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The Pittsburgh Steelers finally found their offense, at least in yardage terms, in Sunday’s 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Here’s what you need to know:
- Kenny Pickett finished 24-of-33 passing for 278 yards and running back Najee Harris added 99 yards and a touchdown. Cincinnati QB Jake Browning — replacing Joe Burrow, who’s out for the remainder of the season with a wrist injury — was 19-of-26 passing for 227 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
- The Steelers outgained the Bengals 421-222 yards, the first time all season they had a higher yardage output than their opponents. Pittsburgh topped 400 yards for the first time in 59 games, the second-longest drought of the last 30 years.
- This was Pittsburgh’s first game since firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada. The Steelers’ offense under Canada ranked 28th in the NFL in yards per game and points per game.
- Pittsburgh running backs coach Eddie Faulkner coordinated the offense, and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan called plays.
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Immediate offensive change for Steelers
The first play of the post-Canada era, Pickett hit tight end Pat Freiermuth up the seam on a 29-yard gainer. Too often this season, the Steelers avoided the middle of the field and have taken a conservative play-calling approach. With Faulkner coordinating the offense and Sullivan calling the plays, the Steelers’ offense hit another gear, eclipsing the 400-yard plateau for the first time after 58 games. While the raw point production still leaves something to be desired, Pittsburgh moved the ball more consistently than it has all season, with more passes targeting the middle of the field and several successful deep shots. The showing should provide some confidence for the Steelers that the product can in fact improve with new coaches calling the shots. — Mike DeFabo, Steelers staff writer
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Pittsburgh’s pieces coming together
The Steelers have invested heavily on the offensive side of the ball in recent years, expending first-round picks on Pickett, Harris and tackle Broderick Jones. They also have second-round picks in Freiermuth and receiver George Pickens. To a man, they all underperformed when Canada was calling the shots. One game into the new approach, several of those players had their best game of the season. Harris finished 1 yard away from his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, Freiermuth caught a season-high nine passes for 120 yards. Pickett threw for 278 yards and no interceptions. — DeFabo
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Too much for Bengals’ Browning
Asking Browning to make his NFL debut by being thrust into action in primetime at Baltimore then the next week against a desperate Steelers defense was far from ideal circumstances. For the most part, he acquitted himself as well as could be expected making throws that were available and using his legs to keep plays alive. His tendency to hold the ball had him taking numerous big hits and four sacks. He didn’t surprise with his performance or become a reason for the loss. He played to about the level you would have expected from a career backup making his NFL debut against a dominant defense. — Paul Dehner, Bengals senior writer
Cincinnati’s run game woes
The biggest problem for the Bengals offense on Sunday was it couldn’t support Browning with any kind of run game. Pittsburgh focused the defensive approach on assuring that to be the case, which is fine. But the inability to find any modicum of success on the ground made life exponentially more difficult. Joe Mixon finished the game with eight carries for 16 yards and a long of 4 yards. No other running back even earned a touch. There was zero creativity. It’s time for the Bengals to make changes in personnel and philosophy of the running game. — Dehner
Explosive plays hurt Cincy defense
The Bengals’ issues with explosive passing plays continue to haunt them. Pittsburgh opened the game hitting Freiermuth wide open deep over the middle and the trend continued with four more completions of at least 20 yards, totaling 135 yards of offense. Playing a limited passing attack like the Steelers, that’s all it takes. That set up the other constant with the Cincinnati defense this year as teams are able to punish them on the ground late in games. This was the sixth game this season allowing at least 150 yards on the ground. Losing Burrow hurts, but the defense is just not good enough to pick up the slack in a way we’ve seen Pittsburgh and Cleveland do. — Dehner
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(Photo: Kareem Elgazzar / USA Today)
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