It’s halftime at Acrisure Stadium and the Pittsburgh Steelers lead the Cincinnati Bengals 10-6. This game started off with both teams marching down the field on their opening drives with touchdowns and it looked like this would be a shootout like the first matchup between these two teams this season. But both defenses made adjustments and settled in and now we have a physical, old-school AFC North slugfest.
Here are our three big takeaways from the first half.
Officiating is a problem
You hate to see a game with so much control in the hands of the officials but this is where we are. Hopefully no matter how inconsistent the officiating is, it doesn’t impact the final outcome of the game.
Steelers pass rush disappoints
Despite the Bengals playing young offensive tackles, the Steelers’ outside pass rush is nonexistent. Even with Alex Highsmith out, we expected more from T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig but for the most part, Joe Flacco has had plenty of time to throw and the Steelers secondary has been bailing out the guys up front.
The continued misuse of Jaylen Warren
The Steelers have 13 rushes by running backs in the first half with eight of them going to Jaylen Warren. In a game this close, going against a run defense as questionable as the Bengals, there’s no reason Warren doesn’t have double-digit carries.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers vs Bengals halftime takeaways
