Steelers Win OT Thriller in Cincinnati
CINCINNATI -- The Pittsburgh Steelers won their season opener in nail-biting fashion. Special teams blunders from both sides extended the game long past its exepcted ending. The Bengals came all the way back from down double-digits to tie the game but a last-second field goal from Chris Boswell secured a 23-20 win.
The Steelers opened the game with the ball but went three-and-out after a lost challenge on 3rd down. The Bengals took near the 20-yard line.
Cincinnati's opening offensive play was destroyed after Cam Heyward found Joe Burrow for a sack. On the next play, Burrow was intercepted by Minkah Fitzpatrick, who returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.
On the next drive, Cincinnati drove 10 plays and 34 yards before Evan McPherson nailed a 59-yard field goal to make the score 7-3. The kick broke the Bengals' record for longest field goal made.
The Steelers' defense came up big again on the Bengals' next drive, with Burrow fumbling off a hit by Alex Highsmith, which was recovered by Heyward. Mitch Trubisky found Pat Freiermuth for a 31-yard gain on the first play of the drive. Pittsburgh went three-and-out at the goal line, leading to a Chris Boswell field goal.
Pittsburgh moved the lead to 13-3 with 2:25 remaining in the first quarter.
With 13:11 left in the second quarter, the Steelers defense came up big again. T.J. Watt intercepted Burrow at the line of scrimmage, giving Pittsburgh their first possession of the quarter on their own 39-yard line.
A 32-yard screen pass to Zach Gentry set up 1st and goal. Three plays later, Cincinnati was called for a pass interference penalty, leading to a one-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris.
Steelers increased their lead to 17-3 with 8:46 left in the second quarter.
Nothing changed on the following drive as Cam Sutton got his turn at a turnover, intercepting Burrow on Pittsburgh's 21-yard line. Another unsuccessful drive by Pittsburgh gave Cincinnati the ball back with 4:12 remaining in the half.
A 31-yard run on 4th and 1 by Joe Mixon set up the Bengals with 1st and goal. The drive stalled as the Steelers' defense held strong to force a 26-yard field goal, moving the score to 17-6 at halftime.
The ball exchanged hands to open the second half before Cincinnati drove 46 yards on nine plays before Burrow found Tyler Boyd for a two-yard touchdown. Burrow found Mike Thomas on the two-point conversion to narrow the score to 17-14.
With 11:13 left in the fourth quarter, the Steelers found the scoreboard for the first time in the second half. Pittsburgh drove 15 plays in seven plays before Chris Boswell kicked a 48-yard field goal.
The Bengals were driving in their own territory on the opposing drive before Burrow through his fourth interception of the day to Ahkello Witherspoon.
After a goalline stand that gave the Steelers the ball back with 1:51 remaining, Pittsburgh went three-and-out and punted back to Cincinnati.
The Bengals started their final drive with 1:27 remaining in the game down 20-14. A penalty on Watt, who had to then leave the game with an injury, on second and 10 gave the Bengals a fresh set of downs inside the red zone with 22 seconds left. Another penalty on Fitzpatrick pushed the Bengals to the six-yard line with nine seconds left.
Cincinnati had four shots at the endzone from inside the redzone and couldn't convert until their last play, when Burrow connected with Chase for a touchdown pass to the front corner of the endzone with two seconds remaining. He beat Witherspoon in one-on-one coverage.
But the Bengals couldn't make the game-winning extra point because Fitzpatrick came flying in to block the kick and initiate overtime.
The Steelers won the toss and took the ball to start the extra period and their first drive went three-and-out.
Burrow led the Bengals down into field goal range but, with McPhearson lined up for the game-winning kick, backup long-snapper Mike Wilcox - a tight end - tossed a high snap that led to the laces being turned inward. McPhearson pulled the kick left.
On their ensuing possession, the Steelers drove into field goal range as well, but Chris Boswell missed a potentially game-ending kick too, bouncing it off the left upright.
The Bengals couldn't quite reach field goal range, thanks to a third-down sack from Arthur Maulett. They punted back to the Steelers with 1:04 left and Trubisky connected with Johnson and Friermuth to set Boswell back up for a 53-yard field goal. Boswell nailed that attempt, giving the Steelers a 23-20 win.
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