Going into Thursday’s game with the Cincinnati Bengals, everyone knew this was the definition of a trap game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming off a short week and a big win, everything lined up for Pittsburgh to fall flat and it went exactly that way. The Steelers dropped to 4-2 and now hold only a 1.5-game lead in the AFC North.
But in the big picture, head coach Mike Tomlin’s futility against the AFC North in these games just further illustrates his inability to prepare the Steelers to play on a short week. With Thursday’s 33-31 loss, the Steelers are now 0-7 in their last seven Thursday night road games against AFC North foes.
This is absolutely nuts. #Steelers#NFLpic.twitter.com/aOHgo1ivp0
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) October 17, 2025
Pittsburgh now gets itself a mini bye week before it faces one of the toughest two-game stretches on its schedule. Pittsburgh goes back-to-back in out-of-division games with the Green Bay Packers on Monday night and the Indianapolis Colts the following Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Mike Tomlin’s TNF futility continued vs Bengals
