The Steelers (11-6) might be without star receiver Antonio Brown, who was injured after taking a shot to the head on the final drive.
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Cincinnati got the first turnover of the game midway through the second quarter when linebacker Vontaze Burfict forced Pittsburgh wide receiver Markus Wheaton to fumble at the Bengals 47, where safety George Iloka recovered it.
In the first meeting between the teams, almost $140,000 in fines were handed out, half of which were levied to Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict.
McCarron then had a deep pass to Jones fall short and intercepted by Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake, who returned it 35 yards to the Bengals’ 41.
The Cincinnati Bengals (12-4) won the AFC North but the biggest problem that they will have is the status of Andy Dalton.
Inspired by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s return to the game after he was earlier withdrawn with a shoulder injury following a bone-jarring sack, Pittsburgh marched down the field. A 25-yard touchdown pass from AJ McCarron to Green with 1:50 remaining allowed the Bengals to erase a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter deficit and go ahead 16-15 in the game. On the first play after the Jones interception, running back Jeremy Hill fumbled the football as Cincinnati was attempting to run the clock out. The quarterback got up slowly with help from his teammates and then put on a cart and taken into the Steelers locker room – as Bengals fans cheered when he passed them by. The Steelers needed a win in Cleveland and a Buffalo upset of the Jets on the final Sunday to make the playoffs for a second straight year. And the Bengals (12-5) now have lost an opening-round game for five consecutive seasons – no other team has done it more than three times in a row.
Despite being down to their third- and fourth-string running backs in Fitzgerald Toussaint Jordan Todman, the Steelers ran for 167 yards on 29 carries (5.8). The setback also means no coach has more playoff losses without a victory than Bengals boss Marvin Lewis, who fell to 0-7 since joining the franchise in 2003.
The Steelers were leading 15-0 at the end of the third quarter when the game took the first of many major turns.
After the game, Roethlisberger would not give CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson any clear answers on his status for next week.
Like the Pittsburgh hero he is, Roethlisberger trotted on the field, hoping to lead a game-winning comeback.
The prime time Wild Card war between the Bengals and Steelers started as a defensive struggle.
The Steelers advance to play the Broncos in Denver, who finished the regular-season with the league’s No. 1-ranked defense.
The Chiefs extended their NFL-best winning streak to 11 games and will face Denver or New England next week.
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The Steelers turned that fumble into another three points after Bryant took a handoff from Roethlisberger and ran around left end, then cut back to the right and completed a 44-yard run to Cincinnati’s 20. Brown got up, into concussion protocol and ultimately, a week of preparation for the AFC divisional round of playoffs after the Steelers’ 18-16 Wild Card victory on Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium.
