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DB’s Dudes & Duds: Steelers Defense Falls Flat, Spoils Offensive Outburst
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- DB’s Dudes & Duds: Steelers Defense Falls Flat, Spoils Offensive Outburst
Death, taxes, and Mike Tomlin's club struggling in road games on Thursday Night Football versus divisional opponents. After jumping out to a quick 10-0 start in this one, it looked like the good guys might run away with this one in similar fashion to last week's performance against the Cleveland Browns . Zac Taylor's squad said not so fast, thanks to heroic performances from Joe Flacco and Ja'Marr Chase in a 33-31 Bengals win.
Let's talk through some winners and losers from an ugly performance and one that ultimately cost them a chance to further solidify their stronghold in an extremely banged-up AFC North.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren runs with the ball in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 17, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Dude: RB Jaylen Warren
The Steelers' starting tailback had a fantastic game and, at times, looked completely unstoppable. His 155 yards from scrimmage were a career high, and he was able to consistently keep the offense on schedule with an impressive 62.5% rushing success rate. Pittsburgh had a ton of success getting out to the perimeter in this one, and he took advantage of some shoddy tackling and poor angles to find cutback lanes. When you add in all of the little things he does, specifically in pass protection, his contract extension looks like it's going to age incredibly well for the front office.
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Dud: CBs Jalen Ramsey & Darius Slay
It's no coincidence that the Steelers' push for cornerback help this offseason was partially aided by the fact that they knew they'd have to see Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins twice a year. Let's just say that the first round of the match went to the Bengals playmakers by knockout decision. Ramsey struggled immensely in this one, with multiple penalties, giving up a touchdown to Chase on a fade route in the second quarter before allowing Higgins to get behind him for the dagger on the final drive of the game.
In some ways, Slay was lucky because out of the three starting corners, Joey Porter Jr. included, he seemed to have the easiest assignments on average. Even then, the results were not good enough whatsoever. Andrei Iosivas torched him for a huge gain of 37 yards, which was the most notable loss, but he was beaten on a handful of slant patterns over the middle as well. Pittsburgh wants to play more man coverage this season, but with two older cornerbacks that are having trouble staying in phase down the field, it's fair to wonder if they'll be able to stick with that philosophy much longer. These two vets know all about having a short memory, having played this game a long time, and tonight was certainly one to forget.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 17, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Dude: QB Aaron Rodgers
The box score isn't quite indicative of how well the old gunslinger played during stretches in this one. In a game where his defense simply couldn't get enough stops, Rodgers led his unit to three touchdown drives in four possessions in the second half. Without Trey Hendrickson , the Bengals' pass rush was truly anemic, and the offensive line gave him plenty of time to scan the field and find open targets. Perhaps most encouraging was that we saw some real flashes of him in vintage form, extending plays and making absurd throws down the field. The offense as a whole is overachieving given its personnel limitations, and it really stings to see the team waste such a great performance from their quarterback.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 16, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Dud: DC Teryl Austin & HC Mike Tomlin
Bucketing these two together as the masterminds behind the defensive game plan, although tonight's strategy was curious, to say the least. Earlier in the game, they were running a lot of spot-drop cover-3 with Flacco just playing the hits with timely curls and out routes against free access. As the game wore on, they deployed more man coverage, but at that point, the Bengals signal caller was already in rhythm. The Steelers' pass rush was non-existent, largely because the ball was coming out insanely quickly, essentially as soon as he hit the back foot of his drop.
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There were just far too many completions on his first read, and both the coaching staff and players seemed two steps behind all night long. Now we know why Tomlin was so frustrated at Andrew Berry's decision to trade Flacco to a division rival. Tonight was another Thursday Night defeat, and when you add in a dubious decision to punt in the fourth quarter, it's safe to classify this one as a disaster.
Dude: TE Pat Freiermuth
After strangely being phased out of the offense completely over the past month, we have confirmed signs of life from the Steelers tight end. Freiermuth made a nice catch on a beautiful ball up the seam for his first touchdown and hooked up with Rodgers on a scramble drill late in the fourth quarter to give the team the lead back. They were also able to get him a couple of designed touches underneath for him to work with the ball in his hands. Maybe tonight will be the start of a growing relationship between QB-TE, knowing they need to find a real complement to DK Metcalf ? One thing that has proven to be true over the years: Pittsburgh's offense is better when the ball is thrown in his direction.
Dud: Defensive Trenches
You can somewhat understand, but not entirely excuse, the lack of pass rush production in this one. However, failing to stop the run against a Bengals team that entered the night ranked near the bottom of the league in virtually every statistic possible is just inexcusable for a team that has invested this much in their front seven. Chase Brown ripped off three runs of 10+ yards in this one, after the entire team had just 7 over their first 6 games COMBINED. We'll see what the tape says, but it felt like the left side of the line of scrimmage was caved in multiple times. The team as a whole didn't tackle well, but Patrick Queen seemed to have an off night versus the run after what has been a strong start to his 2025 campaign. There were lots of surprises tonight, none more than how this particular matchup played out.
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : DB's Dudes & Duds: Steelers Defense Falls Flat, Spoils Offensive Outburst
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