The Pittsburg Steelers secured a win against the Cincinnati Bengals (23-20) in a vicious Monday Night Football matchup.
🔟-2️⃣. #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/Xqgc9iHNgV
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 5, 2017
The Bengals came into this game winning five of their last three games. After a horrific 0-3 start of the season, it seemed as if they had no chance of playing in the post season. This game could have been a critical win for them. The last time Cincinnati played against Pittsburg was during Week 7 in which the Steelers brushed them aside in a 29-14 victory. However, this time the game was much closer.
Bengals Started off on High Note
In the first quarter, place kicker Randy Bullock got the Bengals on the board by kicking a 35-yeard field goal. Running back Joe Mixon got more involved with the offensive, after sitting through a couple drives. During this quarter, Steelers linebacker, Ryan Shazier went down on account of horribe back injury.
Statement by #Steelers GM/VP Kevin Colbert on LB Ryan Shazier pic.twitter.com/WEp6wktNCu
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) December 5, 2017
Towards the end, Andy Dalton hit A.J. Green for an eight yard touch down. This gave the Bengals a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Cincinnati continued this drive well into the second quarter as they added another 7 points to the board giving them a confortable 17-0 lead. However, Mixon left the field to go to the locker room after sustaining a hard hit from two Pittsburg defenders. And this where the game gets interesting.
Pittsburg’s Comeback
The Steelers had a rough start to this game. Their offense was severely lacking and they were unable to get some points on the board, at first. But, in a desperate need for points, QB Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball deep to Antonio Brown which put the Steelers into a field goal range. As the final seconds of the quarter were up, Chris Boswell got three on the board for Pittsburg with a 30-yard field goal.
In third quarter, Steelers were able to secure a touchdown when Roethlisberger passed to Le’Veon Bell who ran along the sidelines. Depsite the fact Cincinnati had two defenders on him, they assumed he was out of bounds which as result, gave Pittsburg a TD.
While the Bengals were able to get a TD on a drive, it was reviewed due to a questionable offensive foul. As a result, the Bengals had to settle for a field goal.
End of the third: Bengals 20 Steelers 10.
In the fourth quarter, the Steelers pushed for a win. After getting a field goal, another Roethlisberger -Brown touchdown pass got Pittsburg tied with Cincinnati. Steelers took this moment to lock in a victory: in the final possession, Pittsburg locked in a 38-yard field goal.
Final Score: 23-20.