Steelers get moving on offense, sort of, to beat Joe Burrow-less Bengals

The Pittsburgh Steelers revved up their offense Sunday in Cincinnati.

Or at least they revved it up by their not-exactly-lofty standards of this season. In their first game since firing Matt Canada as their offensive coordinator, the Steelers rolled up more than 400 yards of total offense for the first time in 59 games.

It didn’t lead to a scoring onslaught. But it was enough to beat a diminished version of the Bengals, who were playing without injured quarterback Joe Burrow. The Steelers ended a tumultuous week by getting back into the win column, as they held on for a 16-10 victory.

“I’m not trying to paint with a broad brush and act like, ‘Eureka,’ ” Coach Mike Tomlin said afterward. “We did what we needed to do to win today. And we’ll keep pushing.”

Postgame vibes in Cincinnati couldn’t be more different than a week ago in Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/QqLfOvizjs

— Brooke Pryor November 26, 2023 Tomlin was pressed during his postgame news conference about whether he was pleased with what he’d seen from the offense.

“I’m happy that we won,” Tomlin said. “And so we’re just going to keep pushing.”

The Steelers dismissed Canada on Tuesday. Tomlin named running backs coach Eddie Faulkner the new offensive coordinator and appointed quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan the offensive play-caller. The move came two days after a 13-10 defeat in Cleveland. The Steelers were ranked 28th in the NFL in both total offense and scoring offense. They’d been outgained in each game this season.

“I think those guys did a great job of preparing us this week,” quarterback Kenny Pickett said following Sunday’s game. “I think we did a great job of coming together and staying together in a time of adversity, coming on the road and getting a really big-time AFC North win that we needed. So it feels good.”

The Steelers outgained the Bengals on Sunday, 421 yards to 222. It was their first 400-yard game on offense since Week 2 of the 2020 season, with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.

“It’s definitely different,” Pickett said. “It’s a new play-caller. So you kind of get used to the flow of how he likes to call things. And it’s something that we’re going to continue to kind of iron out. But it felt like every drive we were having productive drives, moving the ball really well, even though [there were] some penalty things and a turnover.”

Pickett completed 24 of 33 passes for 278 yards. Tight end Pat Freiermuth had nine catches for 120 yards. Tailback Najee Harris ran for 99 yards. But the Steelers reached the end zone only on Harris’s five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. They settled for three field goals by kicker Chris Boswell.

Tomlin failed to issue an instant replay challenge on what might have been a first-quarter touchdown catch by wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who initially made the grab in the end zone and got both feet down in bounds but lost the ball after tumbling to the ground. The Steelers lost a fumble on the next play.

“I thought maybe Dionte scored on that one,” said Tomlin, who indicated that he did not have a view of the play sufficient to throw the red challenge flag. “But then we fumbled. ... We’ve got to take care of the football. Lost points there. So I don’t know that the score was kind of reflective of how we were operating. But that’s football. That’s how things go. We did what we needed to do to win the game.”

The immediate aftermath of the Steelers’ loss in Cleveland in their previous game reportedly included a heated exchange between Johnson and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the postgame locker room. Johnson downplayed the incident after Sunday’s game, telling reporters following the triumph over the Bengals: “We squashed it. We won the game today. That’s all that matters.”

The Steelers bottled up a Bengals offense that was without Burrow, the NFL’s highest-paid player who is sidelined for the remainder of the season because of a torn ligament in his right wrist. Backup quarterback Jake Browning made his first NFL start 10 days after replacing Burrow during the Bengals’ defeat in Baltimore.

Browning threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Drew Sample as part of a 19-for-26, 227-yard passing performance. He also threw an interception. The Bengals, who reached the past two AFC championship games, lost their third straight game to fall to 5-6. They’re the only team with a losing record in the rugged AFC North.

“To be able to bounce back after a loss just shows some resiliency in this group,” Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt said. “We could have made a whole bunch of excuses this week. I’m really proud of us for sticking together and getting back on track. It feels good.”

Diontae Johnson on the heated incident with Minkah Fitzpatrick post-Browns loss: “It ain't nothing. Y'all outside from looking in. ... That's my brother at end of the day. ... We passionate about the game. Everybody wants to win. So y'all look at it as, oh, we had an all out brawl... pic.twitter.com/S3S28FCFq9

— Brooke Pryor November 26, 2023 The Steelers, at 7-4, are only a game behind the first-place Ravens.

“You can give rah-rah speeches and get blown out,” Pickett said. “There’s nothing anyone is going to say or do. You’ve got to go out there and play and execute and put the plan together, which is what we did.”

If the offense can do its part, the Steelers are a team with possibilities. But that has been a major ‘if’ all season . It was a sign of how low the bar is that a 16-point outing is cause for optimism.

“I wouldn’t say we’re relieved,” Pickett said. “I would say we always know what we’re capable of doing. It’s just putting it together. We still haven’t 100 percent really put it together there. We were driving really good. It felt like we left points out there. But you’ve got to take the positives and continue just to march forward, which is what we plan on doing.”