Losing always stings, but giving a game away to the Pittsburgh Steelers stings a little bit more.
The excitement around the Cincinnati Bengals grew quickly after starting 2-0, but the team put out a product that deserved to lose this afternoon.
The defense was torn apart by one of the worst offenses in the NFL heading into week 3 and allowed nearly a perfect game aside from a tipped interception.
But the Bengals’ special teams were even worse and killed momentum for Cincinnati on two separate occasions,
including a roughing-the-punter penalty and a muffed punt that gave Pittsburgh the ball inside the red zone.
The Bengals had an opportunity to break the game open in the third quarter after forcing a punt, but Cedric Johnson ended up colliding with the Steelers punter, giving Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs.
The Steelers then went down the field and took the lead, which shifted the entire game.
But that was not all.
The Bengals defense forced another punt early in the fourth quarter, but Ke’Shawn Williams muffed it, setting the Pittsburgh offense up inside the 15-yard line.
To summarize, the Bengals defense forced two punts this afternoon, but the special teams unit collided with the punter on one and muffed the second.
Brutal.
“We went down and kicked a field goal, got a stop, so we’re going to get the ball back…rough the kicker, they go score seven,” Zac Taylor said after the game. “And obviously the muffed punt led to three. So that’s 10 points. That’s tough.”
All in all, the Bengals made too many mistakes and did not deserve the win on the road in Pittsburgh.
