The Cincinnati Bengals appeared to be in the process of leapfrogging the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North, but had trouble keeping up with the Steelers as the game progressed on Sunday night. Eventually, the Bengals lost 24-17 at home and now fall to 3-4.

After going up 14-3 on A.J. Green's touchdown, Cincinnati managed only a field goal and failed to keep the Steelers offense down.

It was a disappointing effort in game that had a lot of importance, according to Cincy Jungle:

A mistake-plagued team, often faced with imminent self-destruction leaving a wake of postgame comments with cliched "we'll get better" that's both disbelieving and tired.

The Bengals passing game especially was lackluster as quarterback Andy Dalton manged only 105 yards on 14-of-28 passing. Ryan Whalen led the receiving corps with four catches for 31 yards, but bobbled away a pass in the fourth quarter. Green, who has been a top receiver this season, was held to only one catch for eight yards on six targets.

Cincinnati now heads into a bye week before hosting the Denver Broncos in Week 9.