The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the field Saturday for the final time of the 2024 regular season when they hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18 of regular season action. The Steelers were losers in the contest, but that doesn’t mean every player had a good or bad performance.

Players who play well can be considered ‘Winners’, while those who left a lot to be desired can be called ‘Losers’. It may sound harsh, but it is the crux of this exercise.

Let’s check in to see who fell on which side of the ledger after the latest game…

Winners

Cam Heyward
Stat Line: 1 tackle, 3 PDs

Heyward’s stat line certainly wasn’t the type of stat line which would usually find someone on the winner list, but the Steelers captain absolutely had an impact in this game. His three pass defenses were all critical plays, but when you hear he was playing with the flu after the game it made the performance even more impressive. Heyward has had tremendous season, and should deserve to be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. Too bad the team’s overall performance down the stretch likely means that is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Beanie Bishop
Stat Line: 1 INT

The Steelers undrafted rookie free agent has absolutely made his presence felt this season in the takeaway category. In a season when most didn’t expect much from the player out of West Virginia, Bishop has tallied 4 interceptions on the season. His takeaway of Joe Burrow, a play which was initially made by Patrick Queen but finished by Bishop, help negate the Calvin Austin III fumble at the end of the first half. At a time when not much has gone right for the Steelers down the stretch, Bishop, in limited opportunities, continues to be a bright spot.

Red-Zone Defense
Stat Line: CIN: 1-for-4

The Steelers red-zone defense has been an issue at times this season, but it was this unit which kept the team in the game. This was a master class in “bend, don’t break” defense, and they held the Bengals high-profile offense to just 19 points. Only one touchdown, and the rest field goals. Their lone touchdown came on their first drive of the game, and the defense stood tall after that. At the time it felt as if the defense was struggling, but when the dust settled you could see the Steelers defense played well, especially when the field got short in the red-zone.

Keeanu Benton
Stat Line: 5 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hit

Benton’s sack of Joe Burrow was his first of the season, but highlighted an under-the-radar season for the second year pro. Benton has had a great season, even though the accolades and statistics like sacks and QB Hits may have eluded him for the majority of the 2024 campaign. Benton is the next in line after Cam Heyward calls it a career, and he seems to be ready, and willing, to step up and make plays when it matters the most. It was good to see Benton finally get that sack, especially one which came at such a significant time in the game.

Losers

Russell Wilson
Stat Line: 17/31, 148 yards, 4.8 ave., 1 TD, 0 INT, 4 sacks for 29 yards, 78.4 Rating

Wilson is on the loser list, but not because of the above stat line. Sure, Wilson missed some throws and bailed out of the pocket early on more than one occasion, but he finds himself on this side of the docket for one main reason. He was brought into the starting lineup for his veteran presence. He’s a “been there, done that” player, as Mike Tomlin says. If that’s why Wilson was inserted into the lineup, he certainly didn’t live up to the billing in this game, and hasn’t during the 4-game losing streak. His decision to not throw the ball away, or run out of bounds, with less than a minute left in the game was absolutely mind-numbing. A mistake a veteran shouldn’t make. As the evaluation process will continue, it looks less and less likely the Steelers should want to bring Wilson back in 2025.

George Pickens
Stat Line: 1 catch, 0 yards, 3 drops

In our X-Factor article yesterday I went with Pickens as my X-Factor. Pickens has been under fire this week after a weird situation with the media, and what better way to silence the critics than for Pickens to go out and light up the stat sheet, and scoreboard. He did neither. He had more drops than catches and yards combined. On top of that, Pickens was seen verbally jousting with fans during the game on the sideline. I don’t know what to say about this young man anymore, but the act is getting old. At least when he’s performing at a high level you can say the juice is worth the squeeze, but games like Saturday night make you second guess that thought process.

Arthur Smith
Stat Line: Ineptitude in all phases

This will be a common theme among this article, but it will start here. The Steelers last game was Christmas day, and this game was played on January 4th. They had that extended break, 9 days to be exact, to prepare for this game, and this is what we got? This was the detailed preparation? This was putting “eight pounds in a seven pound bag”?? Arthur Smith’s predictable play-calling continued, and what made me laugh the most was the Steelers offensive drive to start the 3rd quarter. Let’s recap, shall we?

• Sweep to Najee Harris, loss of 4
• Checkdown to Harris, gain of 6
• Pass incomplete to Calvin Austin III
• Punt

This was the plan after the halftime break? To start not just with a run, but a running play which hasn’t worked all season with any level of consistency?

Offensive Output
Stat Line: 193 total yards (119 passing / 74 rushing)

To magnify the ineptitude of Smith and his offense, just look at the raw data above. The Steelers didn’t even muster 200 yards offense in total. This against the porous Bengals defense, the same defense the Steelers hung over 500 yards on just a month ago. Results matter, and in this case the entire offense was sub-par.

Calvin Austin III
Stat Line: Costly Turnover

The Steelers cannot get out of their own way anymore. 10 straight games with a turnover doesn’t really look like a “buttoned up” unit. Austin’s fumble didn’t result in points scored, thanks to Beanie Bishop’s interception, but it triggered a sequence which saw the momentum shift in a large way. I’m not bashing Austin, but more so the fact the Steelers have proven they can’t play a clean game in the turnover department. I’ve said it ad nauseum, the last time the Steelers had a game without a turnover was vs. the New York Jets at home, and that was Russell Wilson’s first start.

Kickoff Coverage
Stat Line: Just kick it out of the end-zone

I understand the premise behind kicking it short against a team like the Bengals. You don’t want to spot them the ball at the 30, so you kick it short and hope your kickoff coverage can pin them deep. But what if your kickoff coverage is no good? What if instead of having the Bengals start at the 30 they started at the 40, or even closer to midfield? That’s exactly what was happening on Saturday night, and unless Chris Boswell couldn’t kick the ball into the end-zone, I don’t know why they didn’t decide the coverage wasn’t getting the job done.

Dropped Passes
Stat Line: Too many to count

In a game where it is tough sledding for the offense to move the ball, you can’t leave opportunities out there. That’s exactly what happened, and it wasn’t just George Pickens who was dropping passes. Some might say Calvin Austin III had a bad drop on 3rd down, and there might not have been a more significant drop than the one by Pat Freiermuth on the Steelers final offensive play from scrimmage. Would the Steelers been able to clock the ball and give Chris Boswell a chance to win the game? We’ll never know, but that was an accurate pass and Freiermuth just dropped it. Missed opportunities.

Out-Coached…Again
Stat Line: Becoming a weekly event

The Steelers had that extended break I mentioned earlier, and while the defense showed up, the offense was Missing In Action. What might be even more frustrating is to watch the Steelers get out-coached, and out-classes, week after week. At some point you have to look at the plans being put in place and wonder if they are setting their players up for success, or the alternative? The coaches aren’t responsible for dropping passes, but they absolutely are responsible for getting them in position to make plays and succeed. They haven’t done that, and it’s been glaring.

4 Losses Heading Into the Playoffs
Stat Line: Not limping, crawling

So, here we are. The Steelers have lost 4 straight games as they don’t limp, but crawl into the postseason. I’ve never seen the fan base so disinterested in a postseason berth in a long time, but it’s warranted. There is little to no hope for this team moving forward, and a playoff win would be considered a modern day miracle. I believe miracles happen, but if you looked at the schedule when it was released this past spring and said, “What is the worst possible way the Steelers could enter the playoffs?” You would show them losing these final four games before the single elimination tournament began. This ought to be fun…

If you want a more detailed look at the above list, check out my “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below where I outline each Winner and Loser, and MORE!