PITTSBURGH — No matter when it comes, that first loss always stings.

All the work during the offseason. All the optimism built over the course of training camp. All the preparation during game week. All of it evaporates the second the clock hits zero and the number next to your team's name is less than the number next to the one for the other guys.

“It's like a slap in the face,” Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joe Schobert said.

The key, as Schobert has learned through his five-plus years in the NFL, is to not let one slap turn into another. The Steelers (1-1) and Cincinnati (1-1) will try to avoid it on Sunday when the Bengals visit Pittsburgh.

Both clubs started the year with rousing wins in their respective openers. Both followed by letting close games slip away in the fourth quarter last week.

While Pittsburgh has dominated the series with its longtime AFC North rivals — having won 14 of the past 16 meetings — the Bengals no longer appear to be pushovers in head coach Zac Taylor's third season. And the swagger the defending division champion Steelers carried during their 11-0 start to 2020 seems long ago.

Maybe because it is.

Pittsburgh is just 2-6 in its past eight games overall, including a listless loss in Cincinnati last December that hinted at the first-round playoff flameout to Cleveland to come.

If the Bengals want to take a step forward to announce themselves as more than an afterthought in one of the NFL's toughest divisions, winning at Heinz Field for the first time in six years would help.

“If we want to get to where we want to be, we've got to take this step,” said Cincinnati cornerback Mike Hilton, who played four seasons in Pittsburgh before signing with the Bengals last spring.

As dismal as Pittsburgh's offense, particularly the running game, looked while falling to Las Vegas last week, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — who is expected to play despite a chest injury — stressed there's no need to panic.

Maybe, but if the “slap” the Steelers experienced against the Raiders leads to another against the Bengals, it might be time to start.

Blitzing Burrow

Pittsburgh is banged up on defense — defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu are out and outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are among a group dealing with groin injuries — but the mandate remains the same: make second-year Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as uncomfortable as possible.

Taylor called the offensive line's difficulty in protecting the 2020 No. 1 pick “frustrating” because the breakdowns are coming from all over instead of just one place.

The Steelers sacked Burrow four times during a 36-10 blowout last November.