The Matt Canada-less Pittsburgh Steelers gained over 400 yards of offense and prevented a losing streak by beating the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10, at Paycor Stadium in Week 12
The Bengals won the toss and chose to defer, meaning the Steelers’ offense would see the field first. On first down, QB Kenny Pickett hit TE Pat Freiermuth for a 24-yard gain over the middle of the field. But the drive stalled after a five-yard loss on 2nd and 7, and the Steelers were forced to punt. Pressley Harvin III’s kick was a touchback and the Bengals took over at their own 20.
The Bengals, under backup QB Jake Browning, went three-and-out on their first drive, with a T.J. Watt strip sack on third down that Cincinnati recovered. Pittsburgh took over at its own 29 following a holding penalty by Mark Robinson on the punt return. Pittsburgh picked up a first down on a reception by RB Jaylen Warren on 3rd and 1, but on the next play DE Trey Hendrickson sacked Pickett.
On 3rd and 14, Pickett went deep to Freiermuth up the seam again, and this time the two connected for a gain of 29 yards down to the Cincinnati 33. Pittsburgh got a new set of downs following a defensive pass interference penalty, but an incomplete pass to WR Diontae Johnson in the end zone was followed by a fumble by RB Jaylen Warren at the Bengals’ 11. Cincinnati recovered and returned it to its own 39. The Bengals couldn’t capitalize off the turnover though and ended up punting.
On 1st down from their own 11, RB Najee Harris ran for 20 yards for Pittsburgh. On 3rd and 3 from their own 38, Pickett went deep to WR Diontae Johnson for a 39-yard gain to the Cincinnati 23, but Pittsburgh couldn’t move the ball further and settled for a 41-yard Chris Boswell field goal to go up 3-0 with 12:39 left in the first half.
After a 46-yard kick return, the Bengals would begin at their own 47. On 2nd and 4, a deflected pass was caught by WR Ja’Marr Chase, and he turned on the jets for a 31-yard gain to the Pittsburgh 16. Two plays later, TE Drew Sample found the end zone from 11 yards out and the Bengals took a 7-3 lead with 10:30 left after the extra point.
Pittsburgh got the ball back and a 10-yard reception to Darnell Washington on first down was followed by back-to-back three-yard runs and then an incompletion and the Steelers would punt. Cincinnati went three-and-out, with LB Nick Herbig sacking Browning on third down. Following the punt, the Steelers got the ball back on their own 45. But they couldn’t capitalize on the good field position and punted, with the Bengals taking over at their own 11 with 3:50 left in the half after a punt.
On 2nd and 9, Browning avoided a sack and found WR Trenton Irwin for a 25-yard gain, which turned into a 40-yard gain following a roughing-the-passer penalty against Watt. The Bengals would punt though, and the touchback gave Pittsburgh the ball at its own 20 with 1:38 left in the half, trailing 7-3.
An 11-yard gain by Freiermuth on second down was followed by a 16-yard reception to the Cincinnati 49. A holding penalty on OT Broderick Jones set the drive back though, and Pittsburgh had to punt inside of Cincinnati territory. The Bengals would kneel and take their 7-3 lead into halftime.
The Bengals opening drive of the second half got going on 3rd and 9, when Browning hit WR Andrei Iosivas for a gain of 16. They picked up another first down later in the drive, and then Chase picked up 25 yards on a reception downfield over CB Joey Porter Jr. With the Bengals at the Pittsburgh 21, they looked like they were going to put points on the board but S Trenton Thompson had other ideas. He picked off Browning at the Pittsburgh 15 and the Steelers got the ball back.
Pittsburgh opened its drive with a 15-yard completion to Warren out of the backfield and later in the drive converted a 3rd and 5 to WR Calvin Austin III. Then on 3rd and 4 from the Cincinnati 39, Pickett was able to find Freiermuth for a gain of nine. Freiermuth went over 100 yards on the day after another third-down completion that picked up a first, and a run by Warren a few plays later gave the Steelers a first and goal, and RB Najee Harris ran it in from five yards out. The Steelers took a 10-7 lead with 1:34 left in the third quarter after Boswell’s extra point.
The Bengals faced a 2nd and 16 on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Chase made another reception off a deflection, this one for 14 yards. An offensive pass interference on third down knocked Cincinnati back though, and Watt and DE Cameron Heyward combined for a sack on third down and the Bengals had to punt.
Pittsburgh got moving on offense thanks to a 43-yard completion by Pickett to WR George Pickens on 3rd and 8. That moved Pittsburgh to the Cincinnati 20, but the drive stalled at the Cincinnati 16. Boswell came on and hit from 34 yards to give the Steelers a 13-7 lead with 8:03 left in the game.
Cincinnati went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, with Watt getting his second sack of the game on third down. The Steelers moved into Cincinnati territory on the first play of their next drive with a 22-yard run by Harris. Harris then ran for 13 yards and on the next play Pickett hit WR Allen Robinson II for an 11-yard gain. On 3rd and 12 from the Cincinnati 22, Pickett found Freiermuth, but it was short of the sticks and Boswell came out for a field goal. He was good from 33 yards and the Steelers took a 16-7 lead with 2:51 remaining.
On the first play of Cincinnati’s drive, RB Joe Mixon took a screen 39 yards to the Pittsburgh 36. They’d move to the Pittsburgh 28, and McPherson made a 42-yard field goal to make the score 16-10 with 2:04 to go. The Bengals didn’t have any timeouts, so they tried an onside kick which the Steelers recovered.
After the two-minute warning, the Steelers went into the victory formation and kneeled out the clock.
The win moves Pittsburgh to 7-4, while the Bengals fall to 5-6 on the season and remain in last place in the AFC North.
