Instead of facing a desperate situation essentially out of field goal range with 18 ticks remaining, the Steelers, because of the boneheaded Bengal penalties, enjoyed field position within the 20.
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One day later and the end of Saturday night’s AFC Wild Card game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals is still really hard to comprehend.
The Steelers travel to Denver to face Peyton Manning’s Broncos next week. The Cincinnati Bengals are heading to another long off-season after a meltdown as ugly and ill-timed as it was complete.
The biggest concern is the health of star receiver Antonio Brown, who departed Saturday night’s game with a concussion after a vicious hit by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. With the additional 30 yards, the Steelers sent Chris Boswell on to the field for a game-winning 35-yard field goal.
With seemingly one last chance to pull it out, Burfict intercepted Jones’ pass on the first play of the next series with 1:36 to go.
Roethlisberger was carted off the field after injuring his right shoulder.
Speaking briefly today as he walked through the locker room at the Steelers’ practice facility, Roethlisberger said he had a magnetic resonance imaging on his throwing shoulder after he was injured on a sack by Vontaze Burfict on the final play of the third quarter. The volatile linebacker earned a personal foul.
So Roethlisberger trots back onto the field and quickly orchestrates a seven-play drive, converting one fourth down and brings the Steelers to their own 41-yard line. It’s possible, if not likely, that running back DeAngelo Williams will return this coming week, but the Steelers received a great relief performance from Fitzgerald Toussaint.
Still, it hardly seemed like it would be enough.
The loss extended the Bengals’ streak without a playoff victory to an NFL-long 25 years.
But then Jeremy Hill saw the ball pop out as Cincinnati tried to run out the clock and the Steelers recovered at the Pittsburgh 9 with 1:23 left. As the Steelers won a game that at times was unwatchable, dozens of Bengals fans threw water bottles, and debris at the Steelers.
The Bengals need to look into trading or cutting Burfict despite his solid play and relatively cheap contract. Yet all a dozen wins did was set them up for a third showdown with their longtime tormentor in an increasingly acidic rivalry.
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The Steelers play the Broncos next Sunday at 2:40 p.m. MT. That successful three-pointer cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 15-10 with 5:12 left in the game. There were no pregame fisticuffs this time – unlike Pittsburgh’s previous visit – thanks in part to assistant coaches on both sides creating a black-clad DMZ at midfield. Pittsburgh offensive line coach Mike Munchak grabbed Reggie Nelson’s hair and pushed him into a safety wall.
