Steelers’ loss to Bengals extends Pittsburgh’s nightmare Thursday road losing streak to 45 years

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history, but despite all their success, there is one thing they’ve never been able to pull off: The Steelers have NEVER won a Thursday night road game against a divisional opponent. 

The Steelers had a chance to end that streak in Week 7, but instead, the Cincinnati Bengals pulled off a 33-31 upset at Paycor Stadium. The Steelers have now played a total of nine divisional Thursday games on the road in franchise history, and they’ve gone 0-9 in those games, which includes going 0-7 under Mike Tomlin. 

In Cincinnati, the Steelers had no answers for Joe Flacco, who threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Ja’Marr Chase also went off for a franchise record 16 catches to help propel the Bengals. 

For the Steelers, it was another Thursday disappointment. 

The Thursday losing streak started in 1980 with a loss to the Houston Oilers, and it’s now been going on for 45 years.

This streak has been going on for so long that the Steelers have played two divisional games against opponents who aren’t even in their division anymore (Jaguars and Oilers/Titans). 

It’s not just divisional games, though, Thursday nights have generally been a nightmare for the Steelers. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Steelers are now 3-16 in Thursday road games, which is the worst winning percentage of any NFL team in that span. 

Here’s a look at the three teams that have been the worst in Thursday road games since 1970 (via CBS Sports Research): 

1. Steelers: 3-16 (.158)
2. Browns: 2-8 (.200)
3. Jets: 3-11 (.214)

The fact that the Browns and Jets are on that list isn’t a surprise to anyone, but seeing the Steelers lumped in there is definitely shocking. Overall, the Steelers are 12-19 on Thursdays in franchise history. 

If you look at just the games played since Tomlin was hired, the numbers don’t get any better. The Steelers coach is 2-10 on the road in Thursday games, including 0-7 against divisional opponents. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Steelers are 1-6 on Thursday night. 

With the Steelers facing Flacco, maybe we should have known that Pittsburgh just wasn’t going to win. The Bengals’ victory gave Flacco 12 career wins against the Steelers, which is tied with Tom Brady for the most against Pittsburgh in NFL history. 

Flacco and Rodgers gave us a historical duel on Thursday night: The matchup marked just the second pairing ever of two quarterbacks over the age of 40. The only other time it happened came in 2020 when Brady and Drew Brees played each other three times while playing for the Buccaneers and Saints. 

Rodgers threw for 249 yards and four touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions in the loss.