The 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals traveled to Pittsburgh in Week 3 to take on the 1-1 Steelers. The Steelers came into the game with a sputtering offense, and the Bengals came in with a retooled defense that held the Texans out of the end zone in Week 2.
So most fans weren’t expecting the shootout we got on Sunday. When the dust settled, the Bengals fell short, losing to the Steelers by a score of 27-30..
Here are Sunday’s winners and losers:
WINNERS
Dohnte Meyers
With Andrei Iosivas on IR, the Bengals came into their
Week 3 game looking for someone else to step up as WR3. Enter Dohnte Meyers, who had one of the best offseason stories in the NFL. He didn’t have a perfect game, but he was there when needed, finishing the game with three receptions for 29 yards and picked up a big first down early in the game.
With so much attention on Chase and Higgins, Meyers could really run wild, especially if he gets the ball with space to work.
Amarius Mims
Mims came into the Bengals’ Week 3 game emerging as one of the best young right tackles in the NFL. He faced off against future Hall of Fame pass rusher TJ Watt on Sunday. Watt was kept away from Burrow all afternoon and didn’t register a single pressure.
Ja’Marr Chase
Chase was left out of the Bengals’ Week 1 win over the Bucs, only catching two passes. That wasn’t the case in Week 2 or Week 3. He was involved early and often on Sunday. He scored the Bengals’ first touchdown in Pittsburgh, and he finished the game with nine receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Joe Burrow
Burrow started the game off on fire in Week 3. He completed his first 13 consecutive passes to start the game, which included receptions from multiple receivers and a touchdown. His first incomplete pass came in the second quarter. He finished Sunday completing 28/37 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 123.9. The late fumble was bad, but he had a great day overall that should have won the game before that final drive.
Offensive line
The Steelers have one of the better defenses in the league, and one of the best ones the Bengals will face in 2026. The Bengals’ offensive line allowed five sacks in Week 2 and was under the microscope facing off against a talented Steelers’ defensive front featuring Watt and Cam Heyward.
The Bengals’ offensive line kept Burrow upright on Sunday throughout the vast majority of the game. The only sack the line gave up in the game came on the last offensive play of the game for Cincinnati.
Tee Higgins
Higgins is the best WR2 in the NFL, and the only reason he is considered WR2 is that he’s on the same team as the best wide receiver in the NFL, Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins finished the game with six receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, but it was really one play that puts him on the list.
It was a touchdown he caught in the second quarter as he was boxing out the defender and falling down. This goes right up there with some of the other ridiculous touchdowns in Higgins’ career.
Dexter Lawrence
He wasn’t the run-stopping monster he was in Houston, but Lawrence came up with two key sacks on Rodgers in the second half. The last sack he had was on third-and-goal. He was able to hold on to Rodgers until the whistle blew, forcing the Steelers to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown.
Lawrence, in his monstrous frame, is showing he can do it all.
LOSERS
Colbie Young
Like Meyers, Young had an opportunity to make himself known against the Steelers with Iosivas on IR. Unfortunately, Young tweaked his knee after catching Burrow’s first pass on the afternoon and would later leave the game. It’ll be a few weeks before Iosivas is eligible to return, so hopefully Young’s knee is okay, and he’ll be out there helping the offense move the ball in the coming games.
Bengals’ Pass Rush
The Bengals’ defense came into Week 3 with 8 sacks, which tied them with the Raiders for the lead in the league. The Steelers were starting a new right guard and right tackle, and Rodgers, at 42 years old, isn’t going to make anybody miss, right?
Right?!?
No. The Bengals’ defensive front got no consistent pressure on Rodgers, allowing him to sit in the pocket and pick the secondary apart. The Steelers had the 31st-ranked offense heading into Week 3, but the Bengals’ retooled defensive front just couldn’t get things going. They allowed Rodgers to dance around in the backfield and scramble like he was 20 years younger.
Cedric Johnson
After the Bengals took their first lead of the game early in the third quarter, the defense forced a stop. As the ball left Kaden Wetjen’s foot, Bengals defensive end Cedric Johnson slid into the punter’s plant leg, drawing an easy 15-yard penalty.
The Steelers retook the lead after scoring a touchdown a few plays later.
Secondary
DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman are NFL wide receivers, but they cannot be compared to Chase and Higgins. The Bengals’ secondary, which faced off against the best wide receiver duo in the NFL throughout the offseason and in practice, allowed 292 passing yards and three touchdowns. There were five Steelers receivers with catches over 20 yards.
It all came to a head with a Rodgers touchdown pass to Metcalf that saw two Bengals cornerbacks run into each other.
Cue the Benny Hill music….
The Bengals’ secondary will face much better offenses than the Steelers. While the lack of a pass rush didn’t help, a secondary as talented as the Bengals’ has to do better.
Run defense
Dexter Lawrence and the Bengals’ defensive front absolutely shut the run down heading into Week 3, especially in Houston in Week 2. Again, with an offensive line featuring a couple of new starters, the Steelers were able to lean on the running game. Jaylen Warren carried the ball 17 times for 127 yards and averaged 7.5 yards per carry.
There was even a holding call on Metcalf that brought back an 87-yard run from Warren that would have made things so much worse.
Ke’Shawn Williams
In the fourth quarter, nursing a three-point lead, the Bengals’ defense forced a punt. This time the ball was kicked cleanly, but it hit Williams, the return man, right in the facemask. PJ Jules wasn’t able to recover the ball and lost it to the Steelers, who recovered the ball and took over on their own 14-yard line.
The Steelers took a three-point lead after the muffed punt and kept it until the final whistle blew.
Darrin Simmons
Simmons has been the special teams coach in Cincinnati since 2003 and is the longest-tenured coach by far on the Bengals’ staff. He’s largely considered one of the best coordinators in the league, but his unit cost the team 10 points, all from the punt return team.
Special teams is made up of more than just the kicking game. Simmons needs to work with his guys because the two special teams snafus were the difference in the game, translating into 10 points for the Steelers.
Zac Taylor
The Bengals should have won this game. They’re the more talented team on offense and defense, and the Bengals just kept shooting themselves in the foot. In the end, it all falls on Taylor. It’s his responsibility to put together the game plan and adjust it if need be. He had a shot to start at 3-0 for the first time in his career, but was out-coached by Mike McCarthy.
