Taken from the notebook of a teacher who is pleased to see his old offense learn new tricks, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2026 win over the Bengals at Acrisure.
Derrick Harmon seals the win by strip-sacking Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Jarden Wickerham, Steelers.com
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 19 of 34 for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception on a pass his receiver should have caught. Rodgers impressed far more with his command at the line of scrimmage. A few throws missed their mark, and red zone performance late in the game could have been better. But a very good day for the veteran. Grade: B+
Running Backs
Jaylen Warren finally got his shot at being the Pittsburgh Steelers feature back. And he excelled running for 127 yards on 17 carries (minus an 85-yard run nullified by a penalty), while catching 3 passes for 49 yards. And, while you don’t see it on the stat sheet, Warren delivered several critical pass blocks. Travis Homer and Lew Nichols both had a carry for naught. Grade: A
Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth only caught 2 passes for 30 yards, but his opening pancake block set the tone for the entire day. He also had a Tush-Push 3rd down conversion. Darnell Washington led the team in receiving yards, with 3 catches for 67; one converted a 3rd down where it took 4 players to stop him. Robert Tonyan caught 1 pass for 2 yards. Grade: B+
Wide Receivers
Roman Wilson started strong catching the first touchdown and converting a key third down. Then he bobbled a pass that led to an interception, setting up a Cincinnati score. He also had another drop. D.K. Metcalf only caught 3 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown, but for the first time this season he was a reliable receiver. Germie Bernard converted a third down with his lone 14 yard catch and made a key block in Washington’s 47-yard reception. Ben Skowronek caught a 23 yard touchdown that broke Steelers 1st-quarter, 2-touchdown drought that had been running for 98 games. Grade: B
Offensive Line
This is the level of play that everyone expected when Omar Khan and Andy Weidl committed to rebuilding in the trenches in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Bengals defensive line has been wrecking games thus far, yet starting two new players, the Steelers offensive line more than held their own. Yes, there were breakdowns late in the game that led to field goals instead of touchdowns, but this was a good performance by any measure. Grade: B
Defensive Line
The Steelers defensive line kept the Bengals rushing attack in check. The unit didn’t have much luck in pressuring Joe Burrow – until it counted. First, Cam Heyward forced an incompletion that set up a punt, and then Derrick Harmon strip-sacked Burrow with the game on the line, as Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered. Grade: B+
Linebackers
The Bengals knew they had to get the ball out of Joe Burrow’s hands quickly, and they did, limiting the ability of the Steelers elite pass rushers to do their damage. But the linebackers contributed in other ways, with Patrick Queen coming up with a key pass deflection while leading the team in tackles. And Payton Wilson had a key tipped pass two plays before Heyward forced his incompletion. Grade: B
Secondary
Let’s acknowledge the obvious – the Bengals offense moved through the air early and often. But their longest pass play went for 28 yards – three Steelers had receptions longer than that – yeah, we all saw that coming, didn’t we? Jalen Ramsey was excellent in run support and Jamel Dean had a key pass deflection. Grade: B-
Ben Skowronek streams in to recover a muffed punt. Photo Credit: Jordan Perez, Steelers.com
Special Teams
Kaden Wetjen had an average day as a kick returner while the Steelers coverage units were a little leaky. But Chris Boswell was perfect and Cameron Johnston only had one punt, but it went for 51 yards and he planted it inside the 20. The real star here was Ben Skowronek who recovered a muffed punt, setting up the go ahead score. Grade: B+
Coaching
A week ago after the loss to the Patriots, Mike McCarthy manned up and took responsibility for the offense’s poor performance.
What we saw this week was McCarthy’s ability to transform accountability into action. McCarthy made the bold decision to make two changes on his offensive line. The result was the best Steelers offensive line performance since Mike Munchak moved out west.
But McCarthy did more than change personnel; he devised a game plan that systematically picked apart the Bengals defense and ensured that his players executed it.
Aaron Rodgers burning 5 timeouts to get play calls right shows that this offense remains a work in progress; the fact that the first one of those time outs converted a 3rd and 5 into a 38-yard touchdown provides evidence that progress will be made.
We know that Patrick Graham instructed his players to keep Cincinnati’s pass catchers in front of them. This “Bend but don’t break” strategy succeeded in allowing the Steelers to keep pace, until Pittsburgh’s pass rush could get to Burrow just when they needed to. Grade: B
Max Iheanachor keeps Aaron Rodgers clean. Photo Credit: Trai Essex, X.com
Unsung Hero Award
Will this game mark some kind of milestone when the history of the McCarthy era is written? Today we don’t know. But when future football historians research this game’s box score on ESPN or Pro Football Reference, there’s one name they won’t see even though his play had an immediate impact. And for that, Max Iheanachor wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 win over the Bengals at Acrisure Stadium.
