The Cincinnati Bengals hit 0-5 in the AFC North with the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers over the weekend.
As a whole, the Zac Taylor era has seen the Bengals struggle in their own division, though some of those occurred without Joe Burrow or when the franchise quarterback was out injured or limited.
But for veteran cornerback Mike Hilton, the 34-11 blowout was something more problematic.
“Physicality and turnovers. You do those two things, you definitely win the division,” Hilton said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “That’s kind of what happened today. They hit us with some explosives and a couple of turnovers on our side of the 50. We just weren’t able to get off the field defensively when we needed to. I would say we just haven’t played up to our standards, especially in our own division.”
Hilton would know, considering he’s played for multiple teams in the division.
And it’s a point worth considering, too. Typically in the losses, it’s the Bengals losing the battle at the line of scrimmage and one could point to emulating teams like the Chiefs as opposed to prioritizing divisional play that can lead to hiccups like this.
Of course, everything changes with a player like Burrow on the field, but Hilton certainly isn’t wrong in his assessment of the holiday debacle.
