Pittsburgh Steelers: Winners and Losers in Loss to the Bengals

Embarrassing. Disappointing. Underwhelming.

You can use any of these and a multitude of other adjectives to describe the 2012 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After losing 13-10 to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs and can now look forward to 2013.

Here are the winners and losers from the last meaningful game for the Steelers this season:

Winner: Cortez Allen

The defense in general played pretty well, however, Cortez Allen had his best performance as a pro and is the only winner I have for the game.

Allen recorded the first two interceptions of his career, including a great sideline catch off a tipped ball in the third quarter.

Despite the loss, Allen showed the type of potential he has and, if the Steelers can keep Keenan Lewis, Pittsburgh could have one of the best group of cornerbacks in the NFL for years.

Loser: Offensive Line

The offensive line looked like they were going to have a decent day after opening up multiple holes for Pittsburgh running backs to start the game—and then everything went wrong.

The line gave up four sacks, seven quarterback hits and allowed the Bengals to record nine tackles for a loss.

Ben Roethlisberger was constantly under pressure, and the line got blown off the ball on most runs.

Loser: Ben Roethlisberger

I am one of Ben Roethlisberger’s biggest fans and without him the Steelers would not be in any game.

However, he just had a bad game.

From the start, Roethlisberger did not look like he was in any sort of rhythm, and his pick-six was the only touchdown the Bengals scored.

Mistakes do happen, but this time, it happened in the Steelers' most important game of the season, and Ben’s two interceptions cost Pittsburgh the game.

Loser: Todd Haley

For yet another game, the Steelers offense looked stagnant, predictable and just plain bad against the Bengals in a game they needed to win.

Todd Haley has been hailed as the guy who had Ben Roethlisberger on track for his best season, however, too many times the offense has looked directionless.

Against the Bengals, the Steelers were only able to muster 10 points, which is completely unacceptable considering the team's talent on that side of the ball.

Loser: Mike Tomlin

Mike Tomlin has come under some criticism from Steelers fans lately with how listless the team has looked as a whole.

I am in no way calling for Tomlin’s job, as he is a great coach, but that doesn’t mean he has done a good job this season.

Everyone has blamed the many injuries the Steelers have suffered, and all I have to say to that is deal with it. Every single team in the NFL has dealt with injuries, and although these injuries are not Tomlin’s fault, he must still get his team ready every week.

There have been more than a few times this season when Pittsburgh has just looked unprepared and, consequently, has underperformed against inferior opponents.

I will continue to support Mike Tomlin, but that doesn’t mean he is above being criticized.

Loser: Steelers Fans

In the end, the only people who really lost in this situation were us, the team's fans.

I haven’t seen this many disappointing and embarrassing performances by the Steelers in years, and now we have to watch the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs.

The worst part is the Steelers have no one to blame but themselves. If they had just beaten teams like the Tennessee Titans, the Oakland Raiders, the Cleveland Browns or the San Diego Chargers, they would be in the playoffs.

At this point, all we have to look forward to are the team's draft possibilities and the roster changes that Pittsburgh will make in the offseason.