The Cincinnati Bengals’ season is essentially over. In another must-win game, and this time in the AFC North, Cincinnati simply couldn’t keep up with the Steelers’ offense. Here are the best and worst results from the Bengals’ 38-44 loss to the Steelers.

winner

Chase Brown:

With the Bengals in “catch-up” mode and their offense spending most of the second half off the field, Brown’s stats and contributions were overshadowed. He was again an all-around weapon, in this one totaling 100 yards (70 rushing, 30 receiving) and a touchdown.

Joseph Ossai:

A bad referee call put the Bengals in a bad situation (as did their defense all afternoon), but they had a save. Even though he didn’t yet reach his full potential as an extra fullback, Ossai played a crucial role in the game by blocking a field goal from the normally automatic Chris Boswell.

Tea Higgins:

Joey Porter Jr. had arguably one of the worst days as an NFL cornerback this Sunday. Tasked with guarding Higgins for most of the afternoon, he recorded four penalties while No. 5 had 69 yards and a score on Sunday.

loser

Lou Anarumo:

On the one hand, I think most can understand Anarumo’s approach against Russell Wilson. He plays more of a downfield passing game, which is a Cincinnati defense, so they had them take the subs to avoid the big play.

However, the Bengals’ defense allowed 257 yards passing in the first two quarters alone, the best first half of Russell Wilson’s Hall of Fame career. Anarumo’s unit had no answer to the Steelers’ offense for most of the afternoon.

Frank Pollack:

The return of Orlando Brown Jr. was welcomed and Pollack and company made a change on the left side, but the curse of TJ Watt remained. The future Hall of Fame edge defender had another great play against the Bengals. Also, does anyone want to block Cameron Heyward?

Cody Ford:

It didn’t work. Cincinnati tried to replace the struggling Cordell Volson with the veteran, and Heyward completely took over the game. Ford had a critical false start and one play later disaster struck that sent the game out of control.

Basically everyone in secondary school

Cam Taylor-Britt had some moments of brilliance (a pick-six and a big hit on Calvin Austin III), but for the most part the second was an absolute mess. Geno Stone is playing terrible at safety and the Jordan Battle replacement theory for Vonn Bell didn’t pay off this week. In this unit, no one is immune from criticism.

Additionally, Josh Newton struggled in his first extensive cornerback experience and the team had no answers for Wilson and Co. Just an absolutely embarrassing performance by the defense, only forcing one punt all day.

Charles Burks and Jordan Kovacs:

The Bengals’ secondary coaches need to be held accountable for a unit that was atrocious, even though they have guys like Cam Taylor-Britt, Geno Stone and Mike Hilton, all of whom played good football but now look lost on this defense.

The Bengals front office:

The disparity between the Steelers and Bengals franchises became painfully clear on Sunday afternoon. Failing to find targeted answers and relying on woefully ineffective acquisitions from outside free agency was part of the formula for a disastrous season.

Organizational vision, staffing, coaching, culture, contracting, and human resources should all come under strong scrutiny in 2025. You’re wasting Joe Burrow’s best time.

Zac Taylor:

You can’t lose by multiple possessions to a hated division rival in a must-win season-saving game… you just can’t do that. Cincinnati fought valiantly for about three quarters, but it’s painfully obvious that the gap between this version of the Bengals and the Ravens and Steelers is relatively wide – especially in the trenches.

The optimists will point to the 1-7 record in one-point contests this year. It is also an accusation for a lack of finishing and/or seizing clutch moments, which could also be due to coaching.