On Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a golden opportunity to take a commanding lead in the AFC North just by beating the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals. Instead, the Steelers fell flat in all phases, especially on defense. Pittsburgh went from being up 10-0 early in the third quarter to losing the game 33-31, and now only leads in the North by a game and a half. Here are our big takeaways from the heartbreaking loss.

The defense might be frauds

Everyone got very excited when the defense dominated the Cleveland Browns but what we saw on Thursday night is closer to the truth with this group. Inconsistent, sloppy tackling and general lack of effort and athleticism.

Without a No. 2 wide receiver, this offense can’t compete

Time has run out for the Steelers to wait on Calvin Austin III to come back. The offense has tried to tread water with just DK Metcalf at wide receiver but once the Bengals started rolling extra defenders his way, the offense had no consistent answer.

Play Pat Freiermuth or trade him

I hope Pat Freiermuth reminded the coaches how good he is after this game. The coaching staff shunned him for weeks for no good reason, and when called upon, he delivered. Now it’s time to either make him a focal point of the offense or trade him away.

We all hate Andrew Berry

Mike Tomlin called out Browns GM Andrew Berry for trading Joe Flacco to the Bengals and after watching how he’s played, it just gives everyone one more reason to hate the Browns. It also really illustrated just how terrible of a franchise the Browns are.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers vs Bengals:: Big takeaways from the heartbreaking loss