Bengals vs Steelers: Winners and losers from Week 1 loss

Winners

Joe Mixon

After putting up the best numbers of his career, Mixon continued to look like a major weapon in this game. The former third-round pick out of Oklahoma had 27 carries for 82 yards while also adding seven catches for 63 yards, giving him a total of 145 yards from scrimmage.

On a day where Joe Burrow and the offensive line didn't do their part, it was a relief to see Mixon still playing well and doing what the team expects of him.

Ja'Marr Chase

Speaking of doing what's expected of him, Chase picked right back up from where he left off last season. The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year hauled in 10 catches for 129 yards and a much-needed touchdown. He should have had two touchdowns but... Well... Zac Taylor decided not to challenge it for whatever reason.

That doesn't reflect on Chase, however. He continued to be a freak of nature for this offense and hopefully he'll lead the team to a win next week.

Defense

Maybe it's lazy to list the entire defense here but it's hard to single everyone out when the entire unit played well. Mitch Trubisky only threw for 194 yards and a touchdown off of 38 total pass attempts while the Steelers run game was held to just 75 yards through the entire game.

The pass rush could have been more present but it's hard to nitpick the defense too much when they were the reason the team was even still in the game after Burrow's four interceptions and lost fumble. They deserve a gold star, every single one of them.

Clark Harris and long snappers everywhere

Don't ever take long snappers for granted again. That's the lesson that Bengals fans learned on Sunday after Harris was injured and missed the end of the game and all of overtime.

Harris' injury led to Mitchell Wilcox having to snap the ball on both kick attempts and punts. The extra-point attempt at the end of the game after the Bengals tied up the score was blocked and then when Evan McPherson had a chance to win the game in overtime, he missed.

Hopefully Harris is okay but if he has to miss time, it'll be Cal Adomitis time and Bengals fans won't take either guy for granted from now on.