On the
Steelers sideline
Mike Wagner Jersey , Ben Roethlisberger looked at the clock, saw there was 1:18 left, and told his linemen not to fret.“They gave us too much time,” Big Ben
said confidently.Somehow, the Steelers never run out of time at Paul Brown
Stadium.Antonio Brown turned a short catch into a 31-yard touchdown with 10
seconds left Sunday, sending the Steelers to a 28-21 victory over the Bengals.
They’ve now won seven straight against Cincinnati, a streak that includes highly
improbable — and totally predictable — wins.The Steelers (3-2-1) sure saw it
coming.“On the sideline before I went out, I told the guys, ‘This is what
legacies are made of for all of us. Let’s go take care of business,'”
Roethlisberger said.On the decisive play, Roethlisberger saw the Bengals (4-2)
were set for an all-out blitz with no safeties guarding the end zone. He knew it
would be a touchdown if he got the ball quickly to Brown
Mark Barron Jersey , who caught it in stride, cut behind Justin Hunter’s block and ran untouched to the end zone.“We’ve been in that situation a lot, and I
knew we were going to do it,” said Brown, who had five catches for 105
yards.During their seven-game winning streak, the Steelers have pulled them out
at Paul Brown Stadium with 14 seconds, no seconds, and 10 seconds to go.They
rallied to win a first-round playoff game in 2015 — aided by Vontaze Burfict
hitting Brown in the head for a costly penalty — on Chris Boswell’s field goal
with 14 seconds left. Last December, they overcame a 17-point deficit and won on
Boswell’s field goal as time ran out.Now, this stunner.“We’re better than them,”
Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick insisted. “They’re not better than us.”The
statistics say otherwise. The Steelers have won 10 of 11 and 15 of 18 in the
lopsided series.Some takeaways from Paul Brown Stadium:IT’S A RACEThe Bengals
got an early cushion in the division by knocking off the Ravens and opening
4-1
Bud Dupree Jersey , their best start since they won the division in 2015. The Steelers got off to a ragged start at 1-2-1, but back-to-back wins over the
Falcons and Bengals have evened up the division. The Bengals finish the season
at Heinz Field.SHOCKING NUMBERSThe Steelers are 16-2 at Paul Brown Stadium
during Marvin Lewis’ 16 seasons as the Bengals’ head coach, including playoff
victories in 2005 and 2015. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is 20-5 against the
Bengals. Andy Dalton is 3-12 against the Steelers, missing that 2015 playoff
meltdown with a broken thumb.CONNER’S HISTORYJames Conner ran for 111 yards and
a pair of touchdowns, his second straight 100-yard game. Conner joined Hall of
Famers Franco Harris (1976) and Jerome Bettis (2004) as the only Steelers to run
for seven touchdowns in the first six games of a season, excelling as Le’Veon
Bell’s replacement. Bell reportedly will end his holdout this week during
Pittsburgh’s bye.“What a great game,” Roethlisberger said. “Now I know it’s his
last game for us, so we’re glad he did well in his last one.”Roethlisberger
laughed, clarifying that he was going entirely off media reports and speculation
about what happens when Bell returns.BLITZBURGHAfter getting shredded in
September, the Steelers’ defense has come around in the last two games. It got
six sacks in a 41-17 win over the Falcons and sacked Dalton three times.
Pittsburgh limited the Bengals to 123 yards in the second half.BURFICT REPRISEIn
his second game back from his latest NFL suspension, Burfict was at the center
of the riled-up rivalry. He exchanged words with Roethlisberger 3 minutes into
the game. A teammate pushed him away from Conner to help the linebacker avoid a
penalty after a touchdown run. In the third quarter
Javon Hargrave Jersey , Burfict hit Brown in the head as he was being tackled, but avoided a penalty. The NFL will review the play. In the locker room after the
game, Burfict yelled at a reporter who asked another Bengals player about the
hit on Brown.“A nasty hit,” Brown said. Now officially a member of the Jets,
running back Le'Veon Bell has no regrets about skipping the entire 2018 season
in lieu of playing under the franchise tag for a second time. Of course, he’d
never admit to having regrets if he did.“The decision I made,” Bell told
reporters, “I don’t regret anything that happened. Who can I say if I played on
a franchise tag, if I do get hurt, do I sit here with the New York Jets with a
beautiful deal?”He’s right, even if some are arguing that he should have taken
the long-term deal that the Steelers offered last year — one that carried at
least $5 million less in fully-guaranteed money.Once it was clear he’d be
hitting the open market
Sean Davis Jersey , Bell said that his next destination was the Jets all along.“In all reality, the Jets were the team . . . that I wanted to go,” Bell
said, adding that he grew up a Jets fans. “Once the numbers made sense, it
wasn’t hard for me. . . . I’m happy where I stand.”He’s stands in the shoes of a
guy who last played football in January 2018.“The fact that I took last year
off, it sucked having to watch football, but at the same time in December and
January it was the best my body felt in my entire life,” Bell said.And so the
Jets are getting a player who is healthy and rested and presumably motivated to
prove that those who are doubting his decisions and downplaying his skills are
wrong. The Jets benefit from that, both in the form of having a contract that
isn’t quite what it could have been and a player who is determined to make the
most of his second NFL stop.
