The Pittsburgh Steelers entered their Week 11 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals wanting to get back on track on both sides of the football. They also wanted to prove that their Week 7 loss to the Bengals and poor defensive performance in that game was a fluke.

Consider it mission accomplished for the Black and Gold after a 34-12 win over the Bengals in which they scored more defensive touchdowns (two) than touchdowns they allowed (one) on the North Shore Sunday afternoon.

The Steelers defense showed up in a major way, and even dealt with the ejection of safety Jalen Ramsey after an altercation with Ja’Marr Chase. Meanwhile, the offense shook off injuries to quarterback Aaron Rodgers and running back Jaylen Warren to do just enough in the win, moving the Steelers to 6-4 on the season and riding high ahead of a tough road trip in Week 12 to take on the Chicago Bears.

Let’s get to some grades.

QB — B

Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph weren’t asked to do much in the game, hitting a number of checkdowns and short crossing routes on designed rollouts to take advantage of some yards after catch against the Bengals. Even with some of the limitations offensively, the Steelers still had a nice day, passing for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-31 attempts.

Prior to Rodgers exiting with a wrist injury at halftime, he wasn’t exactly sharp. He missed a throw to DK Metcalf downfield along the far sideline and looked a bit skittish in the pocket, dancing around and not really feeling confident in anything he was seeing. He also took a terrible sack, trying to buy time in a situation that didn’t call for it.

He did make a nice read on his 11-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Gainwell and also had some strong, accurate throws on the move to Metcalf and Darnell Washington for chunk plays.

After Rudolph replaced him though, it felt like there was more rhythm within the offense. Rudolph wasn’t asked to do much at all, but he finished 12-of-16 for 127 yards and a touchdown in relief, taking care of the football and playing within structure. It wasn’t flashy from the quarterbacks, but it was efficient in a big-time win.

RB — A-

It was looking like the Jaylen Warren Show in the first half as Warren ripped off an impressive 35-yard run on the game’s opening drive and ran hard against a defense he carved up in Week 7. But then an ankle injury slowed him, and Kenneth Gainwell took advantage of the opportunity, putting up a big-time performance.

Gainwell rushed for just 24 yards on nine carries, but did his damage as a receiver in the blowout win. Gainwell finished with a game-high seven receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns on eight targets. So much for WR2 being an issue. That wasn’t the case with Gainwell on Sunday.

Along with Gainwell’s performance as a receiver, Warren finished with 62 rushing yards on 10 carries. Hopefully the ankle injury doesn’t linger.

WR — C+

The wide receivers were just fine, led by DK Metcalf, who had five receptions for 49 yards in the win. He would have had an even bigger day if not for a bogus offensive pass interference penalty down the left sideline that wiped out a big play. He also had a pass interference penalty earlier in the game, getting called for a pick that seemed a bit iffy.

Behind Metcalf, Roman Wilson hauled in one pass for 17 yards on two targets and saw a lot of snaps while Calvin Austin III had just one target and wasn’t much of a factor offensively. It’s understandable the concerns at the position, but the Steelers just aren’t playing more than two wide receivers at a time all that much.

TE — A-

If it wasn’t clear yet, it is crystal clear now: Darnell Washington is the Steelers’ TE1.

Washington was outstanding Sunday, hauling in four receptions for 67 yards, including a highlight-reel 31-yard catch and run in which he stiff-armed a Bengals defender and then plowed through another at the end of the run. He also had a big catch on third down earlier in the game in which he hurdled a defender in the middle of the field.

Washington was good as a blocker, too, and really put together a complete game for Pittsburgh.

Pat Freiermuth was quiet against a team he typically dominates, hauling in just one pass for 19 yards. It was a nice catch and run, but outside of that Freiermuth was nearly invisible. Same with Jonnu Smith, who didn’t have a catch on two targets and had one penalty for a facemask on a Kaleb Johnson run that was declined.

OL — B+

The Steelers rushed for 111 yards on 28 carries in the win and allowed just one sack. Heck of a job up front from the offensive line.

It wasn’t just the work in the run game that was impressive, either. The Steelers’ offensive line was really good in the screen game, too, helping spring Gainwell in the quick-passing game. Mason McCormick and Zach Frazier did some good work in space, while Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones looked good in pass protection.

An encouraging performance across the board for the Steelers’ offensive line.

DL — B-

The Bengals were able to spring running back Chase Brown a few times, but overall the Steelers defensive line was solid throughout the matchup.

Cameron Heyward was stout once again, finishing with six tackles. He controlled the point of attack all game and helped bottle up the run game, forcing the Bengals to become one-dimensional.

He had help from Keeanu Benton, who was outstanding rushing the passer. Benton had four pressures and continues to put together a string of great games in the middle for Pittsburgh. Rookies Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black made some plays, too. Black had a big hit on the Bengals’ two-point conversion attempt to shut it down, while Harmon was once again a steady run defender.

LB — B

I didn’t like what I saw at times in run defense from Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison. On both of Chase Brown’s long runs Queen was lackadaisical and slow to get off a block while Harrison just wasn’t gap-assignment sound and didn’t get off a block. Outside of that though, they played well in the second half.

Queen led the Steelers with 10 tackles and had some big hits, while Harrison finished with three tackles. Payton Wilson had another strong game, finishing with six tackles in the win. He had a big special teams tackle on the opening kickoff, too, which set the tone.

Outside, I liked what I saw from Nick Herbig in place of Alex Highsmith. Even with Orlando Brown Jr. jumping the snap over and over again, Herbig generated plenty of pressure and also had a big sack in the red zone of Joe Flacco. T.J. Watt didn’t have a sack, but he did have a couple of pressures, tipped two passes and was around the football a ton. His roughing-the-passer penalty was a bad call from officials, too.

Rookie Jack Sawyer had a strong game in 19 snaps. He had a nice run stop in the first half and helped generate pressure in three-OLB looks, creating a nice day overall for the outside linebackers. Sawyer did get beat deep by Tee Higgins for a 25-yard touchdown in the first half, but it was on a broken play after he found himself in a tough spot.

DB — A-

The last time the Steelers faced the Bengals, Flacco threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and Ja’Marr Chase had a career day. That didn’t happen this time.

The Steelers put the clamps on the Bengals’ passing attack, holding Flacco to just 199 yards. Outside of the Higgins 25-yard touchdown, the Bengals didn’t have a pass play over 18 yards. The Steelers kept a lid on everything and largely tackled well.

James Pierre had an outstanding game for the Steelers as he continues to play great football. He made a big pass breakup downfield on Chase and later had a scoop and score on a fumble to put the capper on the win. He should be the starter opposite Joey Porter Jr.

Speaking of Porter, he was sound in coverage all game. He finished with three tackles and broke up a pass, while Kyle Dugger was terrific, too. Along with his 74-yard pick-six of Flacco, Dugger was all around the football. He had three tackles, broke up two passes and had a big hit over the middle after Jalen Ramsey’s ejection.

Prior to getting tossed, Ramsey was a tone setter for the Steelers. Ramsey had four tackles, broke up a pass and had a big hit on Chase early in the game, lighting the fuse on that battle.

Special Teams — B-

Chris Boswell bounced back from a missed field goal last week in Los Angeles to drill both field goal attempts on the afternoon, both of them short ones. He also was perfect on extra points, though he banked one in at the end of the game.

Punter Corliss Waitman was steady again, averaging 44.3 yards on three punts. Two of them were downed inside the 20-yard line, helping the Steelers flip the field and pin the Bengals deep.

In the return game, with Ke’Shawn Williams in concussion protocol, D’Shawn Jamison stepped up and had one kickoff return for 20 yards. Calvin Austin III moved back into the lineup as a punt returner and made a bad decision fielding one deep in his own end, causing the Steelers to get pinned deep. It just can’t happen there, especially from a veteran punt returner.

Yahya Black had a roughing-the-snapper penalty on the Bengals’ lone extra point attempt, but he made up for it with the stop on the 2-point conversion attempt. Still, those types of mistakes can’t happen there.