Sunday Rewind: Steelers cage upstart Bengals in 2005 AFC Wild Card
By Brendan Howe
Hot Out of the Bullpen
After a couple of false start infractions hindered Pittsburgh’s second series, Kitna, in his black no. 3 jersey, came back on. He adeptly completed all four of his pass attempts in driving the Bengals into scoring position.
Rudi Johnson, who could only muster eight yards on his first five carries, busted loose for 20 yards and a touchdown on the march’s seventh play. With little over a minute left in the first period, the Steelers trailed, 10-0.
Defensive back Ike Taylor returned the subsequent kickoff 36 yards, setting the Black and Gold up at its own 40-yard-line.
After a Roethlisberger incompletion to begin the drive, the Steelers finally picked up some steam. With the help of a Roethlisberger scramble to convert on a 3rd-and-5 and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Cincinnati’s Tory James the following play, Pittsburgh was in plus territory and threatening for the first time.
Three plays later, facing an edge blitz, Roethlisberger dumped the ball off and let second-year halfback Willie Parker scutter for a 19-yard touchdown.
Nearly beginning their next possession from the midfield logo, the Bengals looked to score on a third successive series. The home team embarked on a 17-play drive.
In the process, the offense converted a trio of third downs, the last of which being a seven-yard touchdown pass from Kitna to the aforementioned antagonist, T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Worth noting, the Steelers’ Troy Polamalu, a roommate of Carson Palmer’s at Southern Cal, was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after nearly intercepting Kitna on a 3rd-and-11 from the Pittsburgh 17.