By Ryan Schneider | Steelers HQ
10/18/2025
Tomlin’s Thursday Night Record
Mike Tomlin’s Thursday night record has dropped to 9-11, with the record cascading to 2-10 for road games on Thursday. If you thought that was depressing as a Steelers fan, what I’m about to tell you is even more so embarrassing. The Steelers under the Mike Tomlin era have never beaten an AFC North foe on Thursday Night Football, with the official record snowballing to 0-7. There is a feeling amongst Steelers fans that Mike Tomlin doesn’t have his team ready to play on short weeks. That couldn’t be more evident Thursday night, as Ja’Marr Chase absolutely obliterated the black and yellow secondary for 23 targets, 16 receptions, 161 receiving yards, and a touchdown.
Let’s Discuss Jalen Ramsey
As previously stated, Ja’Marr Chase did whatever he pleased to the Steelers secondary, especially when matched up with cornerback Jalen Ramsey. This was the all-pro’s worst graded game of the season. The Pro Football Focus (PFF) coverage stats suggest that he finished with a 47.4 coverage grade and 54.7 defensive grade. Jalen only gave up four receptions on five targets, for a total of 35 yards, but that doesn’t paint the whole picture. He picked up a devastating pass interference call on the Ja’Marr Chase touchdown drive, thus putting the Bengals in prime position to finish the drive in the endzone.
Situational football seemed to be a killer for Jalen Ramsey Thursday night against the rivaled Bengals. Right before halftime, Jalen was beaten for two colossal receptions, which helped set up Evan McPherson for a 49-yard field goal and give Cincinnati a 17-10 lead at intermission.
The acquisition of Jalen Ramsey in the off-season was largely meant for one matchup: the Cincinnati Bengals and guarding their elite receiver duo in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Prior to the Thursday night matchup, Ramsey was quoted saying the following, “Coach Tomlin told us from the jump, right from training camp, he got all of us for a reason. It was to lock these guys up and be able to play man across the board.” It was a game the former all-pro corner wants to wipe from his memory. The amount of hate that was being directed Jalen’s way on social media was alarming. Sure, he had a terrible game, but I do not believe the corner is “washed” like a large contingency of the fandom. If these poor performances continue to tally up, then we can have that discussion.
Jalen seemed to take responsibility when talking to reporters postgame. “We have to play better, starting with myself, when the opportunity presents itself,” stated Ramsey when mentioning his subpar play. “It’s part of the game. When you have receivers that are superstars in the league, you know that they get away with (expletive) like that. It is what it is. Next play, you gotta play the game, you got to execute when you get the opportunity to execute.” One can’t argue with his stance, but the subtle hint that officiating helped dictate the outcome of this matchup is ludicrous. The eye test alone will show that Ramsey was outmatched Thursday night.
Teryl Austin’s Lack of Adjustments
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator, Teryl Austin, was the center of attention Thursday night regarding Steelers social media and the black and yellow fandom. His stubbornness, and unwillingness to switch out of man coverage, helped play a pivotal role in the outcome on the field. It was clear as day that all-pro Jalen Ramsey was not having his best night, and it may have helped to shade a safety overtop to double the superstar receiver.
This is a performance-based league. Austin could have looked like a genius playing man if only the pass rush and run defense were clicking on all cylinders. Bengals running back Chase Brown made the Steelers defense look nonsensical as he ran for 108 rush yards on 11 attempts, making the average 9.8 yards per carry (YPC). As for the pass rush, T.J. Watt is the heart of the edge-rushing unit, and he only tallied 0.5 sacks and 1 tackle for the evening. “It seemed like everything was going wrong,” Watt stated after the game. “It was an absolutely unacceptable performance from most of the defensive side of the ball.” Hopefully when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Green Bay Packers next Sunday night, Teryl Austin has a game plan that properly suites the skills of the secondary, and puts these elite pass rushers in position to make game-changing plays.
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