Steelers keep their season alive with blow out win over Bengals.

Despite a three-game losing streak in the first three weeks of December, the Pittsburgh Steelers will go into the final two games of the season with their playoff hopes well and truly alive after a big 34-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers went into this game in a very bad spot. They had lost three straight games, with two of those losses coming against 2-10 teams at home, and the latest one coming against their playoff rival in the Indianapolis Colts. To keep their season alive, a win against their division rival, the Cincinnati Bengals, was a must. Four weeks ago, the Steelers beat the Bengals in Cincinnati, but since then the Steelers have lost three in a row and the Bengals have gone the other way and won all three of their games. There was a change at quarterback for the Steelers, with Mason Rudolph making his first start since week 10 of the 2021 season, where he was at the helm in a tie against the then 0-8 Detroit Lions. Given Kenny Pickett’s injury and Mitchell Trubisky’s poor play, Mike Tomlin had no choice but to turn to Rudolph, who was looking to deliver in a big prove-it game for him and a must win game for his team.

The game couldn’t have started any better for the Steelers. The defense forced a punt on the Bengals’ opening drive and then on a 2nd and 4, Rudolph found George Pickens over the middle with his first throw of the game, and Pickens, who all week has been facing criticism for his lack of effort when blocking, took the ball all the way to the endzone on an 86-yard touchdown catch and run. A perfect start for the Steelers in what was by far their most complete game of the season. The Bengals looked to respond instantly, and on the following drive it looked as if quarterback Jake Browning might carry on his hot streak and do exactly that. The big play of this drive was a 23-yard pass to Tee Higgins, who was one of the few bright spots for the Bengals. That Higgins catch helped the Bengals drive down to the Steelers’ 16-yard line, but on 3rd and 9 Browning made his first big mistake of the night as he rolled right and threw the ball right into Patrick Peterson’s hands for the interception, meaning no points for the Bengals and a big momentum shift in favour of the Steelers. Peterson grabbed an interception from the safety position, a spot that the three-time first team all-pro cornerback has dabbled in with the Steelers this season and moved to last week against the Colts after Minkah Fitzpatrick’s injury. While Peterson is certainly capable in the safety position, him needing to play there shows how much the Pittsburgh defense has suffered with injuries (and a suspension) at that position.  Despite those injuries though, Peterson’s interception was the first of three for the defense on a night where they were at the top of their game against a very in form quarterback, even if he was missing his number one receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

The Steelers defense hasn’t had a perfect season, but they have had their moments. The offense, however, has never once looked dominant in 2023. That changed in this matchup. They continued their strong start with an 80-yard touchdown drive which culminated in a Calvin Austin rushing touchdown from 7 yards out. This drive was nothing spectacular from Rudolph, but he did the basics right such as maintaining a good pocket presence and getting through his reads well, something that Steelers quarterbacks have struggled to do this season. All of a sudden, the Steelers were up 14-0 at the start of the 2nd quarter, but given they raced out to a 13-0 lead against the Colts in week 15 in a game that they eventually lost 30-13, Mike Tomlin’s side had to keep their foot on the gas pedal. The defense continued to play strong, and it came as no surprise that TJ Watt was a part of that. On a 3rd and 11 play, Watt was held and tackled to the ground but still found his way to Browning, not just sacking him but forcing the ball out as well. Pittsburgh wasn’t able to land on the ball, but they had forced a three and out thanks to Watt’s league-leading 17th sack of the season. Rudolph and the offense didn’t do much with the good field position though and punted it back to Cincinnati. The defense then once again got the better of Browning as Strong Safety Eric Rowe intercepted the quarterback’s pass intended for receiver Tyler Boyd. Another sign of players stepping up for the Steelers. Rowe had been promoted up from the practice squad a few days before the game and was making his first appearance of the season. The veteran made a great play on the ball to give his offense strong field position at the Bengals’ 14-yard line with what was his first interception since week 14 of the 2020 season. The offense capitalised on that great field position, though it looked at one point that they might settle for a field goal. On 3rd and 6 from the 10-yard line, Rudolph couldn’t find an open receiver so went for the first down himself and lowered his shoulder to gain the first down as he flew over the defender John Elway style to set up a 1st and goal from the 3-yard line. This play cannot be ignored as it was a clear example of Rudolph’s desire to win, putting his body on the line for the team when he could have easily given himself up short of the first down line, something that Mitch Trubisky did on a 3rd down in the redzone against the Patriots two weeks ago. Rudolph’s first down scramble was followed immediately by a Najee Harris touchdown run from 3 yards out and the Steelers had a 21-point lead.

So often this year the Steelers’ defense has been very much about bending not breaking, and that was the case again on the Bengals’ next drive as Cincinnati found themselves in a strong position with a 3rd and 1 from Pittsburgh’s 5-yard line. The Steelers stopped a Joe Mixon run on 3rd down and then their star rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. won a battle in the endzone on 4th and inches against Tee Higgins to turn the ball over on downs. Higgins may have had a big night but when Porter was the nearest defender, he was limited to one catch on two targets for just fifteen yards (stat via @NextGenStats on Twitter). Another strong night for Porter in what has been an incredible rookie season for the Steelers’ 2nd round pick. With just 2 minutes and 14 seconds left in the half, and the fact that the ball was at their own 5-yard line following the defensive stop, most Steelers fans would have been happy to head into halftime up 21-0 as the Steelers’ offense was receiving the ball to start the 3rd quarter. Mike Tomlin thought otherwise though. On a 3rd and 10 with less than a minute and a half remaining, Rudolph found Diontae Johnson for a 10-yard gain to move the chains. The big play of the drive then came a few snaps later on 3rd and 15 when Rudolph fired deep down the left sideline to George Pickens who kept two feet in bounds to make one of the catches of the season for a 44-yard gain. That catch got the Steelers in field goal range and the score at halftime was 24-0 after Boswell knocked through his first field goal of the game from 50 yards out.

For once, the second half was a comfortable one for Steelers fans, though there was one moment where it looked as if a comeback may be on the cards. The Steelers’ offense punted to start the half and on the Bengals’ first offensive play of the 3rd quarter, Tee Higgins ran for an 80-yard touchdown after receiving the ball over the middle on a play not too dissimilar to Pickens’ 86-yard touchdown earlier. Rudolph and Pickens responded though, with the Oklahoma State quarterback once again finding the second-year wide receiver deep down the field. A perfect throw by Rudolph right into Pickens’ hands down the left sideline and Pickens ran into the endzone, avoiding a last-ditch tackler. Just the 66-yard touchdown for Pickens this time. This was his final catch of the night in a game where he had 4 receptions for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. The best game of his career, and it came after a week of heavy criticism. The more the Steelers target Pickens, the more success they will have. He isn’t perfect but is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL and the Steelers need to use that to their advantage more and more. That Pickens touchdown was the last by either team. The Steelers’ defense followed it up with another turnover on downs, and when the Bengals eventually got the ball back again, they were forced to kick a field goal largely due to an Alex Highsmith sack on 2nd down in the redzone. That made the score 31-11 going into the 4th quarter and the Steelers were in cruise control. Highsmith wasn’t done as on a later drive he dropped into coverage to get his second interception of the season. Highsmith is no doubt a great pass rusher, but his coverage is an underrated part of his game given that he is primarily tasked with getting to the quarterback. This was the defense’s third interception of the game, against a quarterback that had been on a hot streak over the last three weeks. The whole defensive unit played a great game, especially given the fact that they’ve suffered so many injuries at linebacker and safety. They unfortunately suffered another one in this game as linebacker Elandon Roberts left the game with a pectoral injury which will likely keep him out for the rest of the season. That meant Myles Jack had to step up to the plate, and step up he did, recording six total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack. Jack retired earlier this year, but the Steelers convinced him to come back for a second stint with the team, signing him to the practice squad in November, and promoting him to the active roster with Rowe a few days before this game. Yet another player on the Steelers’ defense adopting the next man up mentality and making plays.

Highsmith’s interception gave the offense strong field position and Boswell made his second field goal of the game to make it 34-11 and the score remained that way for the rest of the fourth quarter. A huge win for the Steelers, and a huge day for Mason Rudolph who completed 17 of his 27 passes, resulting in 290 yards and 2 touchdowns, with no interceptions. He had the most yards by a Steelers’ quarterback since week 5 of 2022. Mike Tomlin now has a big decision to make at the quarterback position if Kenny Pickett is declared fit to play in Seattle against a Seahawks team who are also fighting for the playoffs. As Tomlin said in his post-game press conference, though, the weekend of this victory against the Bengals is not the right time to make that decision. 

It seems unlikely that Tomlin will give himself a day off at this point in the season, but the players will certainly get a well-earned rest after their most complete game of the season in their first win that wasn’t by one score all year. Once Monday rolls around, though, it’s preparation time again as the Steelers head to the Pacific Northwest in another must win game. It would be silly to call this team a contender, but it would be just as foolish to count them out of a playoff spot with two weeks to go.