With the undefeated AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals in town, the Pittsburgh Steelers had an opportunity to make up ground in a divisional matchup at home. Despite the anticipated return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers (4-4) came up short in a disappointing finish, falling 16-10 to Cincinnati (7-0).
Roethlisberger came out of the gate looking good as new, engineering a scoring drive that took over seven minutes and resulted in a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown for a 7-0 lead. Cincinnati answered with a five-minute drive of its own, ending in a field goal, and it appeared as though a shootout was underway.
However, both offenses stalled from there on out, as only Cincinnati would score again in the half, tacking on a second quarter field goal and making it 7-6 by the intermission.
In the third quarter, Chris Boswell remained perfect in his short tenure as the Steelers kicker, knocking one through from 32 yards out to give Pittsburgh a 10-6 advantage heading into the final fifteen minutes.
With 2:57 remaining, following a Roethlisberger interception, Andy Dalton finally found his stride and threw a strike to A.J. Green for a nine-yard score and the first Bengals lead of the day. Another pick a few plays later on an errant Roethlisberger pass, his third of the day, would set up Cincinnati with a chance to put the game away. The Bengals settled for a Mike Nugent field goal and a 16-10 lead, giving Pittsburgh one final chance.
Some questionable clock management by head coach Mike Tomlin during this sequence appears to have cost his team some valuable seconds prior to the two-minute warning, as he waited to use the three team timeouts until after the two-minute mark.
Roethlisberger attempted to bounce back from the turnovers on the previous two drives and lead his team down the field for a game-winning score in the final 1:47, making it all the way down inside the 20 to the 16-yard line for one final play. His pass sailed high out of the reach of Antonio Brown through the back of the end zone as time expired and the Bengals escaped Heinz Field undefeated and now with a commanding lead in the standings. With Cleveland and Baltimore floundering in the basement, Pittsburgh remains steadily in control of second place, but the Steelers are now 3.5 back of the Bengals approaching the midway point of the NFL season.
A Wild Card berth now seems the most realistic goal for the Steelers, but they will have to chase that without star running back Le’Veon Bell, who left the game in the first half with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Bell was tackled out of bounds by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict and his leg buckled awkwardly underneath him. He was eventually carted away from the sideline and reportedly left the stadium for further evaluation.
With Bell out for any significant amount of time, Pittsburgh will turn again to veteran backup DeAngelo Williams, who had stepped up for the first two games of the season during Bell’s suspension. He and an otherwise intact set of skill players featuring a banged-up Roethlisberger, star receivers Brown and Martavis Bryant and veteran tight end Heath Miller will have to make up for the loss of the versatile running back.
Miller had a big game, totaling ten receptions for 105 yards. Only Cincinnati’s Green (11 receptions for 118 yards) totaled a larger output in the game. Bryant caught four passes for 49 yards and Brown reeled in six for 47 yards and the touchdown. Bell had ten carries for 45 yards before getting hurt and Williams followed up with nine attempts for 71 yards, most of which came on a 55-yard rumble.
Finishing 28-45 for 262 yards and a touchdown, Roethlisberger looked rusty and rushed at times during his three interceptions. Dalton was hardly better, but made the big plays late as he and the Bengals have all season so far. He finished 23-38 with 231 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Dalton threw a pick in the end zone to Antwon Blake and another on a deep pass attempt to Green, which was batted around and snatched away by Mike Mitchell. Cincinnati added a blocked field goal to the list of miscues, as Cam Heyward swatted a Nugent attempt out of its flight path in the third quarter.
Bengals running back Jeremy Hill had 15 carries for 60 yards. Tight end Tyler Eifert caught four passes for Cincinnati and no other receiver than Green had more than two.
The Steelers are now at .500 with a 4-4 record, including an 0-2 division record and a 2-2 mark at home. The next two games are at home against the Oakland Raiders (3-3) and Cleveland Browns (2-6) before a bye week.
