:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65360779/1070845680.jpg.0.jpg)
The Bengals are collapsing, and their defensive line is incurring even more casualties.
Nose tackle Andrew Billings left the game early in the third quarter after attempting to stop a James Conner run.
Andrew Billings is down on the field and being looked at by the #Bengals training staff.
— Marisa Contipelli (@BengalsMarisa) October 1, 2019
Billings was getting a lot of snaps against the Steelers in the defense’s 5-2 base personnel grouping. The Steelers’ running game started to pick up after the first quarter and eventually became the motor of a successful offense. Billings and the rest of the unit had little to no answer, and the fourth-year defensive lineman got caught in a bad place.
Billings had a tremendous game against the Bills last week and was having a great start to the 2019 season, despite the rest of the defense lacking around him. Without Billings, the defense is down to just six lineman. Down by three scores, this is obviously less than ideal.
We’ll update this story when more information becomes available.