The Bengals hosted Pittsburgh in the 2nd leg of the season series, looking to complete the sweep. They had won the road matchup rather convincingly, earlier in the year, but knew not to take this one lightly. Instead, the Bengals came out prepared. The offence took a nice step forward by putting up points early in the game, while the defence played great from start to finish, as well.
As mentioned, they got off to a hot start. The first drive was an impressive one. Unlike many of their previous ones, this opening drive was run heavy. Joe Mixon led the way, surpassing 50 yards from scrimmage on this drive alone. It was capped off by an impressive 8 yard TD run by Joe Burrow. He was able to spin out of pressure and roll to his left, then making a defender miss to get into the endzone. Not long after, an Eli Apple interception set the Bengals up at the 5 and led to a field goal. Quickly, it was 10-0 Bengals.
The Steelers would respond with a field goal of their own, to make it 10-3. Ben Roethlisberger hit Chase Claypool for a 41 yard pickup and then an 11 yard pass to Johnson set them up at the Cincinnati 22. The drive, however, stalled out following three straight incompletions.
The Bengals opened the 2nd quarter mid-way through their next drive, sitting at the Pittsburgh 44. Burrow found Chase for a 12 yard gain and followed it up with a 32 yard TD pass to Tee Higgins on the next play. For a second, the defender seemed to be in good position to make a play on the ball, but Higgins did well to gain position on him, and then high point the ball. This made it 17-3.
After a Steelers punt, Joe Burrow completed a few intermediate passes before Joe Mixon took over another drive. He had multiple plays that went for chunk yards. The o-line was creating big lanes, allowing Mixon to seemingly pick up 10 yards with every run. Now at the 6, Mixon took the handoff and found his way into the end zone. However, after review, he was ruled down at the 1. Fortunately, he punched it in on the next play. 24-3 Bengals.
Cincinnati’s defence forced yet another punt, the Bengals offence went to work. They were driving down the field, but a deep pass intended for Higgins was picked off by Minkah Fitzpatrick. On the play, TJ Watt proceeded to block Joe Burrow, finishing the play by throwing him to the ground. As is often the case in games involving the Steelers, it was a questionable decision by the referee to not throw a flag for unnecessary roughness. The Bengals would get the next laugh, however, as on the very next play, Big Ben was intercepted by former Steeler Mike Hilton. He was able to undercut the pass intended for James Washington, and stroll untouched into the end zone. Stunningly, it was 31-3 at the half.
The 2nd half was much slower than the 1st. After each team traded punts, Trey Hendrickson sacked Roethlisberger, forcing a fumble in the process. Sam Hubbard was able to fall on it. The Bengals cashed that turnover into points in the form of a 51 yard McPherson field goal. An impressive kick, especially considering the wind present at the time. 34-3 Bengals.
Big Ben and the Steelers offence continued to stall out. The Bengals would go on to score one more TD. A 19 yard pass to Tee Higgins set the Bengals up at the 1. A play later, Joe Mixon would punch it in for his second TD of the game. 41-3
Towards the end, with the Bengals 2nd team defence on the field, the Steelers did begin to move the ball. It took 9 plays for them to go 69 yards. Roethlisberger found TE Pat Freiermuth for the 15 yard TD to cap off the drive. That made it 41-10 for the Bengals, which is how the game ended.
The Bengals improve to 7-4 and will host the LA Chargers in week 13.
Homescreen Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)
