Bengals Linebacker Slams Steelers’ Elementary Playcalling

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt just took a shot at Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

The Bengals defeated the Steelers, 37-30, Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, and the Bengals’ second-half defensive performance factored mightily into the victory.

The Bengals trailed the Steelers, 20-17, at halftime but bounced back to take home the win and improve to 6-4 in the process.

So what changed after 30 minutes of play?

Pratt went for the jugular when asked that question after the game.

“Just settling down,” Pratt told CBS Sports. “It was us giving them plays. We knew what they were going to do. They like to do the same plays over and over.”

That’s an insane quote in 2022, ladies and gentlemen.

Per CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo, Pratt wasn’t even trying to be divisive or controversial here. His comments came without a hint of malice. But they sure resonate.

Pratt was just shooting it straight –– and the Steelers are predictable with Canada calling the shots, to hear him tell it.

The sentiment jives with the Steelers’ offensive statistics through 10 games:

What a resume pic.twitter.com/QGZeEVWDo2

— Adam Steel (@RenegadeAdam) November 20, 2022

And it jives with Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett’s postgame comments:

“We gotta go out there and execute whatever’s called,” Pickett said after the loss.

It’s impossible to fully blame Canada when the Steelers are 3-7 and floundering near the bottom of every significant offensive metric in the NFL.

It takes a team to win, and it takes a team to lose.

But to have a quote like Pratt’s surface after a rivalry game feels like more than “business as usual.”

It feels true. It feels honest.

Is it time for the Steelers to step back and re-evaluate the process?