‘Put the Game on Me’ – Cincinnati Bengals CB Chidobe Awuzie Answers for Deep Shots Allowed

PITTSBURGH — On a night when Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens ran away from the Cincinnati Bengals for three huge plays as part of his career night, there was so similar sprinting out of the visitors locker room at Acrisure Stadium.

“Accountability” was a common theme as Bengals players took their time getting changed while standing in front of reporters answering every question about what went wrong in a 34-11 physical beatdown by yet another division opponent.

And the man who was responsible for two of Pickens’ big plays, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, was the least rushed of all to get out of the building after his worst performance since coming to Cincinnati in 2021.

Chidobe Awuzie, Others Emphasize Accountability After Bengals Blown Out

“The culture here is still the culture here,” Awuzie said. “We don’t have egos on this team. We’re a very tight-knit group, and we care. Everything matters. People on the outside tend to praise you when you win, and when you lose, they’re gonna hate you.”

“But in the locker room, we’re always confident in who we are. That’s never gonna change,” he continued. “The first step is taking accountability.”

Pickens caught an 86-yard touchdown pass from third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph on the second play of the game.

Awuzie wasn’t involved in that play, but he got beat in single coverage for a 44-yard deep shot just before halftime and a 66-yard touchdown three plays after the Bengals thought they had found a little life with an 80-yard touchdown from Jake Browning to Tee Higgins on their first play of the third quarter.

The 44-yarder came on 3rd-and-15 with 70 seconds left in the half. Leading 21-0, the Pittsburgh defense had just turned away the Bengals five yards from the goal line on fourth-and-inches.

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“I was just trying to do too much,” Awuzie said. “Down what we were down, I was trying to sit at the sticks when I shouldn’t have. I know I have to be over top. Put that one on me. Put the game on me. I didn’t pay to my standard. I didn’t play to our defensive standard.”

The 44-yard bomb, which held up on review as Pickens did an impressive job of getting both feet in bounds, set up Chris Boswell’s 50-yard field goal as time expired, sending the Steelers into the locker room with a 24-0 lead.

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The 66-yard touchdown to Pickens, who finished with a career-high 195 yards on just four catches, immediately answered Higgins’ score that had cut the deficit to 24-8.

“Stuff that you know is gonna happen, you have to stop,” Awuzie said when asked about the play. “It’s not on the coaches. It’s not on anybody else except the player. It’s on me. All I can do is look at in the face, deal with it and move on and try to be better.”

Awuzie was playing the best football of his career when he tore his ACL in Week 8 last year. The Bengals brought him along slowly this season, having him split time with rookie second-round pick DJ Turner II, but Awuzie has returned to a starting role the last four weeks with Cam Taylor-Britt on Injured Reserve.

With a contract that expires at the end of the year, Awuzie is likely at the end of his brief Cincinnati career. He’ll be looking for a new deal from another team in March, so it would be easy to write off tonight’s performance as a product of the ACL, but he refused to do that even when asked about it.

“That’s something that, in the beginning of the year, maybe,” he said. “But now I’m feeling good. I’m feeling confident. My rhythm is back. I give up plays. It happens. I can’t look at ‘Oh, it’s my knee.’ Nah. I’m gonna be a man about it.”

Given how disappointed he is by this performance and how much he wants to put on tape heading into free agency, especially in a game against one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes next week, Awuzie was asked if he’ll have a little extra fire going into Arrowhead Stadium on New Year’s Eve.

“I wouldn’t say extra fire. I enter every game with fire,” he said. “I know how they’re probably going to attack me next week. That’s good. I get another chance.”

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