3 takeaways from Bengals blowout win over Steelers in week 12

The Cincinnati Bengals took the Pittsburgh Steelers to the woodshed on Sunday while donning their straight fire uniform combos of the orange tops with black pants. The game wasn’t even close, as the stripes won the AFC North matchup by a score of 41-10 and swept the Steelers for the first time since 2009.

Here are some takeaways from the blowout victory at Paul Brown Stadium.

Keep leaning on Joe Mixon!

Before the game, Stripe Hype’s own Kristen Wong wrote an article about how the Bengals should lean on running back Joe Mixon. Perhaps Zac Taylor already knew that (hopefully this is the answer) or maybe he read the article and agreed (less likely option).

Either way, Taylor and the offense leaned heavily on Mixon all day long and the former Oklahoma product didn’t disappoint. He finished the day with 28 carries for 165 yards and two trips into the end zone. It was a dominating day for Mixon and he really did lead the way for the offense.

Moving forward, this needs to be the strategy on offense for Cincinnati.

Offensive Line looked good

The play by the o-line has been hit or miss this year with the “miss” aspect shining through in the win over the Raiders last week and the “hit” looking like this week’s game. While Joe Burrow was sacked twice (once in the red zone, too), the o-line honestly did a solid job at protecting their quarterback from T.J. Watt and company.

I borrowed this tweet from Andrew Russell detailing the performance of the Bengals’ offensive line because it sums up their day well. Quinton Spain was beaten by Cameron Heyward, a very good player, but otherwise, the group gelled well.

Not only was Burrow well-protected, but the line did their part in creating running lanes and holes for Joe Mixon to run through. This is a great sign for the future.

Decades of frustration vs. Steelers all came out in this one

Prior to this game, the Bengals hadn’t swept the Steelers since 2009 and hadn’t beaten them three times in a row since 1990! Since the last time Cincinnati swept Pittsburgh, they’d only beaten their divisional foes five times with two of those coming in the past year. It was tough sledding for the stripes against the black and yellow but they’ve gotten their revenge.

Cincinnati took it to the Steelers in all facets of the game on Sunday and now move to 7-4 on the season and 3-1 in the division. They still have games against the Ravens and Browns remaining in the AFC North and the division is still very much anyone’s game, but Pittsburgh is falling out of it.

This was a great win for our guys and next up, they’ll have to prove they’re Super Bowl-caliber when the Chargers come to town. Let’s go!