By now, the Cincinnati Bengals have fully moved on from that season-opening loss to the Cleveland Browns, instead focusing on the Week 2 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
But elsewhere in the AFC North, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has thoughts on that 24-3 Browns win.
Buy Bengals TicketsAsked about the Cincinnati road loss as his team preps to play the Browns, Tomlin said certain Browns defenders were the biggest reason for the outcome.
“To be blunt, I thought the corners won the game for them for them last week,” Tomlin said, according to Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “Their ability to stand on the line of scrimmage and challenge the Cincinnati Bengals I thought was really impressive. They stood up time and time again. It allowed their safeties and linebackers to get focused on (Bengals running back Joe) Mixon and some of the run game. I thought that was the catalyst for the performance.”
Browns corners playing well and Bengals wideouts struggling to get separation or on the same page with Joe Burrow (Tee Higgins even had zero catches on eight targets) certainly didn’t help.
But the loss had a little bit of everything vibe, too. Browns defenders were fantastic and so was the scheme, the weather was poor, Burrow was rusty, so was his line, it goes on and on.
The Bengals have a chance to right the proverbial ship against the Ravens this weekend and won’t see Tomlin’s Steelers until Week 12 on November 26.
