Playing without one of its best defensive players, the Cincinnati Bengals turned in another wretched defensive performance. And Ja’Marr Chase threw shade at the defense after the loss to the Steelers, according to a post on X by Ari Meirov.

“The #Bengals defense has given up 34+ points in a game SIX times this season. JaMarr Chase was asked if they have to score every possession in a game: ‘That’s kinda our expectation now.’ ”

Yeah, that’s about all that needs to be said. The Bengals haven’t won a lot of games this season, and the defense has been the main culprit. But giving up 44 points to an offense like Pittsburgh seems especially egregious.

The Bengals helped turn the clock back for Russell Wilson, who threw for a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns in the 44-38 win.

Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and the offense are doing their part

Chase had 264 yards and three touchdowns in a loss this season. He’s had six touchdowns over the last three games, all Bengals losses.

There’s not much else for Chase and the offense to do except look out of the corner of their eyes at the defense. Or maybe point fingers at the officials. That’s what Chase and Burrow did when a false start went against Cincinnati on Sunday, according to bengals.com.

“Bad call,” said Chase, who added it was the turning point.

As for Burrow, he said, “That was a disappointing call. I have a lot of respect for that crew, but they missed that one. That was a big play in the game. That’s a first down for us. Maybe we get points, or maybe we don’t. But they get the ball, then go get three, and I don’t think they do that if the call is correct in that situation. A lot more went wrong than that, but it was a big call in the game.”

But still, the defense failed — in an epic way. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said his team must do better.

“You’ve just got to find ways to get stops,” Taylor said. “That starts with tackling. Credit to their offense. I thought they did a great job. I thought (Steelers offensive coordinator) Arthur (Smith) had a great plan, and they executed it, kept us off balance, kept themselves in really manageable second downs, and that shows by the score.”

DC Lou Anaromo says his defense is still trying

Anarumo said his team had some good moments against the Steelers.

“We felt good about limiting 14 (George Pickens) on the explosives, and we did that, besides one,” Anarumo said. “Russell did his job and just got the ball out of his hands. He saw once we were in some zone and went right to his check-downs, and that’s an easy five to six yards a pop. Man up on some guys put a little more pressure in his face. We did that towards the second half, but it just wasn’t our day.”