Category: 2022 Week 11 Steelers vs. Bengals

Steelers WR George Pickens avoids fine for late hit vs Bengals

The NFL did not see fit to fine George Pickens for his hit on Sunday.

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The league announced fines on Saturday and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens didn’t make the list. This is good news considering Pickens was ejected for a late hit last week.

In the final seconds of the Steelers loss to the Bengals, Pittsburgh attempted an onside kick after pulling within seven. On the failed try, Cincinnati wide receiver Tyler Boyd went down and scooped up the kick and Pickens dove in head-first to finish the play.

The hit itself was fairly tame by NFL standards but the officials felt the need to not only flag Pickens but eject him when the outcome of the game was decided. Thankfully the NFL looked at the play and agreed the hit wasn’t egregious enough to warrant a fine.

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Steelers WR George Pickens on his ejection: ‘I had a great game’

George Pickens didn’t seem a bit concerned about his ejection from last week’s game.

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In the final seconds of the Pittsburgh Steelers 37-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, rookie wide receiver George Pickens was flagged and ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd. Boyd had gone down after scooping up an onside kick try and Pickens came in and speared him late.

But Pickens downplayed the whole situation when he was asked about it on Thursday, noting it wasn’t a big deal because it was so late in the game. Pickens said he was more worried about the rest of the game and made sure to note that he had a great game.

Maturity was a concern with Pickens coming out of Georgia and truth be told this isn’t a great look. The Steelers are 3-7 and struggling to hold onto any sort of respect this season. Being OK with being ejected because you had a good game isn’t really the “team first” attitude head coach Mike Tomlin preaches.

What do you all think of Pickens’ response to the question? Let us know in the comments below.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin dismisses claims that offense was predictable vs Bengals

Tomlin refuted the claim the Bengals knew what plays were coming last week.

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After the Pittsburgh Steelers 37-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt called out the Steelers offense. According to Pratt, their defense was able to dictate what Pittsburgh ran on offense and the Steelers continued to run the same plays over and over.

When head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about this, he fired back and dismissed Pratt’s claim.

“That’s what they say when they’re having success and you don’t hear them say when they don’t,” Tomlin said. “There were concepts they used that were predictable. That’s football.”

In the second half, the Steelers offense completely stalled out. Multiple three-and-outs wasted opportunities and squandered turnovers. The notion that the Steelers offense is predictable is nothing new. Other teams have made similar claims and for those who watch this team very closely on a weekly basis can see it.

Look at the Steelers game two weeks ago against the New Orleans Saints compared to last Sunday against Cincinnati. Pittsburgh generated a run game against the Saints using multiple players and concepts and topped 200 rushing yards. Against the Bengals, the team went back to its old ways and the run game limped along.

Will the Steelers offense be more effective this week against a good Indianapolis Colts defense? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bengals linebacker calls out predictable Steelers offense

The Bengals defense manipulated a predictable Steelers offense on Sunday.

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Believe it or not, what Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt said after Sunday’s game is not something new. After the Steelers 37-30 loss to Cincinnati, Pratt called out the Steelers offense and let everyone know just how easy it was to manipulate the Steelers offense.

“It was us giving them plays,” Pratt said. “We knew what they were going to do. They like to do the same plays over and over.”

I sincerely hope head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada not only read this but take it seriously. The predictability of the Steelers offense has been blatantly obvious all season and even going back to last year and it should be humiliating to hear an opposing defender make this public. If this doesn’t put the Steelers coaches on notice, nothing will and with that, nothing will change.

On the Season, the Steelers are No. 28 in yards and No. 27 in scoring. This week the Steelers travel to take on the Indianapolis Colts, one of the few teams in the NFL with a worse offense this season.

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Bengals linebacker calls out predictable Steelers offense

The Bengals defense manipulate a predictable Steelers offense on Sunday.

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Believe it or not, what Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt said after Sunday’s game is not something new. After the Steelers 37-30 loss to Cincinnati, Pratt called out the Steelers offense and let everyone know just how easy it was to manipulate the Steelers offense.

“It was us giving them plays,” Pratt said. “We knew what they were going to do. They like to do the same plays over and over.”

I sincerely hope head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada not only read this but take it seriously. The predictability of the Steelers offense has been blatantly obvious all season and even going back to last year and it should be humiliating to hear an opposing defender make this public. If this doesn’t put the Steelers coaches on notice, nothing will and with that, nothing will change.

On the Season, the Steelers are No. 28 in yards and No. 27 in scoring. This week the Steelers travel to take on the Indianapolis Colts, one of the few teams in the NFL with a worse offense this season.

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Steelers QB Kenny Pickett remains confident despite loss

Kenny Pickett has been inconsistent but remains confident.

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On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers attempted a late rally only to fall short against the Cincinnati Bengals 37-30. It was the best offensive output of the season in terms of points and only the second time the team has topped 30 points in a game in two seasons.

Nevertheless, the performance of rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett was wildly inconsistent. Pickett had the strongest first half of his young career but until a late touchdown drive in garbage time, his second half was lackluster at best.

But don’t worry about how all this is impacting the rookie’s confidence. After the game he assured everyone he’s still supremely confident and he plans to keep pushing it.

“Listen, I’m going to sling it until the end and my confidence level has not wavered,” Pickett said after the loss. “I’m extremely competitive. I hate to lose. Doesn’t feel good sitting up they’re after a loss, that’s for sure. We got to get things cleaned up and get back on track next week.”

It will be interesting to go back and rewatch this game and keep a close eye on the inconsistency in Pickett’s game. His receivers don’t help him out much with getting separation and create very small windows to throw into but when he misses a throw it is never a near miss, it’s a doozy.

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Steelers vs Bengals: Big takeaways from Pittsburgh’s loss

The Steelers defense wore down and Kenny Pickett looked like a rookie against the Bengals.

A late touchdown made the score seem closer than the game as the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 37-30 in Pittsburgh on Sunday. This was a tough loss because at halftime Pittsburgh had easily outplayed the Bengals and was in command before everything fell apart in the second half. Here are our big takeaways from the loss.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin offers up sober assessment of loss

Mike Tomlin was lowkey even by his standards after Sunday’s loss.

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No one expects Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to be overly animated in his postgame press conferences. We’ve joked before about robot Mike Tomlin and how matter-of-fact he is, offering almost nothing in terms of a narrative or editorial on his team’s performance. This is true whether it is a win or a loss.

But on Sunday, Tomlin was particularly somber, even for him. Offering very little other than some field possession issues in the second half as the catalyst for Pittsburgh’s collapse against the Cincinnati Bengals. I won’t go so far as to say Tomlin sounds like a defeated man but having watched over a decade of his press conferences, this was a version of him rarely seen.

Even the players who were interviewed after the game seemed more defeated than usual despite this being the team’s seventh loss of the year. Typically there is talk of getting back to work, getting back into the lab, making corrections and getting ready for next week. This was not the mood after this week’s loss by Tomlin and the rest of the team. We will see if Pittsburgh can bounce back from this like they have before this season or does this loss linger for the rest of the season?

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Check out Steelers LB T.J. Watt’s insane interception

T.J. Watt with the huge interception.

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There aren’t many NFL players who are as good at what they do as Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt is at his. Watt proved once again he is one of the best all-around defenders and perhaps the most valuable non-quarterback on any team in the league. Check out this interception Watt gets of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

The craziest thing about this is Watt did something very similar to Burrow in the team’s first meeting in Week One. The Bengals offensive line has kept Watt in check as a pass rusher but Watt just shows there is no limit to the ways he can impact the game.

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