Three games in 11 days. One game in 10 days. Doesn’t seem to matter to the Steelers.
They keep finding ways to lose. And it’s not a good way to enter the postseason.
For some reason, the Steelers tried a different game plan from the one that worked successfully in the first meeting last month against the Cincinnati Bengals. But, like everything else in the past four weeks, it didn’t work.
They ended the regular season with a 19-17 loss to the Bengals on Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium, the first time since 1999 they ended the regular season with four consecutive losses.
The fallout could result in a lower postseason seed and a road playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, who clinched the AFC North title earlier in the day with a 35-10 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
If the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6) beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, the Steelers (10-7) will remain the No. 6 seed in the AFC and play the Ravens for the third time in nine games in a wild card playoff game.
“It's disappointing, ... but it's neither here nor there,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We are in a single-elimination tournament now, so we better turn our attention toward playing good football and better than we have particularly in recent weeks.”
The victory was the fifth in a row by the Bengals (9-8) and kept alive their slim hopes of making the postseason. But they need the Miami Dolphins to lose to the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday to grab the final playoff spot in the AFC.
“Guys just believed,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “This is one we had to have. These guys came with the right attitude. They've had the right attitude. They've stuck together.”
The Steelers will need a little some of that wherever they end up playing. If the Chargers lose to the Raiders, the Steelers would jump to the No. 5 seed and play on the road against the AFC South division champ Houston Texans.
Regardless, another one-and-done trip into the postseason would mark the eighth consecutive year the Steelers have failed to win a playoff game.
“We have to have amnesia going into this,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “It’s a new season. That’s the only thing that really matters anymore at this point. We got into the playoffs. Everybody is 0-0. We’re going to have to go on the road and get it done.”
Wilson said he had a conversation before the game with former running back Jerome Bettis, who reminded him of the 2005 season when the Steelers became the first No. 6 seed to go on the road and win the Super Bowl.
The difference, though, is the 2005 team won its final four regular season games to charge into the playoffs. This Steelers team is going in the opposite direction.
“I’m confident,” said Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Heyward, who batted three passes. “I’m very confident in the group. As a professional, you work your ass off to be ready week in and week out. There’s belief in the group, and that’s all that matters.”
After compiling season highs for points (44), yards (520) and first downs (28) in the first meeting, the Steelers decided to change their game plan for the Bengals.
Instead of coming out throwing like they did in Cincinnati, when Wilson threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns, Tomlin thought it more prudent to run the ball in an attempt to keep the ball away from Joe Burrow.
The plan backfired. The Bengals possessed the ball for 38 minutes, and the Steelers running game never got untracked after the first touchdown drive.
“I think that was our game plan kind of going into it, just trying to establish our physical nature,” said Wilson, who threw for only 45 of his 148 yards in the first half. “The game kind of took a while for us to get going.”
By the time the Steelers junked the plan, it was too late.
Wilson was able to cut the lead to 19-14 when he threw eight passes for 43 yards on a nine-play drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth.
After they made it 19-17 on a 54-yard Chris Boswell field goal, the Steelers had one final chance with 1:51 remaining at their own 25. But they never got further than the 42 when a 4th-and-12 pass skipped through Freiermuth’s hands with 11 seconds remaining. Freiermuth finished with a team-high eight catches for 85 yards.
“We formulated a plan we thought was appropriate for this environment and this game this week,” Tomlin said. “It didn't work out the way we would like.”
It didn’t take long for the Bengals to take control of the game.
In what has become a disturbing pattern for the defense, the Bengals scored on the opening possession, as Burrow completed all six pass attempts for 64 yards and a touchdown, the last three to receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
After a quick three-and-out by the Steelers — another disturbing pattern — the Bengals used an 11-play drive to make it 10-0 on a 48-yard field goal by kicker Cade York.
But, after the Bengals controlled the ball for 11:34 in the first quarter, the Steelers came back with a 13-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that got jump-started with a nice toe-tapping sideline catch by Mike Williams for 25 yards on 3rd-and-11. The game plan was working. The Steelers ran the ball on 11 of the 13 plays for 38 yards.
Najee Harris had runs of 10 and 11 yards, but a pair of Bengals pass interference penalties — including one in the end zone — set up Harris’ 1-yard touchdown to make it 10-7.
The Bengals, though, took advantage of a risky Tomlin decision when they twice stopped the Steelers after they had 3rd-and-1 at their own 37 near the end of the half. The Bengals turned the error in judgment into a 27-yard field goal and a 13-7 lead with 16 seconds remaining.
Burrow, who completed his first 12 passes, finished the first half 21 of 27 for 153 yards and a touchdown. He started the second half, completing his first six passes for 47 yards and leading the Bengals to field goals on their first two possessions to make it 19-7.
Burrow, the league’s leading passer, finished 37 of 46 for 277 yards and a touchdown.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to play in the playoffs a bunch,” said Wilson, who has appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one. “The reality is, when you step in the playoffs, it's a new slate. It's a new opportunity. That's just the truth. That's just the reality of what it is.
“No matter how successful you've been in the regular season, no matter how tough the last part has been for us, we have a choice to respond the right way.”
First Published: January 5, 2025, 5:47 a.m.
Updated: January 5, 2025, 2:23 p.m.
