The Pittsburgh Steelers lost again on Monday, falling to the Cincinnati Bengals in an ugly 27-17 showing. It was the Steelers' third consecutive loss following an 11-game win streak to start the season.
After the game, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin provided an honest assessment of his squad's current state:
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Tomlin told reporters after the game, via the team's official Twitter account (h/t Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk). “We’re not a good football group right now. And so we understand the consequences that come with that. We’re working on a short week. We’ve got to be better than what we’ve been. And that’s just the reality of it.”
For his part, Ben Roethlisberger had another forgettable outing for the Steelers, completed 20 of his 38 pass attempts for 170 yards, with most of that production coming in the second half after a truly dreadful first-half showing. He also threw one interception and lost a fumble.
The 38-year-old is in the midst of a bit of a slump, and it's hard to deny that this has been one of the biggest reasons why the Steelers have been struggling over the past few weeks. When asked about his quarterback's performance, Tomlin denied any injury issues and again gave a blunt take on the matter:
“It’s not injury related,” Tomlin said regarding Roethlisberger, who didn’t appear on the injury report with a knee issue (or any other ailment) for the second straight week. “It just wasn’t good enough, like all of us — me included. We’ve got to be better.”
The Steelers return to action on Sunday to face off against the Indianapolis Colts for Week 16, where they will hope to get back to winning ways. That won't be easy against a 10-4 Colts team that is playing well.
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