Negatives were in abundance for the Steelers in their second straight loss at home on Sunday.
A pair of turnovers, just 10 points despite outgaining the victorious Bengals, and a trio of drops on Pittsburgh's final offensive drive shined a particularly bad light.
For Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd, those drops -- via Steelers running back Najee Harris and wideout Chase Claypool -- were evidence that Pittsburgh threw in the towel.
"The last plays of the game for them, they gave up," Boyd said Monday, . "You could see it. They had three drops in a row."
Claypool had nine receptions for 96 yards on 15 targets, while Harris had an eye-popping 19 targets and turned those into 14 catches for 102 yards. With that many targets, perhaps drops are just going to happen, but the two alternated drops on three straight plays in a losing cause.
Boyd, a Pennsylvania native, believes the drops were indicative of a team giving up and a franchise that is not what it used to be.
"They portrayed to the whole nation, on TV, what they were about and how they gave up," said Boyd, who had four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown in the Cincinnati win.
There are plenty of problems in Pittsburgh and a rival opining that Steelers players are giving up certainly doesn't look great following an ugly showing. It does, however, add a little anticipation to the teams' Week 12 showing.
