Steelers seal victory vs. Bengals with game-wrecking play from future stars

It was a back-and-forth affair for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Week 13 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In need of a bounce-back win after a disheartening loss against the Browns on Thursday Night Football, Mike Tomlin's team delivered.

This game didn't go as planned. After the Steelers forced a quick three-and-out, Russell Wilson threw a pick-six on a play that could have been ruled a penalty on Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. From there, this contest quickly evolved into a shootout.

After coming out of the tunnel in the third quarter with a 27-21 lead, Pittsburgh's defense was in desperate need of a stop to put Cincinnati out of reach of a comeback. That's when a pair of defenders came up with the play of the game.

With the Bengals looking for another scoring drive, Steelers edge rusher Nick Herbig got an incredible jump off the line of scrimmage to force a strip-sack on quarterback Joe Burrow. The ball was quickly scooped up by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and returned for a touchdown.

This incredible play gave the Steelers a 41-24 lead with roughly 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. While the Bengals would answer back with a touchdown, the hole Cincinnati dug proved too deep to climb out of late in the game and Pittsburgh would hold on for the 44-38 win.

Steelers future stars show up in the clutch vs. Bengals

This is hardly the first time either of these two young defenders made a remarkable play on the football. Nick Herbig has been a game-wrecker as a part-time player in his first two seasons. Meanwhile, Payton Wilson had a remarkable interception against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Week 11 to put the game on ice.

With Joey Porter Jr. and Pittsburgh's secondary struggling mightily to slow down quarterback Joe Burrow and an electric passing offense, it was a pair of young defenders who came up in the clutch for Pittsburgh to help seal the game.

Along with an incredible performance from T.J. Watt, it's great to see other young defenders stepping up -- even if this was a forgettable performance from the defense, collectively. Splash plays can help win football games, the strip-sack, scoop-and-score combination from Herbig to Wilson proved that in Week 13 against the Bengals.

With the win, the Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to 9-3 on the season. The Bengals, now 4-8, are essentially eliminated from playoff contention.

The Steelers are going to need more splash plays like this from Herbig and Wilson late in the season and into the playoffs if they want to make a deep postseason run in 2024. These players coming up clutch was just what the doctor ordered in Week 13 with an otherwise struggling defense.