A few key mistakes defined the Cincinnati Bengals' loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By far the biggest, though, was Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons calling for a block punt attempt on fourth down late in the game that resulted in a roughing-the-punter penalty.
This week, Simmons admitted that it was his call to go after the Steelers’ punt.
"Yeah, we were rushing him. We're coming after him. We're trying to block the punt,” Simmons told Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media. “I don't know when a good moment is. When is a good moment to rush the punter? We're ahead. We're behind. I mean, when is the best opportunity? I think it was the first punt of the game, first time they punted. It's something that we felt, I felt very confident in that we could
get a lot of pressure on them, and we did. Ced just got too close to him.”
Simmons has been the special teams coordinator in Cincinnati since 2003 and has also been the assistant head coach since 2020, so if he calls for a block attempt, it’s usually a pretty solid thing.
That said, Simmons’ call backfired and the Steelers wound up getting the ball back off the flag and scoring a touchdown to really swing the outcome. Onlookers would’ve much rather seen the Bengals play good coverage on the punt in the hopes of a quality return, setting up Joe Burrow in good field position.
Hence, so many negative reactions to such a decisive mistake in Pittsburgh.
Fire Darrin Simmons https://t.co/4z79nNwkXv
— Danny Morgan (@Maddogmorgan33) September 28, 2026
Dear Mr. Darrin Simmons....pic.twitter.com/qpvf3N4zf0 https://t.co/7MTW0LcQTj
— Andy (@flamcheesy) September 28, 2026
How long does the Bengals keep Darrin Simmons as the Special Team Coach?
— Ryan Collins (@rcollins142) September 27, 2026
smh - Darrin Simmons what are you doing https://t.co/QQlodCMGmP
— Lindsay Patterson (@LndsPatterson) September 29, 2026
What a really stupid response from Darrin Simmons.
— Nati Sports (@Nati_Sports) September 28, 2026
I expect way better out of him. If there's one dude who knows how these Bengals-Steelers game typically go, it's him.
No margin for error, that's setting your dudes up for failure on the road. Just really, really stupid. https://t.co/F0cdSoYOn4
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals coach’s explanation for critical mistake gets mixed reviews
