AFC North football: The Steelers turned up the heat in the AFC North, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10, to improve to 7-4 on the season, with a 3-1 division record.
It might not have been perfect, but it got the job done and keeps the Steelers near the top of the division.
"Excited about gaining victory. Wasn't an easy day, but they hung together, and they fought," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "I thought field positioning was a component of the first half. I thought we gave up a kickoff return to midfield. We had two touchbacks on punt circumstances when we had a chance to put them on a long field. We had some penalties in the punt return game. So, the field positioning component probably made it a little bit more uncomfortable than it should have been.
"Thought maybe Diontae (Johnson) scored on that one and then we fumbled a few plays later. We've got to take care of the football. Lost points there. So, I don't know that the score was reflective of how we were operating. But that's football. That's how things go.
"We did what we needed to do to win the game and I'm appreciative of the efforts. AFC North football, road venue. I'm just appreciative of the win today and the efforts that produced it."
The offense came to life under the guidance of interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan, who handled the play-calling. The Johnson play Tomlin was referring to was what could have been a touchdown, but he was ruled to not have possession and no replay was shown in the stadium for the Steelers to challenge the call.
"I thought we spread the ball around," said Tomlin. "I thought we changed up things schematically and did different things, launch points. I thought we attacked down the field early when they were in split safeties, and we weren't going to let them sit in that comfortably all day. We did what we needed to do."
The offense put up over 400 yards for the first time in 59 games, with tight end Pat Freiermuth pulling in nine receptions for a career-high 120 yards. Tomlin said coverage was a component in Freiermuth getting the ball so much.
"Sometimes coverage dictates that but obviously, Freiermuth's first week back was last week, he was out an extended period of time," said Tomlin. "It's probably more of a reflection of him getting back on things and Kenny (Pickett) getting back on things with him."
Defensively the Steelers completely shut down the Bengals running game, allowing Joe Mixon just 16 yards on eight carries. Quarterback Jake Browning, making his first NFL start, completed 19 passes for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
"That's what we aspire to do," said Tomlin. "When the opponent is playing with a young quarterback, really puts the emphasis on the run game. That's two weeks in a row where we did a nice job versus the run when people were probably really committed to it and so I'm appreciative of that."
First-year safety Trenton Thompson, who was signed off the practice squad this week with mounting injuries, intercepted Browning and the Steelers offense was able to convert it into the team's only touchdown, a five-yard run by Najee Harris.
"One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, and efforts like Trent's make that real," said Tomlin. "We're really appreciative of it. I just think that's what team is about, particularly over the course of a journey that is a season. There's going to be opportunities for people to ascend and to change the perceptions of who they are professionally. And this guy has been really excited about this opportunity. We're excited for him, and he delivered."
Nowhere to run: Stop the run.
It's what every player on defense preached all week.
Stop Joe Mixon and force Jake Browning to throw the ball on a day he was making his first NFL start.
Mission accomplished.
Mixon had just 16 yards on eight carries, the kind of numbers the defense was looking for.
"Huge. That was a point of emphasis," said linebacker T.J. Watt. "We understand how dominant of a back he can be, especially in the run game and the screen game. The one at the end we need to contain. But other than that, I feel like we did a good job on him for the most part today.
"And that's not just the guys up front. That's the guys in the back end willing and able to come up and make some hits as well.
"Big win, divisional win. To be able to bounce back after a loss, to show some resiliency in this group. We could have made a whole bunch of excuses this week. Really proud of us for sticking together and getting back on track. Feels good."
The defense was fresh with the offense controlling the time of possession, especially in the first half when they had the ball for 19:09 while the Bengals had it for only 10:51.
"Rest. I think we took 21, 22 snaps in the first half as a defense and that's huge," said Watt. "Offense was controlling time of possession. Defense, we were able to get off the field.
"Obviously, didn't like that early drive that ended in a score. But being able to smash the run helps a lot, being able to get them one dimensional. Spent a lot of time on the bench today and that was awesome as a defense."
Watt finished the game with two sacks, bringing his season total to 13.5 sacks.
But individually, and as a defense, they want more.
"We're never satisfied, but we're happy for the most part," said Watt. "Defensively, back end did a good job of making (Browning) hold on to the ball a few times and that was what allowed us to be able to get after him up front.
"Probably see a couple plays on the film that we wish we could have back, but overall felt like coming into this game we knew the playbook was still going to be pretty open because he is a smart quarterback and felt confident in the things that he could do. It allowed us to get after him a little bit more than a traditional young quarterback."
Coming together as a unit: One of the weirder weeks of Kenny Pickett's brief career turned out to be one of the more gratifying.
"I'd say so," Pickett confirmed after the Steelers' 16-10 decision over the Bengals this afternoon at Paycor Stadium. "It's a lot of adversity, a lot of things going on, moving parts. It felt like a short week almost, because of when we got the news and how quickly we all had to kind of react to what happened and flush it and move on and get ready to go this week.
"Hats off to our guys in our locker room that did that."
The "news" Pickett referenced was the announcement last Tuesday that offensive coordinator Matt Canada had been fired.
Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner was named interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan became the new play-caller on offense.
"I think we came together as a unit," Pickett continued. "Huge shout out to 'Coach Faulk' and 'Coach Sully.' I think those guys did a great job of preparing us this week. I think we did a great job of coming together and staying together in a time of adversity.
"Coming on the road and getting a really big-time AFC North (Division) win that we needed, it feels good."
The Steelers only managed six more points against the Bengals than they'd scored on Nov. 13 in Cleveland, a 13-10 setback that turned out to be Canada's last stand.
But the victory over the Bengals included the first 100-yards receiving game of tight end Pat Freiermuth's career (120 on nine receptions), a 99-yard effort on the ground from running back Najee Harris and 278 passing yards from Pickett.
The Steelers surpassed 400 total net yards (421) for the first time in 59 games.
"I wouldn't say we're relieved," Pickett assessed. "We always knew what we were capable of doing, it's just putting it together. We still haven't 100-percent really put it together. It felt like we left points out there but you got to take the positives and continue just to march forward, which is what we plan on doing.
"We know we're capable of putting that kind of offense out there every week, we just weren't able to do it these previous weeks. It feels good to come together like that and put out a great game."
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