The Bengals went into week 16 with a chance to significantly help their playoff push, against a Steelers team that has struggled for much of this season. However, the vast majority of the game consisted of mistakes, and an early hole proved to be too deep for them to climb out of.
The Good:
WR, Tee Higgins
Higgins was the standout for the Bengals in week 16. He tied for the team lead in receptions, and his 80 yard TD catch gave the Benngals some brief hope in the 2nd half. On the day, he totaled 140 yards.
WR’s, Tyler Boyd & Andrei Iosivas
I wouldn’t call either one a standout performance, but both players were solid complimentary options, and were able to move the chains a handful of times. Boyd totaled 59 yards on 5 catches. Iosivas made 4 catches for 36 yards, and came very close on a couple occasions to having a much bigger day. The progress in his development is a bigger story here than the stat line. The rookie has shown some nice flashes.
TE, Drew Sample
Like with Boyd and Iosivas, it wasn’t a standout performance by any means. However, Sample, as we have come to expect, was good in his role in the trenches. He was also able to contribute a little in the passing game, making 3 catches for 38 yards.
The Bad:
CB, Chidobe Awuzie
Awuzie was the culprit on multiple big plays by George Pickens. He just seemed to lack the speed to keep up on deep passes, and allowed his opponent to get loose too often. Things have been a bit difficult for him, since returning from last season’s ACL injury. The veteran will look to bounce back against Kansas City.
CB, DJ Turner
Turner is another member of the secondary that had a pretty rough outing. The rookie didn’t give up a ton of catches, but when he did, they went for big plays. His positioning and awareness need to improve, and we will need to see more consistency. He had better moments earlier in the year in a rotational role, but while filling in full time while Taylor-Britt has been out, the struggles have persisted.
HC, Zac Taylor
Taylor had strung together a few nice coaching performances of his own, and was a big part of the team’s winning streak they entered the week on. However, he crashed back down pretty hard in this one. The plays from under centre were completely abandoned, and a brutal call on 4th & inches at the Pittsburgh 5 likely cost them points. Without Burrow, and possibly without Chase again, the Bengas will need Taylor at his best in order to have a chance in the remaining games, both of which will be tough matchups.
QB, Jake Browning
Browning passes for 335 yards, which isn’t a total surprise, given that the Bengals were trailing for most of the game. But for him in week 16, it was the 3 interceptions that stood out. All three were poor decisions that just leave you shaking your head. On the first one, he escaped pressure and rolled to his right, but just lobbed it into the endzone with no Bengals even in the area. It was an easy pick.
The Offensive Line
The offensive line had been playing well as of late, but they took a step back on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Browning seemed to face the most pressure since, well, the last time we played Pittsburgh. Brown and Williams had some struggles on the bookends, while the interior guys weren’t the best either. As well, the run locking was quite bad, and it led Taylor to nearly abandon it pretty early into the game.
Run Defence
The run defence was expected to have some issues after DJ Reader was lost for the year. This was the case in Pittsburgh, as they were able to go for 113 yards on the ground, with several chunk runs. I thought Tufele was okay, but he was in on a very limited number of snaps. The main fill-ins, like Josh Tupou and Zach Carter, just weren’t cutting it. While much of the blame falls on the interior, the guys on the edge, like Hendrickson, the LB’s, and members of the secondary, like Daxton Hill, also need to step it up.
Homescreen Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)