Blame the offense for this one

[SteelTorch]

No question about it. We may not have gotten a takeaway, but 4 trips inside the red zone for only 12 points is unacceptable. Not to mention the turnover by Ben that set up another field goal by Cincinnati. Hats off to Cincy's defense, but every player on our side looked flat-out bad. Receivers dropping balls, Ben throwing into double coverage, linemen not blocking well, etc.

That's not to say the defense is absolutely free from blame, either. The D-backs have yet to produce a turnover in Troy's absence, and we let the Bengals eat away time on the clock with their second-string running back.

And for the love of GOD, could we please stop giving up all these returns for TDs? We have given up a league high 49 points in that area alone.

[phillyesq]

I will give credit to the Bengals D. They played well.

The offense was horrible. I wish they would have run more. The oline had some protection issues, and Ben and the receivers missed some opportunities. But, still, the Bengals D played very well.

[Tomlinator]

*snip.

And for the love of GOD, could we please stop giving up all these returns for TDs? We have given up a league high 49 points in that area alone.

Well, we've given up 42. Blame the FG block team for the other seven. :P

But I'm back to where I was a couple of years back, sweating every danm kickoff and punt.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Let's face it--this version of the Steelers isn't all that special. Not yet, anyway.
They are about as good as their record indicates...which is behind quite a few other teams.
And the Cincy D showed that our O-line is not really elite just yet. They looked pretty darn ordinary out there today. And yeah, Ben looked pretty ordinary, too.

That said, a couple of plays and this game could have turned out the other way.
If Clark catches that interception...if Holmes catches that TD...There were too many miscues. It looked as though this team was not focused and not ready to play, especially in contrast with Cincy, who clearly showed up to play. The lack of focus goes on Tomlin.

The poor offensive play-calling goes on Arians. And I agree with the OP--why not go to the no-huddle down the stretch? It's like it works so well, BA is afraid to use it...I don't understand.

[Shoe]

And for the love of GOD, could we please stop giving up all these returns for TDs? We have given up a league high 49 points in that area alone.

Ummm... I think that is the actual area to blame (if you can blame an area). On a general level, Offense is playing very well--today wasn't a good day (hats off to CIN's D). Defense giving up 12 points in a game--yeah, we'd like the DB's to come up with one of those picks, but c'mon, 12 points is 12 points.

But ST??? F-n c'mon... playing like dog $hit all year (if that stat above is correct). When are you gonna pull your f-n heads out of your a$s, be accountable, and help our team win.