The Steelers played Monday night’s game as favorites with 14.5 points.
It would be a successful match against a team with two wins, the perfect setting Monday Night Football to end a two-game streak and claim the AFC North crown for the first time since 2017.
Instead, it was a shame.
Instead of taking over the division, Pittsburgh Steelers lost their third game in a row after 27-17 against Cincinnati Bengals in front of break the Steelers’ 11-game win streak against the franchise.
The Steelers played Monday night’s game as favorites with 14.5 points. With the loss, they matched their biggest unexpected loss since 1966.
Including the loss of the Rams against the Jets on Sunday, week 15 was the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that two “losers” won by more than 14 points.
Ben Roethlisberger, the 38-year-old quarterback for the Steelers, wore all his age in the first half and posted a performance two quarters that led to his worst offense of any half in his 17-season career with the Steelers.
In addition to setting new lows in passing yards (7) and yards per play (1.4), the Steelers also tied their best first-downs (2) and most turnover (3) in a first half with Roethlisberger as the starter and with 17 points behind half time.
The Bengals took that turnover – two fumbles and an interception – and turned them into two touchdowns and a field goal.
Rather than relying on short passes, Big Ben came out and tried long and medium throws that didn’t seem to be in recent weeks. But he failed to get the ball across the field and missed his receivers.
The balls his receivers threw in the last games were not the problem. Roethlisberger’s pitch missed the mark.
Roethlisberger failed to complete one of his seven throws over 10 meters in the first half., and six of them were interrupted or intercepted by the Bengal defenders.
For the first time in 20 seasons, including the postseason, the Steelers finished with three and nothing in their first three possessions, including two fumbles that gave the Bengals 10 points. It was the first time since week 3 of 2017 that they lost two fumbles in the first quarter.
The Steelers failed to win a first quarter defeat against the Browns for the first time since week 8 of 2018. His first attempt came with less than 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
The Steelers began to come out of the hole in the third fourth when Roethlisberger completed 7 out of 10 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown on a deep 23-yard pass Diontae Johnson, his first of more than 10 passing yards in the game.
Play without James Conner, who was excluded due to injury before the match, the running game did not exist in the first half. But this time Benny Snell came to life in the second half with runs of 13 and 29 meters. The win of 29 was the longest for a Steelers to decline since week 2, when Conner made a 59.
Yet it was not enough.
Roethlisberger finished the game 20 of 38 for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception, enough to give him 60,000 passing yards for his career.
With information from ESPN Data.