“You can’t intimidate us”, said defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who ended Cincinnati’s first drive with an interception that might also have ended the Bengals’ season when quarterback Andy Dalton suffered a broken thumb trying to tackle him.
Advertisement
After the Pittsburgh Steelers 33-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14, it had to be a little deflating to walk into the locker room and see the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets both won as well.
Dalton wore a black cast on the hand for the rest of the game.
– Cincinnati offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth on what triggered a pre-game scuffle between the Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers.
But on Monday it was the defence that got the job done against Cincinnati while the offence struggled.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said AJ McCarron, who had attempted four career passes before replacing Dalton on Sunday, will start in Sunday’s road game against the San Francisco 49ers.
“That game – it was grimy out there”, Shazier said.
“A lot was made this week of them being able to clinch the division and get in the playoffs, and we didn’t want us to be the reason that they got in”, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “(Coach Tomlin) doesn’t just sit there and say ‘Hey, we’ve got to win now because it’s December football.’ We just know it’s that time of year. The good was a 65-yards bomb down the sideline to Green for his first National Football League touchdown. “You’ve got to get hot at the right time”. All in all, it would not be surprising if Dalton failed to return at any point this season, regardless of how far the Bengals advance in the playoffs.
The X-ray revealed a fracture that will cause Dalton to miss a game for the first time in his five-year career.
McCarron played well on Sunday, other than a pair of careless interceptions, one of which was returned 23 yards for a touchdown by the Steelers’ William Gay.
Almost-impossible scenario: Bengals get No. 1 seed. “I’m not really anxious about history”.
It’s possible these teams meet in the playoffs, setting up what could be the most bitterly contested game the Steelers have played since the AFC Championship game against Baltimore after the 2008 season. “We wanted to come out and play a good game and you add in some of the chippiness, you add all that – the bad weather – and it all just added up to a little bit more of what you heard (from us)”. It’s not that tight end Heath Miller had another huge game against the Bengals with 10 catches for 66 yards. Plus, McCarron has a long way to go to be even the second cockiest signal caller in Ohio.
Advertisement
JAGUARS 51, COLTS 16: Blake Bortles threw for three touchdowns and ran for a score – all in the second half – and Jacksonville (5-8) won at home, ending a 16-game winning streak in the AFC South for Indianapolis (6-7). Another name in the discussion with the Bengals is also Christian Ponder, Dalton’s 2011 draft classmate. The real story on offense was the play of running back DeAngelo Williams, who rumbled for two touchdowns and was effective out of the backfield in the passing game.
