That 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, coupled with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Adam Jones, set Steelers kicker Chris Boswell up for a 35-yard game-winning attempt. On an incomplete pass to Antonio Brown near midfield, the Bengals linebacker laid the receiver out and was flagged 15 yards for a personal foul.
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Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers to an 18-16 comeback win over Cincinnati after being carted off the field with a right shoulder injury, setting up a divisional round playoff game against the Broncos (12-4) next Sunday.
Roethlisberger completed five passes, but Pittsburgh was still at the Cincinnati 47 when he misfired on a throw to wide receiver Antonio Brown with 22 seconds left. As he normally does, Burfict laid an enormous hit on Roethlisberger and the quarterback landed awkwardly on his shoulder. On the next play, Brown was hit in the head, drawing a 15-yard penalty. Jones compounded the problem when he lost his cool while jawing with Porter, easily putting Boswell within field goal range after Cincinnati’s eighth – and final – flag of a ghastly night that ended with an unthinkable collapse.
The Steelers would be forced to punt away the ball and A.J. McCarron led the Bengals on a drive that would end with a 25 yard touchdown pass to A.J. They finally scored the first points of the night and took a 3-0 lead, with just over two minutes remaining until halftime.
When Burfict intercepted Landry Jones on Pittsburgh’s ensuing possession, Cincinnati and Lewis appeared ready to end the sixth-longest postseason drought in National Football League history.
As the play was being replayed on the video board, Bengals running back Jeremy Hill went after Shazier, who by then was nearly back to the Steelers’ sideline, and a fracas among the teams briefly broke out with Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict among those joining in. That successful three-pointer cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 15-10 with 5:12 left in the game.
The Steelers gave up all 16 points in an intense fourth quarter, and lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with a shoulder injury. It was obvious he was not close to one-hundred percent and his ability to throw the ball downfield was gone, but still he willed his team into position to get the win.
Bad blood: The rivalry between the Steelers and Bengals is alive and well – and growing nastier by the game.
Cincinnati has never won a playoff game in which it has trailed and hasn’t had a postseason victory in 25 years. Two plays later Jeremy Hill would punch it in for the Bengals first touchdown. This was something Tomlin preached to his team all week, and was the main reason they won the game.
“It seems like every time we got the ball, it was pouring rain, and it wasn’t when they had it, “McCarron said”.
JJ Watt of the Texans took to Twitter to apologise for the team’s performance after the game. McCarron’s clutch TD pass to Green got the Bengals to the verge of their breakthrough.
Kevin Huber pinned the Steelers inside their 10-yard line, although Pittsburgh came out punching.
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Brian Hoyer’s first post-season appearance was not a memorable one as the Houston quarterback fumbled once and tossed three interceptions in a miserable opening half, including one with the Texans on the two-yard line and poised to score.
