Some thoughts on the host Cincinnati Bengals’ 33-31 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football:
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*I said that if the Bengals won this game, with Joe Flacco or anyone else subbing at quarterback for the injured Joe Burrow, then there ought to be an investigation. Pittsburgh is so much better than the Burrow-less Bengals. Well, I did the investigation, and here’s what happened: the Steelers coaches, from top to bottom, can blame themselves for this one. Head coach Mike Tomlin got so lit up about the Browns trading Flacco to Cincinnati, on a short week no less when he didn’t have time for anything else other than getting his team ready, that the Steelers lost their focus and were ill-prepared defensively, which almost never happens with that team. The Steelers never made any adjustments to what the Bengals were doing to them with their running game and their blocking schemes. Flacco didn’t beat the Steelers, but rather, the Steelers beat the Steelers. They were outcoached and outsmarted. I am a big Tomlin fan, but he dropped the ball tremendously in this one.
Mike Tomlin the next time Andrew Berry tries to say hello 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/AziWZYsuoL
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) October 17, 2025
*What the Bengals have done with Flacco in the short time that he has been with them underscores just how poorly coached the Browns are offensively. With the Browns this season, Flacco looked confused, befuddled and old. With the Bengalson Thursday night, he looked like Joe Burrow. Why? It’s amazing what coaching can do, or, in the case of the Browns, what it can’t do.
*But let’s not get the Browns defense confused with the offense. The Browns are as well-coached defensively as any team in the NFL. Coordinator Jim Schwartz has done an outstanding job. If the Browns were half as good with their offensive coaching as they are with the defensive coaching, then this team would be about .500 right now. But it’s not, so they aren’t.
*As for the Browns game on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins at home, pay special attention once again to just how good the defense will look and just how bad the offense will look in comparison to the Dolphins. Both teams are 1-5, but the Browns offense is so much worse than that of the Dolphins. If the Browns are able to win on Sunday, then it will be because of the defense, no question about it.
Steve King
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