Last February, I drove up to Cincinnati from Nashville to watch Super Bowl LVI with the loyal Bengals fans, who haven’t seen their team in the Super Bowl since 1989.

Not only had they not been in the Super Bowl in 33 years, but going into the 2021 season, the Bengals hadn’t won a playoff game since 1991. At the time, this was the longest streak in the NFL of 31 years. After three decades of zero playoff success, Bengals fans quickly became spoiled as their young roster, led by Joe Burrow, won three straight playoff games to secure a berth in Super Bowl 56.

Following a devastating loss to the Rams in the Super Bowl, fans were left heartbroken. There are plenty of reasons why the Bengals lost that day, but the most obvious one is simply a lack of experience. This reason shouldn’t leave fans sad about the loss, rather, it should excite them. And that is exactly what I saw when leaving Downtown Cincinnati that night; of course fans were upset, but they were also hopeful for the future. They have a young franchise quarterback and a lot of young talent on both sides of the football. 

This talent was put to the test for the first time in seven months on Sunday against the Steelers in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, carelessness with the football and head-scratching coaching decisions were too much for the Bengals to overcome, as they dropped their season opener to Pittsburgh 23-20.

Game Recap:

The defense immediately came out firing on all cylinders, forcing a three and out on the first possession of the game for the Steelers. Trubisky threw three consecutive completions, but they ended just shy of the first down, while losing a challenge along the way. Following a 44 yard punt, the Bengals offense trotted onto the field, and a game full of bad luck began.

On the first play of the drive, Burrow was sacked for a loss of five yards, something he was used to after getting sacked 19 times in the postseason, including seven times in the Super Bowl. The Bengals attempted to fix this issue in the offseason by signing four new players to the offensive line, but it was clear they hadn’t played a game together. As the season progresses and they get more games together, they should be able to better protect Burrow in the pocket. However, the protection that Burrow needed on Sunday to throw comfortably out of the pocket wasn’t there.

The next play was even worse than the first, with Burrow throwing his first of four interceptions straight into the hands of Minkah Fitzpatrick, who returned the ball 31 yards for a touchdown. Not a great start for a Super Bowl hopeful team.

For the remainder of the half, the Bengals defense held the Steelers to a touchdown and a field goal. Besides a lack of forcing turnovers, they did their part to help win the game. Unfortunately, the offense continued to struggle. Halfway through the second quarter, wide receiver Tee Higgins left the game with a concussion and didn’t return. Burrow threw two more interceptions and fumbled the ball once, but was able to get the ball into Steelers territory for two field goals. Kicker Evan McPherson had some success early on with a franchise record 59 yard field goal in his first attempt of the game. 

Right before the start of the fourth quarter, veteran long snapper Clark Harris was ruled out of the game with a right bicep injury. His replacement was third string tight end Mitchell Wilcox. 

At the end of regulation, Ja’Marr Chase caught a six yard pass for the game-tying touchdown. The game-winning PAT was blocked by Fitzpatrick after Wilcox’s first snap in a live game. His inexperience was evident. 

Then came overtime.

At this point, the players were exhausted. It was around 78 degrees during the game with 80 percent humidity. But this didn’t stop the Bengals. The Steelers won the coin toss and started with the ball. They had another three and out possession, putting the ball into the hands of Joe Burrow. He drove them all the way down to the 11 yard-line, giving McPherson an easy 29 yard game-winning field goal attempt. After a high snap from Wilcox, McPherson missed the field goal wide left.

Pittsburgh got the ball back and drove down to the Cincinnati 37 yard-line, which set up Chris Boswell for a long 55 yard game winning field-goal attempt. The ball was kicked awkwardly, and it wasn’t spinning end-over-end. At first, it looked like he was going to miss, then it looked like the ball was going through the uprights, and at the end, it curved left and hit the upright with the loudest “doink” I’ve ever heard. Another missed field goal. The third of the day. 

The Bengals got the ball back, they drove to the center of the field, and Burrow fumbled for the second time. Fortunately, the Bengals recovered it, but it was then fourth and long, and they had to punt the ball away with 1:04 left to play. 

The Steelers drove the ball to the Cincinnati 35 yard-line and as time expired, Boswell hit a 53 yard field goal to win the game.

Heartbreak yet again in Cincinnati. 

Despite having five turnovers, the Bengals still almost won the game, which should leave fans hopeful. Winning the game would’ve been quite the accomplishment for the Bengals, as the last time an NFL had won a game in which they had a turnover differential of minus five or worse was all the way back in 2012. Burrow finished the game 33-53 with 338 yards and 2 touchdowns. These aren’t rookie numbers, and if they can work on chemistry and communication with the offensive line, Burrow will have more time to be able to make better throws and take less sacks.

They signed a new long snapper off of the practice squad this morning, which will help McPherson make the kicks he can easily make if Harris isn’t ready to go in Week two.

It was the first game of the season and they needed to shake off some rust, but the Bengals continue to be hungry for success, and if they can work on just a few small kinks, it will still be a promising season for the up-and-coming squad.

Up Next:

Bengals (0-1) @ Cowboys (0-1), 9/18 @ 4:25 ET on CBS