Turnovers halted a Steelers' comeback, as the Bengals escape with a victory, 27-17
Pittsburgh-The Steelers turned the ball over three times in the first half in a loss to the Bengals 27-17.
Prior to the Monday Night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers organization found out that Steelers' Hall of Famer Kevin Greene passed away earlier today. Even though they were playing with heavy hearts, Pittsburgh knew that they needed to take care of business against the Bengals in order to stay in the chase for home field advantage in the AFC.
In the first half, the Steelers had a slow start to the game. Pittsburgh was struggling to get the ball down the field and get productive drive going. At the start of the second quarter, the Steelers only had 12 total yards of offense.
Ben Roethlisberger got a little careless with the ball, as he tried to fight a ball in a tight window, but was picked off by the Bengals with six minutes left in the half. The Bengals took advantage of the turnover and scored a touchdown to extend their lead against the "Steel Curtain", 17-0.
The Steelers on both sides of the ball was shut out by the Bengals and walked into the half scoreless with 40-yards of total offense.
Pittsburgh finally got on the board at the start of the third quarter. Roethlisberger threw a 23-yard touchdown strike to Dionatae Johnson to cut Cincinnati's lead to ten, 17-7. Momentum started to shift to the Steelers' sideline, as Pittsburgh' offense started to come alive and find holes in the Bengals' defense. With under five minutes left in the quarter, the Steelers kicked a field goal to cut the Bengals' lead to a one-score game, 17-10.
The Steelers' secondary was burned at the start of the fourth quarter. Ryan Finley hit the speed burst in the redzone, as he zoomed into the endzone for a 23-yard touchdown. The Bengals extend their lead 24-10 with 10 minutes left in regulation. The Steelers answered the Bengals' touchdown with a touchdown of their own to climb back into the game, 24-17.
"Big Ben" and company had a chance to drive the ball down the field for a game-tying drive with under two minutes left in the game, but could not convert on a fourth and long. With the loss, the Chiefs control their destiny for home-field advantage, while the Steelers are going to be in a dog fight with holding off the Browns to be divisional champions.
Roethlisberger finished 20 of 38 for 170 yards and 1 interception.
Benny Snell Jr. had 18 touches for 84 yards and 1 touchdown.
