Winners and Losers From Cincinnati Bengals' 34-11 Loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

The Bengals lost to the Steelers 34-11 on Saturday night. Here are our winners and losers:

Winners

Tee Higgins

The Bengals receiver was one of the few with a good performance against the Steelers. Higgins had 5 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown. It’s a contract year for Higgins and although he’s struggled at times this season, he’s certainly helped his chances if getting a big pay day the past couple weeks.

Losers

Lou Anarumo

The Bengals' defense coordinator played a huge role in their success over the past two seasons, but the 2023 season has been a struggle. The Bengals defense ranks very poorly in almost every category this season, and they got beat badly by Mason Rudolph and a struggling Steelers' offense.

The Steelers scored 34 points on the Bengals and Anarumo had no answers. This upcoming offseason will be huge for the future of this Bengals defense. With a few key players scheduled to be free agents, the Bengals will need to make some tough decisions on who they can move away from on this defense. They will also need to spend some cap and draft picks to improve their defense.

Jake Browning

Browning has been outstanding as the stand-in quarterback for the Bengals after Joe Burrow’s injury, but he had a rough night against the Steelers. He threw three interceptions that helped the Steelers pull away from the Bengals.

Bengals Offensive Line

Going against TJ Watt and the Steelers defense is not an easy task, but the Bengals offensive line struggled badly on Saturday. The line only gave up three sacks, but Browning was pressured often and the Bengals running backs didn’t seem to have any room at the line of scrimmage.

The Bengals line has had a pretty solid season this year, and they have a couple more chances to improve to close out the season.

DJ Turner II

The Bengals rookie had some bad moments in coverage against the Steelers. Turner was great early this season, but has struggled in recent weeks.

The former second round pick has the tools to be a very good cornerback in the NFL, and the Bengals need him to get through this rough patch quickly.