Five things we learned from Bengals 19, Steelers 17:
1. History makers
Not only will the Steelers be heading into the AFC playoffs without any type of momentum, which coach Mike Tomlin coveted earlier in the week, they will enter it on a historical downward trajectory.
The Steelers will join the 1999 Detroit Lions and 1986 New York Jets as the only teams to go into the playoffs riding a losing streak of at least four games.
For the curious, the ’99 Lions extended their losing ways when they lost to Washington, 27-13, in the wild-card round. The game wasn’t competitive as Detroit trailed by 27 points at halftime.
The Jets, who lost five in a row at the end of the season following a 10-1 start, fared a little better in the 1986 playoffs. They halted their slide with a 35-15 victory against Kansas City before having their season ended by Cleveland, which advanced to the AFC championship game with a 23-20 overtime victory. The Jets blew a 20-10 lead in that one.
The 1999 Lions got off to an 8-4 start despite Barry Sanders’ abrupt retirement on the eve of training camp. The quarterback that season was second-year pro Charlie Batch, who then sustained an injury and was replaced by Ford City native Gus Frerrotte. A guard on that team was Jeff Hartings, who would win a championship as a center on the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL team.
For the ‘86 Jets, among the five-game losing streak at the end of the season was a 45-24 loss to the Steelers in the penultimate weekend. Walter Abercrombie accounted for three touchdowns, and Lupe Sanchez returned an interception 67 yards for a score. Former Pitt offensive lineman Jim Sweeney was a starter for that Jets team.
2. If at first you don’t succeed …
A season after his departure, Mason Rudolph remains the last quarterback to lead the Steelers to a touchdown on their opening drive of the game. Eddie Faulkner was interim offensive coordinator and Mike Sullivan was calling the plays when Rudolph threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens on the second offensive snap in Week 16 last season.
The Steelers are 0-19 since, including all 17 times this season with Arthur Smith calling the plays and Russell Wilson and Justin Fields at quarterback.
Leave it to the Bengals and Joe Burrow to show how it can be done. After the Steelers won the coin toss and deferred, Burrow led a nine-play, 73-yard drive to the end zone that ended with his 12-yard TD pass to Ja’Marr Chase.
3. Chasing Chase
With Donte Jackson missing the game due to a back injury, Burrow wisely decided to exploit his replacement. Cory Trice got the starting nod over veteran James Pierre, and he played 69 of a possible 74 defensive snaps.
Trice led the Steelers with 11 tackles, including seven solo, but that mostly was due to bringing down Chase after the catch. Trice allowed 10 catches on 11 targets overall, and Burrow had a 128.4 passer rating when challenging the second-year cornerback. Burrow had an 89.9 rating overall.
When Chase was matched up against Trice, the star receiver had eight catches for 80 yards, four first downs and the 12-yard touchdown that gave the Bengals the lead for good.
On the other side, Joey Porter drew Tee Higgins, who had 11 catches and three touchdowns the previous week. Even when Higgins exited with an injury, the Steelers were slow to make a switch and still had Trice shadowing Chase for several plays.
4. Trey lives up to his name
One former NFL defensive player of the year occupied the Acrisure Stadium surface, and T.J. Watt remains a candidate to win the award for a second time. But he was overshadowed by Trey Hendrickson, who showed he deserves to be part of the conversation.
Hendrickson constantly was a presence in the Steelers backfield, and he finished with 3.5 of the Bengals four sacks of Wilson. Hendrickson accounted for five of the Bengals’ eight quarterback hits. He atoned from the matchup in early December in Cincinnati when he was held without a sack in the Steelers’ 44-38 win.
Hendrickson’s big game lifted his season total to 17.5 sacks, which leads the NFL and matched his total from the 2023 season. Watt, meantime, didn’t have a sack for the third game in a row.
5. Going batty
Defensive captain Cameron Heyward revealed after the game that he played in the 19-degree temp despite being stricken with the flu the previous night. Heyward was hoarse and congested when he spoke with reporters.
Like the rest of the defense, it took a while for Heyward to get going. Burrow completed his first 12 pass attempts. Heyward batted down a pass, one of three deflections he had in the game. The Steelers finished with six, including an interception by Beanie Bishop.
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Aside from the three times Heyward batted down passes, Burrow threw an incomplete pass on just six of his 46 attempts.