The Steelers and Bengals played a fiercely contested battle in the rain that went down to the wire.
Going without DeAngelo Williams Steelers fans wondered how the Steelers running game would fare considering how last year’s Wild Card game went against the Bengals. Fitzgerald Toussaint, Jordan Todman and even Martavis Bryant contributed to 167 rushing yards for the Steelers.
The game went scoreless through the first quarter and the Steelers finally got on the board with two Chris Boswell field goals in the second quarter to send the game into halftime 6-0 for the Steelers.
Boswell was perfect with field goals made from 39, 30, 34 and 35.
The nastiness of this game couldn’t be avoided even if the officials and coaches crowded the middle of the field during warmups to avoid any disturbances there. During a run by Jordan Todman where he ran into the Steelers sidelines and was followed by Bengals safety Reggie Nelson.
The first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty came from an unlikely source, Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak. He got tangled up with Nelson and not only pushed him but pulled on his dreadlocks. Yikes. Munchak will probably be looking at a fine for that one.
Unfortunately the penalties were high for both teams but the Steelers got the worst of it with 10 penalties for 142 yards to the Bengals’ 6 penalties for 49 yards.
One play that was lost in all the ugliness was the magnificent touchdown grab made by Martavis Bryant for the Steelers’ only touchdown.
There's a reason Martavis Bryant's nickname is "Alien."
— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2016
This somersault TD catch is pure insanity. #PITvsCIN https://t.co/nswMny6nxq
The unthinkable happened for the Steelers in the third quarter when he took a sack by, who else, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict and left the game with a shoulder injury. By nature of the trashy Cincinnati Bengals fan-base they actually threw trash at Roethlisberger’s cart as he was going towards the locker room.
Burfict would end up helping the Steelers with his disgusting excuse for an existence with a penalty on Antonio Brown followed by a penalty by Adam Jones to put Chris Boswell in the position to kick the game-winning 35-yard field goal.
Next: Steelers: Stephon Tuitt brings momentum
That’s what you get when you play dirty. The Bengals deserve another 25 years before a playoff win.
Game, blouses. Steelers win 18-16.
The Steelers will travel to Denver next week to take on the Broncos in the Divisional round.
Here we go Steelers! Here we go!