Sunday Rewind: Steelers cage upstart Bengals in 2005 AFC Wild Card

Fortunate Break

The Bengals returned to the field with a reverse on the second half’s opening kickoff. There would be no trickery after, however. Kitna, who, in total, had thrown for 109 yards and a touchdown in the first half, once again moved his offense at will. Rudi Johnson ran off of right tackle twice in a row to commence the drive, gaining 22 yards.

Over a handful of plays, Cincinnati advanced all the way down to its foe’s 15-yard-line, but was faced with a 4th down after Kitna missed Houshmandzadeh.

Graham lined up for a field goal, but an errant snap to holder Kyle Larson got away. Rather than tack an extra three points on the scoreboard, Graham had to chase down and fall on the football. Up to that point, Cincinnati had scored on 36 of its last 37 redzone attempts.

The Steelers took over, and the drive appeared to be going nowhere quickly. That was until Roethlisberger hurled a 2nd-down incompletion deep from the Bengals’ 45, intended for Randle El. Yet, defensive back Kevin Kaesviharn arrived slightly early to break up the pass, prompting a pass interference call that set the Steelers up at the five-yard-line.

For Bettis, from that distance, it was almost too effortless to pound the ball in. The Steelers, up 21-17, had their first lead of the game, and the momentum had shifted.

Two sacks and a false start all but killed Cincy’s next drive, a three-and-out.

It would end up that, after hearing the news of Palmer’s injury at the intermission, Cincinnati wouldn’t score at all in the second half.