Steelers Week 2 Recap: Steelers Top Bengals

The Steelers played the Bengals in Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon. When the clock hit zeroes they were soaking wet and victorious in this early season rivalry match-up.

Tsunami Sunday. The phrase 12th man is a football cliche that typically refers to the crowd getting so rowdy they become a factor in the game. But Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh the 12th man’s name was H and his number was 20, and he played defense for both teams.

The rain was coming down from the start of the game and it did not let up. It was an ugly game full of slips, dropped passes, blown throws, and some broken tackles too. It also put a damper, perhaps literally, on any kind of shenanigans. When it was all over, the Steelers came out on top and are the early favorite to take back the AFC North crown.

The Steelers started off with the ball but after 3 runs from DeAngelo Williams they were a yard short and punted. Cincinnati fared a little better, getting a first down off of a Tyler Boyd catch, but punted as well.

Pittsburgh started to put together a solid second drive. Williams had a run and a catch for over 10 yards. Brown pulled in a 16 yard pass on 3rd down. Jesse James got involved. But perhaps some foreshadowing, the wet ball fell right out of Ben’s hand on one play. The drive ended when it again slipped out of Ben’s hand, but rather than the ground it landed in the hands of Adam Jones.

The Bengals took possession on the 23 and shortly after punted from the 26. Brown had a 14 yards return. TE Xavier Grimble missed an opportunity for his first NFL catch. But Ben hauled off and launched a deep pass to Sammie Coates for 44 yards. Xavier Grimble got his second chance and delivered. He caught the ball in the middle and charged toward the endzone, successfully stumbling in. Pittsburgh up by 7.

Cincinnati answered though with 3:36 left in the 1st quarter. Andy Dalton made some long pass plays, most notably a handful of 20 plus yarders to Green and Kroft that brought the Bengals down to Pittsburgh’s 7 but a 3rd down stop would force a field goal. Steelers up 7-3 to finish the quarter.

Then some more soaking wet ugliness. The Steelers and Bengals traded punts for about 10 minutes. To give you an idea of the type of game it was, on one 3rd down Ben dropped back, slipped and fell, got up and threw the ball to Brown and it bounced right off of him.

But the rain did not play favorites. The Bengals went 3 and out and punted 32 yards out of bounds. Chris Boswell knocked in a 49 yard field goal shortly after that put the Steelers up 10-3.

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Following a Bengals punt, the Steelers may have been trying a little too hard to score before the half and a long pass to Coates was intercepted. After pair of nice plays by Bernard and Green the Bengals kicked a field goal to make it 10-6 at the half.

The Steelers went into halftime with little to show offensively. Ben was sub 50% when it came to pass completions and Brown had scarcely been a factor at all. Williams had more to show as well and all three would improve in the second half.

When the half started each team traded a couple punts but the Steelers game plan was much more focused on running the ball and short passes. When this became obvious though Ben threw a rainbow up to Sammie Coates for 53 yards. Sneaky, sneaky Todd Haley.

Then Jesse James, all 6’7″ of him, standing in the middle of about five Bengals pulled down a touchdown pass thrown only where someone 6’7″ could catch it. Steelers now up 17-6 and Steeler Nation started feeling better about this mess.

The Bengals started the next drive by putting themselves in a hole with a pair of penalties. Dalton managed to throw his way out of it highlighted by a 20 yard grab by Tyler Kroft. Alex Erickson added another long pass and a pass interference call on Artie Burns, who had a nice game overall, brought the Bengals within range. After a third down stop the Bengals kicked another field goals and made it 17-9.

The Steelers punted again and we made our way to the 4th quarter up 8.

After a Bengals punt the Steelers decided slow and steady wins the race. They leaned heavily on Williams and Antonio Brown got himself a nice 17 yard grab. On 2nd and 9 Ben scrambled, per usual, but then broke the line of scrimmage and ran 14 yards to the 5.

After a 1 yard run, Brown fell and was then pushed to the ground and the ball sailed out of bounds. Both teams could have complained about some calls this game. But DeAngelo Williams stood all alone on 3rd down and caught a touchdown pass. Now the game was 24-9.

That Steelers drive ate up half the quarter and they essentially gave up short passes which allowed the next Bengals drive to eat up another significant chunk. Unfortunately though, Giovanni Bernard took a short pass outside and to the endzone, would be tacklers slipping right off. 24-16 at this point.

The Steelers ran, forcing the Bengals to use time outs but Ben whiffed another throw to Brown and the Steelers punted. Dalton again sliced through the Steelers defense until James Harrison knocked the ball loose from Tyler Boyd. Robert Golden picked it up and ran to the 46. The game was essentially over after that.

It was nice to see the Steelers pull out a win with no Bell, Bryant, Green, and both Ben and Brown being off. The pass defense still gives up tons of yards but the run is stout. The lack of sacks is a concern so far. But overall it was a tough win, which is encouraging.

Next: Steelers Players Whose Stock is Rising: Week 2

It was a wild one. But as Tomlin said in his post-game press conference, “Not the perfection obviously that we were looking for, but good enough.”