The Cincinnati Bengals don't play until Monday night in Denver, but Week 4's first Sunday game has already given them reason to smash the panic button.
After getting smoked by the Minnesota Vikings 48-10 on the road last week, Who Dey Nation was dismayed by the on-field product the Bengals put forth. It looked like the season was effectively over in Cincinnati's first game since Joe Burrow's turf toe injury.
Things only got worse for the Bengals when the Vikings traveled all the way to Dublin, Ireland, to take on Cincinnati's bitter AFC North rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bengals' Week 3 embarrassment looks worse after Steelers beat Vikings in Dublin
We all know that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin refuses to let his team have a losing record, but whatever sorcery he's pulling off to begin 2025 is the stuff of legend.
Pittsburgh somehow pulled out a 21-14 win at New England thanks to forcing five turnovers. That matched the amount of takeaways the Vikings got off the Bengals last Sunday.
Then, the Steelers flew across the pond and beat the absolute brakes off of Minnesota, whose depleted offensive line and deployment of backup quarterback Carson Wentz caused the international game to go sideways.
The 24-21 final score actually felt less lopsided than what it looked like on the gridiron. Pittsburgh got a scoop-and-score defensive TD by Jalen Ramsey called back. The Vikings blocked a short-range field goal. An ill-fated 4th and Goal late in the fourth quarter saw the Steelers run it and get stuffed. So many points left on the board.
Therefore, the obvious takeaway here for Bengals fans is how this does not bode well for the rest of the season whatsoever. Several prominent Who Dey Heads on social media are very concerned in the aftermath of Pittsburgh's latest victory.
The Bengals took the worst loss in franchise history to this Vikings team last week…
— Bengals Central (@BengalsCentral_) September 28, 2025
Let that settle in.
Oh we really suck huh
— mike (@bengals_sans) September 28, 2025
Oh so the Vikings defense isn’t all-world when you actually prepare your team to attack them?
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) September 28, 2025
We made this pathetic Vikings defense look elite btw 😭😭😭
— Korey 🐅 (@BengalsKorey) September 28, 2025
Aaron Rodgers was absolutely dealing and frustrated the Vikings' pressure-heavy defense by getting the ball out really fast. Too bad Jake Browning couldn't do that in Week 3 so well, but that's also because Cincinnati couldn't run the ball to save their lives.
Bengals center Ted Karras owned up to the bad offensive line performance versus Minnesota. However, for Chase Brown to have only 10 carries for three yards in Week 3, and then to see the Jaylen Warren-less Steelers rack up on the Vikes? Talk about an ominous sign of what might be to come.
So to recap: The deeply-flawed Steelers just owned the heck out of the Bengals' Week 3 opponent who beat them by a franchise-record 38 points. Cincinnati can't run the ball, can't rush the passer with anyone other than Trey Hendrickson, and are about to face the Broncos, who boast PFF's best pass blocking grade through three games.
"Down bad" doesn't even begin to describe it for Bengals fans after witnessing what the Steelers just did to the Vikings.