Merril Hoge isn\u2019t holding back his criticism of an underwhelming Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Dominated by the Cincinnati Bengals over the final three quarters of last Thursday in a 33-31 loss, Hoge took every facet of the unit to task. Run defense, coverage, scheme, and fundamentals, all were picked apart by a frustrated Hoge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that was probably the most concerning was their defensive line kind of fell back into the first two weeks, how they kinda got manhandled,\u201d Hoge said Wednesday afternoon on 102.5 WDVE.<\/a> \u201cCincinnati manhandled them up front.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bengals entered the game with easily the NFL\u2019s worst rushing attack. A group struggling to break 55 yards per game, Cincinnati popped off for 142 yards on the night. Starting RB Chase Brown saw his seasonal yards-per-carry increase by nearly a full yard, averaging nearly 10 yards against a Steelers defense that had shut down Cleveland Browns rookie sensation Quinshon Judkins the week prior. Pittsburgh\u2019s defense couldn\u2019t get off blocks or make tackles, allowing Cincinnati to control the line of scrimmage and mute the Steelers\u2019 pass rush.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t tackle very well,\u201d Hoge said of the defensive showing. \u201cYou can\u2019t hit in this league. I just don\u2019t get it, man. It\u2019s probably the most disturbing. When I played, I\u2019ll tell you, we would watch a team and go, \u2018Okay, these guys are hitters or these guys are tacklers.\u2019 And if they\u2019re hitters, we\u2019re like, \u2018We\u2019ll get runs, we\u2019ll get runs.\u2019 Three-yard runs can turn into five- and six-yard runs. But if they\u2019re tacklers, man. I mean, you\u2019re probably gonna get a three-yard run.\u201d<\/p>\n