Heading into last week’s game in Cincinnati, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense had strung together three impressive performances. Forcing five turnovers in New England, recording six sacks against Minnesota and holding Cleveland to nine points were all developments to be excited about.
Put bluntly, Pittsburgh’s defensive performance against the Bengals was a disaster. Joe Flacco, who had been with the Bengals for less than 10 days, racked up 342 yards. The veteran QB’s stat line was aided by All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s career day. When the dust had settled, he had broken his own record for number of receptions in a game by a Bengals receiver with 16.