6 pessimistic stats from the Bengals Week 12 loss vs. Steelers

4 sacks, 5 QB hits allowed

The Bengals have struggled to protect their quarterbacks from getting hit all season. While the defense is giving up fewer sacks than in previous seasons, there is still a lot of pressure. And as was the case for Joe Burrow, some of those hits fall into the vicious category.

Against the Steelers, at first glance, the offensive line held up admirably against an excellent pass rush. However, Jake Browning held the ball too long on two sacks. Either the receivers were not getting open, or Browning was not seeing the field well enough. Either way, there were moments we all collectively thought, or perhaps even yelled, throw the ball!

However, there were other times that Browning had no chance. What immediately comes to mind is when T.J. Watt was untouched on his way to getting a sack.

On this play, there was a miscommunication on the part of Jonah Williams and tight end Drew Sample about who was supposed to block Watt. We had hoped never to see the Bengals’ offense pass-block defensive ends one-on-one ever again. On the other hand, that would have been better than what we got here.

Being so late in the season, the hope would be that these sorts of issues would not appear. Nevertheless, we have seen it countless times this season. All we can do is hope it does not happen again and that the team does not need to go to its third starting quarterback of the season due to a similar miscommunication.

Other discouraging stats include a 33:17 to 22:43 time of possession disadvantage, 2-10 on third down conversions, and 22 first downs for the Steelers to only 10 for the Bengals.

Each of these stats has plagued this Bengals team all season long. This includes their stretch of games when they were winning. However, they were always present. It would appear that this is who this team is this season, and like Burrow’s wrist, we might have to wait until next season for it to get better.

For now, all we can hope is that the team can overcome these issues and go on an absurd miracle run to get to the playoffs.