PITTSBURGH − The Cincinnati Bengals defense didn't revert all the way back to its 2025 form, but there were shades of that frustrating campaign in the Sept. 27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
No, this season's revamped defense wasn't responsible for the Steelers forcing a Joe Burrow fumble with less than a minute to play, ending a viable comeback attempt near midfield as Pittsburgh held on for a 30-27 victory. And defensive coordinator Al Golden's unit wasn't at fault when the special teams unit twice handed the ball back to the Steelers, once via a roughing-the-kicker penalty and later on a muffed punt.
What was undeniable at Acrisure Stadium was that the defense wasn't the reliable, seemingly upwardly mobile unit it had been during the first
two games of 2026. Against a Steelers team that one week earlier amassed just 235 yards and turned over the ball twice, Pittsburgh carved through Cincinnati's defense for 411 yards (138 rushing, 273 passing).
Wide-open receivers. Wide running lanes. Tackles broken by Pittsburgh ball carriers. It was eerily reminiscent of the Bengals defense of a year ago, even though the unit was remade in the offseason with players who weren't around to see the struggles of 2025.
"Definitely wasn't the cleanest day," Cincinnati linebacker Barrett Carter said. "Definitely needs to be better the next game, the next couple (games), the next few weeks, the rest of the season. I feel like it was just flat from the whole (defense). ... This is just one step in the journey. I'm pissed off that we lost. I know that we have the right guys in this locker room to respond."
Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh's 42-year-old, future Hall of Fame quarterback, was 19-for-34 passing for 292 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Rodgers was the impetus behind some explosive passing plays, but he was also dumping the ball off and letting his teammates like bruising tight end Darnell Washington (three catches, 67 yards) bust through Cincinnati tacklers.
Steelers runnings back Jaylen Warren rushed for 127 yards on 17 carries − an average of almost 7.5 yards per carry. Cincinnati didn't allow anything remotely close to that level of effective rushing in its first two games.
On third down, the Steelers went 7-for-12 − a conversion rate of nearly 60%.
Carter pointed to that as a major factor in the Bengals' first loss of 2026.
"On third down, they converted too many times, and that's a momentum thing, too," Carter said. "Whenever you fail to get them off the field on third down and they keep driving, it creates a lot of momentum for them. ... We've got to be better on third down and limit the explosive plays.'
The Bengals managed one turnover − a Jordan Battle interception off a tipped pass − and it was a turnover of consequence as it swung momentum to Cincinnati in the middle of the game. But the day was still a far cry from the Sept. 13 tormenting of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense, as well as the Sept. 20 bullying of the Houston Texans.
"We lost," linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. said. "That's probably the most respectful answer to that question, and we didn't get the result that we wanted and there wasn't just one thing to pinpoint. We're not gonna play the blame game here. As a unit, this goes in that other column as an 'L' because we didn't get it accomplished."
Knight had nine combined tackles in the game.
The frustrations started almost immediately for the Bengals. Rodgers tossed two touchdown passes and went for 143 yards on 8-for-11 passing on the first two drives.
The defense did enough to get off the field in the second half before special teams miscues negated those stops, but the Steelers drive that produced the eventual game-winning field goal from Chris Boswell was one of several drives off defensive errors.
The Steelers went 77 yards in 5:24, retaking the lead and nearly running the clock down to the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 30-27, Cincinnati was near midfield and looking to at least have a chance to tie the game. Then came Burrow's turnover with less than a minute remaining.
"We own it. We know who we are," Dexter Lawrence II said. "We still champions, and we're gonna prepare next week like champions, and we're gonna go out there and beat whoever we’ve got to play."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Bengals defense struggled for the first time in 2026. Here's why
