The Steelers advanced to 6-4 on the 2025 season with Sunday’s 22-point win over the rival Cincinnati Bengals. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had.
1. The Steelers won a (kinda) must-win game
If the Steelers had lost to the Bengals,
it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. They’d still be at the top of their division and in the mix in the AFC playoff picture.
But there’s a big difference between being 5-5 versus being two games ahead of .500 at 6-4, which Pittsburgh advanced to following the win.
The Steelers’ have maintained their division lead over Baltimore. And with a difficult final stretch of the season upcoming — Bears, Bills, Ravens, Dolphins, Lions, Browns, Ravens — Pittsburgh needs to capitalize on every game against a lower-tier opponent.
Plus, in a sport all about momentum, Sunday’s game was a big one. There’s plenty to nitpick on tape, but the final score is what matters the most. The Steelers pulled away in the second half to enjoy a blowout win against a divisional rival. And they did that coming off the heels of their most demoralizing loss of the season.
As I’ve written probably a thousand times this year, this Steelers team has been far too up and down in 2025 to draw major conclusions from a big win or loss. But Sunday’s game had the right result at the right time for Pittsburgh. There are still countless things to work on, but 6-4 is a good place to be in a competitive AFC.
2. The passing game is in trouble
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith deserves some credit. His gameplan, with plenty of tosses and short, perimeter passes, tested the Bengals’ depleted edge rusher depth and rookie linebacker duo. The result? A laughable amount of yards after catch: 228, to be exact, per Next Gen Stats.
Pittsburgh also saw success on the weighty downs, converting seven of 13 third downs and its only fourth-down attempt (thanks to a questionable spot, but still).
It was enough to win — even when subtracting the Steeler defense’s two touchdowns, Pittsburgh still outscored Cincinnati, largely thanks to an 81-yard receiving day from running back Kenneth Gainwell and another 67 from the otherworldly talents of Darnell Washington.
However, Pittsburgh only managed to score 20 points offensively on a Cincinnati defense that’s been the worst in the league by far this season.
Before his injury, Aaron Rodgers was a disappointing watch. He and wide receiver D.K. Metcalf continue to struggle to develop chemistry downfield, with Rodgers missing the big receiver on a deep corner route in the second quarter. The veteran quarterback was once again uncomfortable behind the line of scrimmage and quick to move in the pocket.
The all-22 will be important to this week, as it looks like Rodgers’ pass catchers weren’t getting open, either. Per Next Gen Stats, Rodgers was taking an average 3.49 seconds to throw against the Bengals, the longest of any game since 2016 (with a minimum of 10 attempts).
But despite his long deliberations in the pocket and solid protection, Rodgers’ passing chart remained a collection of checkdowns, with an absence of any completions over 10 yards downfield.
Again, the film will tell whether Rodgers or his receivers were more to blame. But the point stands: If you’re struggling to pass against the Cincinnati secondary, it’s hard to have confidence passing against any other. Rodgers and co. have been on a downward spiral as of late, and even taking on the second-worst passing defense in the league wasn’t enough to remedy it.
The good news is that if Rodgers does end up missing some time with his wrist injury, his backup Mason Rudolph didn’t look like much of a downgrade, if at all. But that says more about Rodgers’ play than Rudolph.
Rudolph missed on some passes, but looked more confident in the pocket overall. He passed for 127 yards to Rodgers’ 116, with each playing a half. In my eyes, he looked better than Rodgers against the Bengals, but let’s not start any narratives about him being like a clear upgrade going forward, either. Yards after catch — largely from Gainwell — was the key to success in both quarterbacks’ cases.
With both quarterbacks, the point still stands: While the Jaylen Warren-led run game is still providing a spark from time to time, the Pittsburgh passing game seems to have lost its way. And the defenses it faces in the future will only be better.
3. The defense is headed in the right direction
The inverse is true regarding the Pittsburgh defense. Even with Joe Flacco replacing Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati offense has been one of the most fearsome in the league as of late, with back-to-back 38-plus-point games entering Sunday. The Steelers held them to just 12, with the defense alone outscoring the Cincinnati offense with two touchdowns on the afternoon.
After getting shredded by the Bengals’ passing game the last time the two teams met, the Steelers tightened up in the secondary. All-world wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was held to just 30 yards on 10 targets, while Tee Higgins was limited to 63 yards on three receptions.
It goes without saying that Pittsburgh seems to have found its safety duo for the rest of the season in Kyle Dugger and Jalen Ramsey, even if the secondary still held up after Ramsey got himself ejected following Chase allegedly (now seemingly confirmed with video) spitting on him. Dugger recorded a pick six and should’ve had another if he would’ve caught a pass from Flacco that hit him directly in the chest.
The Steelers might also have a pairing at boundary cornerback worth keeping moving forward. With Darius Slay out against the Bengals, James Pierre slid into the starting spot and looked better than the 13-year veteran, logging six total tackles, two passes defensed, and playing a massive role in shutting down the Bengals’ duo of Chase and Higgins. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown.
It was a team effort, of course, but the secondary with Pierre has clearly outshined the version with Slay starting on the boundary. The team, and coaches, deserve credit for adjusting against an offense that tore them apart earlier this season. (And while Pierre is the bigger story, Joey Porter Jr. had a quietly excellent game as well).
Up front, the Steeler defensive line was clearly below full strength with Alex Highsmith out of the lineup, but it was a good game for Nick Herbig and Keeanu Benton, who kept winning their pass-rush snaps. Herbig eventually got home for the Steelers’ lone sack of the day, dusting Orlando Brown Jr. around the edge.
Due to the threat of the Bengals’ passing game, Cincinnati running back Chase Brown had the benefit of running against light boxes for much of the game, ending with 99 yards on the ground and 5.5 per carry. Pittsburgh repeatedly struggled to defend third and longs, and the pass rush didn’t always get home when Flacco held onto the ball for longer-developing plays.
However, it was a winning showing against a good offense — one that Pittsburgh struggled with before. And unlike its own offense, the Pittsburgh defense has been consistently solid in recent weeks: limiting Jonathan Taylor and high-flying Colts to 20 points in Week 9, putting together a better-than-it-looked performance against the Chargers in Week 10, and stifling the Bengals in Week 11.
Don’t look now, but the highly-paid Steeler defense is finally starting to look the park. But of course, it aligns with the offense starting to falter .
4. Odds and ends
- That was a painfully-officiated game on Sunday. Both sides benefited from bad calls, so I wouldn’t say it overly affected the final score, but there were countless miscues: the Bengals’ left tackle repeatedly jumping early, the clearly-short Connor Heyward tush push being upheld as a first down, and two dubious calls on a T.J. Watt roughing the passer and D.K. Metcalf pass interference.
- It was nice to hear Kevin Harlan calling a Steeler game for once, which feels like a rare occurrence. His “like an aircraft carrier taking flight” call on a Darnell Washington hurdle was a great one.
- Jaylen Warren was electric once again, averaging 6.2 rushing yards on his 10 attempts. Despite Kenneth Gainwell’s great game, I was joining the chorus of calls to keep Warren on the field on more third downs — something Pittsburgh failed to do last week against the Chargers and did again versus the Bengals. However, Gainwell’s heavy dose of reps late in the game made a lot of sense considering Warren was nursing an ankle injury.
- It was interesting to see the Steelers keep their three-outside-linebacker package in the rotation despite being down Highsmith.
- Regarding the Joe Flacco touchdown pass to Tee Higgins with Jack Sawyer in coverage, I wouldn’t say it was quite as poor as the “Tomlin had a linebacker on Tee Higgins” reactionary crowd wanted it to be. Should the Steelers have dropped Sawyer into coverage? I don’t love the call. But he was clearly covering the flat in zone coverage — a reasonable assignment for an outside linebacker — and was forced to carry Higgins deep when the play went long. The film will show the details, but I believe James Pierre was supposed to be covering behind Sawyer, but was drawn into the middle of the field by a deep post.
- Roman Wilson out-snapped Calvin Austin III on Sunday, with 37 offensive snaps to Austin’s 19, per PFF. That’s a big difference, and honestly, a little surprising given Austin’s trajectory entering 2025. It’s a situation to watch, especially with the team’s overall underwhelming performance in the passing game in recent weeks. Arthur Smith is shaking up the personnel.
- I’m sure Austin didn’t do himself any favors by fielding a punt that would’ve landed in the end zone for a touchback, instead giving the Steelers starting field position on their own seven yard line in the second quarter.
- An under-reported nugget from the game is that left tackle Broderick Jones was dealing with a groin injury. The Steelers still only gave up one sack.
- Darnell Washington is going to be one of those players who Steeler fans remember for a long time. Even if he never reaches the heights of stardom, he’s become one of the most unique and ridiculously fun players to watch in the entire NFL.
- I’ll shout out two of my BTSC colleagues here: Mike Nicastro’s theory that the Steelers are simply only built for the 1 p.m. EST time slot continues to ring true. And Ryan Parish pointed out postgame that the Chargers set everything into motion by invoking the Terrible Towel curse after last week’s game. LA lost 35-6 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, while Pittsburgh enjoyed a 34-12 win over Cincinnati. You’d think they’d learn by now.
- Arthur Smith continues to use a lot of motion and pullers in the Pittsburgh perimeter run game, and it’s been working.
- James Pierre probably shouldn’t break out a front flip again next time he scores. I thought he hurt himself watching it live.
- With video evidence proving Ja’Marr Chase did indeed spit on Jalen Ramsey, you’d think the NFL will suspend the wide receiver for a game or two to match what Jalen Carter got for a similar indecent in Week 1. Ramsey’s punch and subsequent ejection could’ve been really costly — it was a one-score game at the time and Pittsburgh was already thin in the secondary — but it’s hard to blame him now that we have the full story.
The Steelers will take on the 7-3 Chicago Bears — yes, you read that record right — in Week 12 on the road.
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Bengals? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
