Steelers vs. Bengals Takeaways: Jaylen Warren Takes Over

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers pull off a thriller in Acrisure Stadium. Their first AFC North battle came down to the wire, winning 30-27 in a shootout no one saw coming.

The game had plenty of takeaways, and plenty of big moments. This was was exciting from start to finish.

Let's not waste anymore time. Here we go.

Holy Good Play-Calling

My gosh, it's felt like an eternity since the Pittsburgh Steelers had a well-called offensive game. It's probably been years. Literally.

But this one was different. You can talk about players catching the ball better, the offensive line blocking better and the run game performing (which we'll talk throughout this story), but the biggest difference for the black and gold was Mike McCarthy. He had a great game against the Bengals.

In the first quarter alone, McCarthy drew up two passing touchdowns that were genius. The first was a hesitation from Roman Wilson, sending him streaking to beat the defender. The second, he had Ben Skowronek go in motion into the backfield, take off through the line of scrimmage and be wide open in the endzone.

Aaron Rodgers with ANOTHER DIME for 6️⃣@CINvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Sdp77ksgfA
— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026

From start to finish, this game had all of the offensive juice fans were waiting for. McCarthy is an offensive head coach and a Super Bowl-winning play-caller. The first two games, you didn't see that. This one, you did.

Jaylen Warren Dominates

The Steelers need all the Jaylen Warren they can get. As a runner, blocker, and pass-catcher, they should utilize all of it, because Warren is a star, and Pittsburgh needs to continue playing him like one.

Through the first two weeks of the season, Warren and Rico Dowdle split reps, rotating every other series and not changing personnel during the series.

It didn't work. But with Dowdle on the sideline, Warren had an opportunity to be the bell cow runner, and he showed he's one of the best in the league, and a difference-maker for a struggling offense.

JAY TRAIN 🚂 @Nunless2

📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/vqIDzYZB2x pic.twitter.com/rJdZDEbKdh
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 27, 2026

Warren finished with 17 carries for 127 yards and 49 yard receiving. He would've added another 80 to that total if one run wasn't called back by a holding call on DK Metcalf.

But it wasn't just his stats that told the story of his success. He remains on of the top pass-blocking running backs in the NFL, and held guys off of Aaron Rodgers multiple times, including the team's first touchdown pass to Roman Wilson.

Warren is a key piece to this offense's success moving forward, and while Dowdle's return will be welcome, Warren should remain the leader of the pack in the backfield.

New Offensive Line Equals New Offense

The Steelers listened to everyone's concerns (not really) and changed their offensive line. First-round rookie Max Iheanachor and guard Brock Hoffman replaced Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook as the starters in Week 3, and immediately, there was success.

Rodgers had more time in the pocket, Warren had more room to run the football and the offensive as a whole operated much smoother than it did the first two weeks of the season.

A lot of that is the play-calling improving and players playing better. But it's impossible to ignore the improvement of the offensive line.

Maybe this group has finally clicked. Maybe having another first-round pick in the mix helps them get better. If this is their group, though, they have two first-rounders, a second-rounder and two gritty guards. That's a good group to grow with.

Steelers Can't Stop the Run... Still

The Steelers defense struggles in one key area seemingly all the time; stopping the run. They haven't been able to do it in years and continue to find themselves trying to fix it and being unable to this season.

Pittsburgh's defense didn't look good at all during their matchup with Cincinnati, but even with plenty of big plays in the passing game, the real villan was on the ground.

Chase Brown finished the day with 61 yards on 13 rushes, averaging over 4.7 yards per carry. Last week, Pittsburgh gave up 136 yards on the ground and the week before, they gave up 91 yards.

The Steelers need to fix their ground game issues if they're going to improve this defense. T.J. Watt and the defensive front can get home to the quarterback as much as they want, if teams can establish the run, they control the clock, and, eventually, the game.

It's a must-fix for the Steelers defense.

Joey Porter Jr. Would've Helped

For the first time this season, the Steelers could've used Joey Porter Jr. Not that it would've changed the outcome of the game completely, but Pittsburgh's defense didn't look great, and most of it was because of the decision to play zone the entire game.

Joe Burrow was able to find Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase during any crucial moment, with yards between them and the defenders. Then, on the few plays the Steelers did play man-to-man, Asante Samuel Jr. wasn't able to make plays against either of the star wideouts.

Who knows if Porter Jr. would've been able to come in three weeks into the season and make a difference. It would've been worth the shot, though.

If the Steelers aren't going to have Porter Jr. this season, which remains a possibility leaving Week 3, they better figure out how to win in man-to-man situations against teams with good wide receivers. Otherwise, they're going to rely on their offense a little too much in games against powerful passing attacks.

Something they cannot afford to do this season.

Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube or anywhere you listen!

Add us as a preferred source on Google