They entered the game on Monday night as favorites with 14.5 points.
It should have been a successful game against a team with two wins, the perfect setting in Monday night football to stop a two-game series and claim the AFC North crown for the first time since 2017.
Instead, it was a shame.
Instead of taking the division, Pittsburgh Steelers they lost their third game in a row after 27-17 against Cincinnati Bengals for breaks the winning streak of the 11 Steelers against the franchise.
They entered the game on Monday night as favorites with 14.5 points. With the loss, they equaled the largest unexpected loss since 1966.
Including the loss of the Rams to the Jets on Sunday, week 15 marked the fourth time in the Super Bowl era in which they won two “losers” with more than 14 points.
Ben Roethlisberger, the 38-year-old defender for the Steelers, carried all his age in the first half, recording a performance of two quarters that led to his worst offense of any half in his 17-year career with the Steelers.
In addition to setting new minimums in passing yards (7) and gambling yards (1,4), the Steelers also equaled the best number of first downs (2) and most turnovers ( 3) in the first half with Roethlisberger as the starter and a deficit of 17 points before the break.
The Bengals took those turnovers – two headaches and an interception – and turned them into two touchdowns and a goal on the field.
Rather than relying on short passes, Big Ben came out and tried long and intermediate pitches that seemed to be missing in the offensive in recent weeks. But he was not successful when he lowered the ball on the field, missing his receivers.
The balls thrown by his receivers in the last games were not the problem. Roethlisberger’s lands have just missed the mark.
Roethlisberger failed to complete any of the seven throws over 10 meters in the first half., and six of them were interrupted or intercepted by Bengali defenders.
For the first time in 20 seasons, including in the postseason, the Steelers finished with three and nothing in the first three possessions, including two fumbles that brought the Bengals 10 points. It was the first time since week 3 of 2017 that they lost two beats in the first quarter.
They failed to earn a first drop in the first quarter for the first time since week 8 of 2018 against the Browns. His first attempt came less than 10 minutes into the second quarter.
The steelmakers began to come out of the third hole fourth when Roethlisberger completed 7 of 10 passes for 89 meters and a touchdown on a 23-meter deep pass for Diontae Johnson, his first of more than 10 meters of play in play.
Play without James Conner, who was excluded due to pre-match injury, the running game was again non-existent in the first half. But this time, Benny Snell came to life in the second half with runs of 13 and 29 meters. The 29 win was the longest for a Steelers who came back from week 2, when Conner got a 59.
However, it was not enough.
Roethlisberger finished the game 20 of 38 for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception, enough to give him 60,000 yards for his career.
With information from ESPN Data.