At the end of the day, the Steelers lost their regular season finale to the Cincinnati Bengals 19-17 at Accrisure Stadium.

But a bounce here or there could have changed the outcome – which is obvious in a game decided by two points.

While it’s disappointing as a standalone game, it’s a game the Steelers would obviously like to win on their home court.

Add in the events of the last month and it looks more of the same, as the Steelers lost their fourth straight game heading into the postseason.

“When you look at these games, it comes down to five or 10 games,” Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. “If we don’t do it, you know, there’s no one to blame but ourselves.”

However, this game didn’t go quite the same way as the previous three games – losses to the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs.

In those games, the Steelers had late chances to win the game only to turn the ball over. And the defense struggled across the board, failing to get sacks, turnovers and getting off the field at all.

However, the Steelers only lost one turnover in this game, on a fumbled punt return by Calvin Austin III.

The Steelers had two turnovers, also recovered a fumble on a punt and also intercepted Joe Burrow once. The Steelers also sacked Burrow four times and hit him seven times, forcing two fumbles. They allowed 7.5 yards per catch for the game.

The ball came out so quickly to take advantage of Burrow’s accuracy that the Bengals ended up possessing the ball for 38 minutes in the game.

But after scoring a touchdown on their first possession, the Bengals had to settle for field goals again and again, going 1 for 4 in the red zone as the Steelers adjusted to what Cincinnati was doing.

“You did it. They did a good job,” said Burrow, who finished 37 of 49 passes for 277 yards with one touchdown and one interception. “This front is really good. So this was a game where you have to catch it and get it out, get it to your guys and let them play. Our execution in the red zone wasn’t good enough. That is, so to speak, the story of the game.”