Pittsburgh would lose the lead and fall behind by one point before a game-winning field goal by Chris Boswell with 18 seconds left gave the Steelers an 18-16 lead. Ben Roethlisberger returned from a shoulder injury to lead the winning drive, with personal fouls on Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones moving them within range.
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Brown lay on the ground after that and when he finally was being helped off the field, Jones ended up near the Steelers huddle and got into a spat with Pittsburgh’s linebacker coach Joey Porter. While the team recovers from the Bengals and prepares to take on the Broncos we’ll be busy looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered.
Jones, who was shown weeping on the sideline, posted an expletive-laden message on Instagram immediately after the game.
Then the Bengals turned into … the Bengals.
Jeremy Hill got stripped of the ball.
And finally when there were just 22 seconds left and the Steelers still were near midfield and out of time outs, Roethlisberger overthrew his stellar receiver Antonio Brown. “Words don’t do anything at this point”. When asked who takes the blame for that lack of discipline, Whitworth said, “I’m a leader, so it falls on all of us”.
Burfict, whose sack of Ben Roethlisberger sent the quarterback to the locker room during the third quarter, lowered his shoulder as Brown landed.
He got a personal foul during a loss at Denver on December 28 for a late hit.
The former linebacker reportedly will be fined for his actions Saturday night, but the damage to the Bengals was more costly.
Lewis is the first coach in National Football League history with an 0-7 postseason record. Jordan Todman and Fitzgerald Toussaint combined for 123 yards rushing filling in for injured DeAngelo Williams.
Brown caught seven passes for 119 yards in the wild-card victory.
Still, that production didn’t look like it would be enough.
Boswell settled for another field goal to make it 9-0 before Steelers’ wide receiver Martavis Bryant scored the first touchdown of the game with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Jones, Burfict and Porter are likely to be on that list.
And just as suddenly as it appeared, the Bengals’ resolve vanished.
The team initially believed Roethlisberger suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. At that instant it seemed as if Cincinnati was about to break the long playoff drought and the delirium of the moment swept through the rain soaked crowd. The Texans bounced back from a 2-5 start to win the AFC South.
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Roethlisberger, who spoke briefly to reporters, said he had an MRI but did not know the results. Here’s your Steelers Morning Huddle for Sunday, Jan. 10. Rivalry aside, both teams were warned about extra-curricular activities that would be scrutinized more heavily after these two teams had emotional outbursts in both of their regular season games. Then again, they didn’t really have much choice, as members of both coaching staffs provided a black-clad DMZ at the 50. The second-year running back caught a pair of passes on the final drive, including a 10-yard flip that gave the Steelers a first down. However, what shouldn’t be lost is AJ McCarron’s performance during Cincinnati’s fourth quarter comeback. And it cost the Bengals dearly.
