The “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” from the Steelers blowout win against the Bengals
Following every Pittsburgh Steelers game, Travis Newton takes a no-holds-barred, unabashed look at what went well, not so good and just plain ugly. Here is this week’s edition of the “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
I’d like to preface this week’s edition of “Good, Bad, and Ugly” by saying that it was almost “all good” in Pittsburgh’s Week 9 victory over the Bengals. I had to truly get down to the nitty-gritty to find “The Bad” and “The Ugly”, which was a relief (after a performance against the Cowboys last week that was lacking “The Good!”)
The Good
Diontae Johnson Touchdown Reception
Steelers Ball: 1st Quarter 1:54 – 1st-and-10 CIN 12
This wasn’t necessarily the best play of the Game for the Steelers, but it was good to see Diontae Johnson find the endzone early as he has had an inconsistent season up to this point.
Pittsburgh got up on the Bengals early and the touchdown connection from Roethlisberger to Johnson only increased the damage. Roethlisberger caught the single high safety lacking with his eyes in the backfield and rifled a pass to Johnson who had just come out of his break on the post route. Johnson secured the pass and celebrated in the endzone with his teammates as Pittsburgh took a 12-0 lead.
The touchdown was the icing on the cake for Johnson as he finished a career game with 6 receptions for 116 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Bad
Bengals Fake Punt
Bengals Ball: 4th Quarter 7:53 – 4th-and-13 CIN 34
The Bengals dug deep into their playbook in garbage time to execute a flawless fake punt to pick up the first down and more.
Punt protector Shawn Williams received the direct snap on the fourth-down play, catching the Steelers off guard and scattering down the sideline before being tackled by Ray-Ray McCloud. Williams gained 39 yards on the fake, setting up the Bengals for a field goal later in the possession.
The Ugly
Tee Higgins Big Reception
Bengals Ball: 2nd Quarter 13:32 – 1st-and-10 CIN 24
The Steelers defense had a great showing against Cincinnati except for this break in coverage, which resulted in a 54-yard reception by Tee Higgins.
Minkah Fitzpatrick was the single-high safety on the play who was heavily favoring the short side of the field. Cameron Sutton was the other influenced defender on the play as he sat underneath in coverage, leaving Higgins wide open up the seam for the longest play of the game for the Bengals.
