Six weeks ago, the Cincinnati Bengals were 4 - 8. The Pittsburgh Steelers had come into the Bengals’ house, ransacked the place, stole their lunch money, and left them a steamy, stinky package on their doorstep. Six weeks ago, the Bengals were all but dead.
But today, against all odds, precedent, and basic understanding of football, the Bengals are – incredibly, inconceivably, impossibly – alive. Maybe not alive and well, but hey, Bengals fans will take that. Six weeks ago, the Bengals were broken and left passed out somewhere underneath the Mehring Way Overpass. Now, they’re standing tall, heads held high as they stroll through Fort Pitt Tunnel, winners over the Steelers 19 - 17, all the bad vibes and bad juju from 2024 banished into the ether. How on Earth did we get here?
The Bengals from six weeks ago were not capable of this. Something changed after that Week 13 loss to the Steelers, especially on defense. In that game, the Bengals allowed the most points in a single-game (44) all season, and tied their season-high in yards allowed (520). In the five games since, the Bengals have allowed an average of 18.8 points per game, and an average 298.2 yards per game. A switch was flipped, and a fire has been lit.
That was on full-display last night. The Bengals defense has stopped being a weakness, and while it will never be mistaken for a strength, that’s plenty good enough for an offense as explosive as the Bengals’.
After an opening drive touchdown in which the Bengals marched directly down the field, the Bengals offense sputtered and spurted. Four field goals was all the Bengals could muster for the rest of the game. The Bengals of six weeks ago would have been dead in the water without their offense at full-steam. Now, though, the Bengals are finally playing complimentary football – and look at the results!
Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo deserves a ton of credit for the turnaround. The group that trotted out there in Week 18 is a shell of the unit that started in Week 1. No less than five starters (Dax Hill, Sam Hubbard, Sheldon Rankins, D.J. Turner II, and Logan Wilson), missed the game, leaving the Bengals relying on rookies and unproven backups almost everywhere. And yet, those rookies and backups are precisely why the Bengals prevailed last night.
On the defensive line, rookie defensive tackles Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson teamed up with mainstay B.J. Hill to deny the Steelers any semblance of consistency on the ground, holding them to their second-lowest rushing total of the season (74 yards), while pushing the pocket consistently in the pass game. With Hubbard done for the year, Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy were counted on to hold their own (and they did far more than that), while superstar defensive end Trey Hendrickson feasted every single time he was lined up one-on-one with Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr, finishing with a ridiculous 3.5 sacks and putting his stamp on a potential Defensive Player of the Year campaign.
Behind the defensive lineman, the Bengals linebackers also had quite a night. Germaine Pratt continued to step up in Wilson’s absence as the Bengals’ defensive signal-caller, collecting a huge tackle for a loss to open the second half and helping to contain the Steelers on the ground. Backup linebacker Shaka Heyward also made his impact felt in the run game, while forcing a critical fumble on a Steelers punt return as well. The ‘backers had their struggles trying to contain Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth, who finished with eight catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, but outside of that, they were rock-solid.
Most impressive, though, was the performance of the much-maligned secondary. This group had been a problem for the Bengals all year, and with their two top corners (Hill and Turner) done for the year, any hope for improvement felt like a foregone conclusion. Somehow, someway, they’ve found their footing.
Cam Taylor-Britt shook off a (very) questionable pass interference call in the first quarter to play a big part in the suffocation of the Steelers’ passing attack, while the emergence of rookie corner Josh Newton has been nothing short of astounding. Jordan Battle continued to fly around at safety, while Geno Stone kept a lid on everything as the last line of defense. It was, considering the stakes and the opponent, their absolute best performance of the season, and it could not have come at a more opportune time.
Offensively, this was not an impressive game for the Bengals, but context matters here. Bengals running back Chase Brown didn’t play, meaning backup Khalil Herbert, who had exactly eight carries for the Bengals heading into this contest, was tasked with toting the rock 20 times, along with seven receptions. Tee Higgins, who had another spectacular sideline catch late in the second quarter that helped set up a field goal before halftime, left the game with an ankle injury. An offensive line that already needs all hands on deck to handle the Steelers front was routinely taken to task with starting right tackle Amarius Mims playing only 14 snaps on offense.
Still, Joe Burrow kept on doing Joe Burrow things, including shaking off a rough hit in the third quarter that briefly knocked him out of the game. Ja’Marr Chase continued his historic season, adding ten receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown to what will almost-certainly be just the fifth Triple Crown (leading NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) season for a receiver in NFL history. Burrow and Chase have been carrying this team for months – it’s fitting that, in the biggest game of the Bengals’ season, they were carried (just a little) for once.
After the shit-show that was the Bengals for the first thirteen weeks of the NFL season, this team has turned it completely around. Credit to Zac Taylor, credit to Anarumo, credit to Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Hendrickson and the entire organization for not phoning it in. There were so many doubters and naysayers. The knives were out for just about anyone and everyone not named Chase or Burrow. Instead of collapsing under the pressure, that pressure just made them stronger.
Even with the win, the Bengals still need help to get into the playoffs. The coaches and players will be glued to their TV’s this afternoon. They need the New York Jets to beat the Miami Dolphins, and they need the Kansas City Chiefs’ backups to beat the Denver Broncos. The playoffs are still a long-shot, but heck, they were miles longer just a month ago. A lot has changed in five weeks. Imagine what could change in 24 hours.
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