The Bengals had plenty of chances to beat the Steelers on Sunday, but the play that really swung the game came from a spot Cincinnati probably never wanted to revisit this quickly: returner.
Ke'Shawn Williams, thrust into the role after the Bengals moved on from Charlie Jones, muffed a punt in the 30-27 loss and handed Pittsburgh a gift that turned into points. In a game decided by a field goal, that kind of mistake looms huge.
Cincinnati’s decision to keep Williams in that role looks a lot worse in hindsight. Jones may not be lighting it up elsewhere - he’s still hanging on to his NFL career on the New York Giants’ practice squad - but the Bengals had a proven return specialist on the roster in August and chose not to keep him. That call came back around in Week 3.
Williams was put in a tough position because of everything happening around him. With Andrei Iosivas on IR, Colbie Young leaving the game in the first quarter, Dohnte Meyers taking on a bigger offensive load, and Samaje Perine dealing with an injury in a thin backfield rotation, Williams became the default option on kickoffs and punts.
He handled kickoffs fine. The punt return, though, was disastrous.
The ball hit off his facemask and put the Steelers in the red zone. That was the kind of break Pittsburgh didn’t have to earn.
It also raised the obvious question: why wasn’t Dohnte Meyers back there instead? He’s more explosive, sounds more secure with the ball, and the Bengals already use Mike Gesicki in the slot often enough that Meyers’ offensive workload shouldn’t have made return duty impossible.
Williams has only one career catch for five yards, yet he keeps finding his way onto the active roster. That much is hard to ignore. And while Jones wasn’t exactly thriving before his release, keeping the steadier return man would have looked like the smarter August move.
The Bengals can point to Joe Burrow’s last-play fumble or another rough day from the defense, but the game tilted because Williams’ muff and Cedric Johnson’s 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty handed Pittsburgh 10 points. In a three-point loss, that was the difference.
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