The Bengals entered week 13 with their season hanging on by a thread. While a loss would not mathematically eliminate them, running the table is very likely what it would take to make the playoffs. The little hope that remained revolved around the notion that if the Bengals can manage to beat the Steelers here, they have three winnable games coming up against the Cowboys, Titans, and Browns, which would make things somewhat interesting. But if you watched the Bengals play the Steelers this week, you might have thought you were watching a rerun, because it was simply more of the same thing that we have seen all year long.
More of the same, except for the opening drive. This one actually had a positive outcome for the defence. They were on the field after the offence went 3 and out. Just a few plays into the drive, Cam Taylor-Britt was able to take advantage of the receiver falling down. He picked off Russell Wilson and took it 51 yards for the TD. 7-0 Bengals.
The Steelers, however, answered right back. They sliced through the Bengals like butter. A 25 yard dump off to Harris moved the chains on 3rd & 2, eventually leading to a 17 yard receiving TD for Pickens. 7-7.
Cincy went back up on their next drive. A 13 yard completion to Tee Higgins moved the chains on 3rd & 2, a critical conversion much like the one Pittsburgh got on their previous drive. Chase Brown ran for 13 on the next play before exploding for 41 yards on the play after that. Brown was just caught at the 1 yard line, but was able to punch it in on the next play. 14-7 Bengals.
Cincinnati’s lead was again short lived, as Pittsburgh was able to take advantage of several weaknesses. Pickens made a 21 yard catch on 3rd down, but then took a 15 yard taunting penalty. Still, the 1st down was picked up. After a series of moderate pickups, with guys like Washington and Patterson getting involved, Wilson found Austin on the vertical route, who beat Mike Hilton for a 23 yard TD. 14-14.
Burrow and the offence were doing everything they could to keep the Bengals up in this one. For the third time in the game, they put together a nice TD drive. Khalil Herbert got his first meaningful action as a Bengal, as he was able to rip off a 14 yard run. After some nickel and diming got them deeper into Steelers territory, a holding penalty put them in a 2nd & 16 situation. But Burrow was able to find Mike Gesicki to move the chains. Then, a defensive pass interference penalty put the ball inside the 5 yard line. On 2nd down, Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase from 4 yards out, making sort of a jump pass as he navigated pressure in the pocket. 21-14 Bengals.
The trend of trading TD’s continued, as the Steelers again were able to slice through the Bengals defence. But this time, it was a much shorter drive, in terms of the amount of plays run and time taken off the clock. A 20 yard pass to Patterson got things going, before a facemask call on the Bengals added 15 yards to an 8 yard run. Another Bengals penalty then saw the ball spotted at the 10 yard line, from where Harris was able to run it in to tie the game up for a third time. 21-21.
The Steelers would add a couple of field goals before the end of the half, taking a 27-21 lead with them into the break.
Pittsburgh was going for another field goal on their opening drive to start the half, but the attempt was blocked by Joseph Ossai. Ossai was able to penetrate the line and get his hand up in time to block it. This led to a 38 yard McPherson field goal. 27-24 Steelers.
But despite the best efforts of the offence, Pittsburgh never looked back once they got that lead in the second quarter. They answered the Bengals field goal with another TD, a 25 yard catch by Freiermuth. In the 4th quarter, the Bengals did score 2 TD’s, with a Steelers field goal sandwiched in between. The scores came via a 1 yard reception by Higgins and a 3 yard reception by Iosivas. They were not enough, however. McPherson’s onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and the Steelers walked away with a 44-38 win.
The Bengals fall to 4-8 on the year, seeing their playoff odds drop close to none. They will take on the Dallas Cowboys next week on Monday Night Football.
