It should have been a match with a team that wins two victories, the perfect stage in football on Monday night to stop a slip in two games and claim the AFC North crown for the first time since 2017.
Instead, it was an embarrassment.
Instead of preventing the division, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up for the third straight game, losing 27-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals, who managed to win the Steelers’ 11-game winning streak against the franchise.
They entered the game on Monday as favorites by 14.5 points. With the loss, they equaled the biggest angry defeat of 1966.
Including the loss of the Rams to the Jets on Sunday, week 15 marked the fourth time in the Super Bowl era, when two 14-point plus subordinates won directly.
Ben Roethlisberger, the 38-year-old Steelers defender, showed his age in the first half, organizing a performance that led to the worst offensive effort in the first half of his 17-season Steelers career.
In addition to setting new lows in passing yards (seven) and in-game yards (1.4), the Steelers equaled the fewest first downs (two) and the most turnovers in a first half (three). ), with Roethlisberger as the starter on the road to a 17-point deficit at the break.
The Bengals took these three turnovers – two headaches and one interception – and turned them into two touchdowns and a goal on the field.
Rather than relying on short passes, Roethlisberger came out and tried long and intermediate throws that seemed unofficial in recent weeks. But he had no success pushing the ball on the field, missing and throwing the receivers.
The drops that have affected his receivers in recent games have not been the problem. Roethlisberger’s throws were simply not a step away.
Roethlisberger failed to complete any of his seven 10-yard throws in the first half, and six of them were separated or intercepted by Bengal defenders.
For the first time in 20 seasons – including in the postseason – the Steelers came out with three and three in the first five possessions, including two defeats that led to 10 points for the Bengals. He scored for the first time since Week 3 of 2017 at the Bears when the Steelers lost twice in the first quarter.
They failed to earn a first drop in the first quarter for the first time in 2018 week 8 against the Browns. Their first low month came with just under 10 minutes for the second quarter.
They began to climb out of the hole with three goals in the third quarter as Roethlisberger completed seven of 10 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown on a 23-meter deep shot to Diontae Johnson, his first 10-yard touchdown run Monday .
Playing without James Conner, who was ruled out due to an injury four days before the game on Monday, the running game was again non-existent in the first half. But Benny Snell Jr. came to life in the second half, running 13 and 29 yards. The 29-yard gain was the longest run by a Steelers runner in Week 2, when Conner lifted 59 meters.
However, it was not enough.
Roethlisberger finished the game by completing 20 of 38 attempts for 170 meters with a single touch and an interception – enough to give him 60,000 meters in his career.
A Bengals offense led by third-quarter defender Ryan Finley led to a Steelers defense playing with significant injuries to inside defenders. Finley used his feet on a crucial run that stretches to the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to score a 23-yard touchdown, sealing the game.
Prior to Monday night’s game, the Steelers opined that the span of three games in 12 days contributed to the first two losses of the season. They believed that this week was a chance to claim their physical significance and, finally, to get a much-needed week of training. Instead, the offense was thwarted again, as were the Steelers.
Research from ESPN Statistics and Information was used in this report.