The Pittsburgh Steelers were running strong. Until they weren’t. A false start on a 4th down Tush Push. And a pair of costly interceptions that erased a 10-0 lead, allowing the Cincinnati Bengals to not only get back into Thursday night’s game but gain a strong lead. Speaking to reporters following a 33-31 loss, Aaron Rodgers took the blame for the first of his two picks.
“I think we had a good couple first drives and then I made a poor decision on a drive,” Rodgers told reporters via the team’s YouTube channel, referring to the interception.
After the Steelers building a 10-0 second quarter lead, the Bengals found traction with a 10 play, 72-yard drive that ended in QB Joe Flacco finding WR Ja’Marr Chase for a short touchdown. Rodgers threw an interception two plays into the ensuing drive, a deep ball to WR DK Metcalf that was off-line and picked by S Jordan Battle.
Battle returned the ball into Pittsburgh territory, but his runback was negated upon review after officials determined Metcalf touched him down at the spot of the pick.
“I was trying to look off the safety, and I was just kind of throwing to a spot,” Rodgers said. “I gotta go back and look at it.”
Rodgers got the single-high look he wanted but stared down Metcalf. That brought the safety to the sideline and coupled with a bad pass that should’ve been thrown along the sidelines, if thrown at all, led to the turnover.
With the crowd and momentum swinging back in the Bengals’ favor, Flacco and company took advantage. Finding a running game that had been absent all season, RB Chase Brown ripped off his longest run of the season, a 37-yard gain that basically got the wiped-out interception yardage back. Two plays later, Flacco found WR Tee Higgins open over the middle for a 29-yard touchdown – and the lead.
It was part of 20 Bengals unanswered points, turning a 10-0 deficit into a 20-10 lead. Pittsburgh rallied to take a 31-30 lead late in the game, but Flacco led a game-winning drive in the final minutes to secure the upset.
Rodgers threw two interceptions on the night, though the second was much less his fault. Metcalf had a downfield throw ripped out of his hands and taken away by CB DJ Turner later in the game. Still, it marked the first time in 20 Thursday games Rodgers had thrown a pair of picks.
On the season, Rodgers is up to 14 touchdown passes and five interceptions.
