlisberger means a lot to the franchise, its fans, its city, and so on, but that is just not good enough.
Don’t get things twisted, though: The Steelers issues run much deeper than QB, the world has known that. And even if they didn’t, we’ve all seen how great Pittsburgh looks with Mason Rudolph calling the shots instead. So with that in mind, Roethlisberger is the best we got until further notice, regardless of his costly inconsistencies.
The Steelers defense has perhaps been the biggest disappointment as, unlike most other things, it is what Pittsburgh has that viewers are expecting to see dominate every single week. However, it has not been able to as of late, having given up 41 points in each of its last two showings.
But this is not some new norm for the Steelers, as their defense (and the team as a whole) is anything but healthy at the moment. So while the defensive woes are quite extreme, they should hopefully not last for too much longer.
The remaining games on Pittsburgh’s schedule are not going to assist them much in relieving this current pressure, either, as the Steelers upcoming slate reads as follows: Baltimore, at Minnesota, Tennessee, at Kansas City, Cleveland, at Baltimore.
Pittsburgh fans aren’t just mindlessly whining about the state of their team because of some pretentious standards; they’re voicing concern because the state that the Steelers are in right now has them looking as if they could lose every matchup that they have left.
For reference, only two of those aforementioned teams fail to hold winning records, and only one of those two have a losing record. And that one losing team, 5-6 Minnesota, will be hosting Pittsburgh in what can be a brutal place to visit.
I honestly believe that all of those powers would beat the Steelers today, and a good portion of them wouldn’t sweat too much while doing so. If Pittsburgh doesn’t change their execution on the field, and fast, then the Steel City might see their first losing record in a long time.