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Steelers top Bengals, clinch AFC North title

By Mike Ciarochi mciarochi@heraldstandard.Com 7 min read
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PITTSBURGH — A wild and crazy fourth quarter turned the Bengals’ way, then the Steelers’ way in a 27-17 Pittsburgh win that wrapped up the AFC North Division championship for the Steelers.

It also gave Pittsburgh a home game next weekend. The third-seeded Steelers will host sixth-seeded Baltimore at 8:15 p.m. Saturday in a wild card playoff game that will be televised by NBC. Cincinnati, a No. 5 seed, will visit No. 4 Indianapolis Sunday at 1 p.m. in a CBS game.

“I’m really happy for and proud of the effort,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Our group has grown together and nothing came easy for us. We can’t waste a lot of time in celebration because our next game is back here on Saturday.”

The Steelers, nursing a 20-10 lead that became 20-17, gave up two interceptions, the second thrown by punter Brad Wing, oddly enough, but survived when Antwon Blake caused and recovered an A.J. Green fumble. That set up the game-clinching play, a 63-yard touchdown strike from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown with 2:50 remaining.

With Pittsburgh leading 20-10, Roethlisberger threw an interception to Reggie Nelson and Cincinnati marched 89 yards to make it 20-17.

Then the Steelers tried a fake punt with 5:43 remaining, but Blake, Roethlisberger and Brown made the plays that led the Steelers to victory.

“Who else was going to make it?” Tomlin asked about Brown’s play. “He needs no endorsement from me. He works harder than he plays, so it’s not haphazard when he steps up and makes a play.”

Tomlin took the blame for the fake punt and said he would do it again under similar circumstances.

“I take responsibility for that because I want to remain aggressive,” Tomlin said. “That’s on me because our guys know I want to remain aggressive. I didn’t want to put our defense back out there. They adjusted their coverage and made a good play on it to counter our play.”

Tomlin also noted that Le’Veon Bell sustained a hyperextension of his right knee and said his availability for Saturday’ playoff game won’t be known for days. Even though he seemed to get into a shouting match with Reggie Nelson, who made the play on Bell, Tomlin said the play was legal.

“I’m not going to discuss my feelings about a legal play,” Tomlin said. “You’d really have to ask Reggie about it, but he was asking me about something someone else told him that I said. But I have a lot of respect for Reggie Nelson.”

Brown got the Steelers on the board by returning Cincinnati’s first punt 71 yards for a touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead with 10:50 on the first-quarter clock. It was Brown’s third career punt return touchdown and tied him for second on the Steelers all-time list. He tied Louis Lipps and Ray Matthews and trails only Antwaan Randle-El, who had four career punt return touchdowns.

Andy Dalton completed a fourth-down pass to Brandon Tate to put the Bengals in scoring range and Cincinnati got the tying touchdown when Dalton shovel passed to Giovanni Bernard for 17 yards and a touchdown to make it 7-7 with 2:43 left in the first quarter. The Bengals scoring drive covered 42 yards in seven plays.

Cincinnati’s Wallace Gilberry recovered a low snap fumble by Roethlisberger to set up the Bengals at Pittsburgh’s 34-yard line near the end of the first quarter. The Bengals faced a third-and-5 on the first play of the second quarter and converted on an 11-yard pass to Green. A Cameron Heyward sack brought about a third-and-16 from the Pittsburgh 24 and Cincinnati settled for a 39-yard Mike Nugent field goal that put the Bengals ahead, 10-7, 12:32 before halftime.

The Steelers moved into scoring range on a pair of Roethlisberger completions before Shaun Suisham booted a 29-yard field goal at the end of a 9-play, 59-yard drive. Key plays were a 20-yard pass to Heath Miller on third-and-4 and a 26-yard pass to Bell on the next play. The kick tied the score, 10-10, with 7:36 left in the first half.

Brice McCain got his second interception of the game when he gathered in a ball tipped by Green. McCain returned it 31 yards to the Cincinnati 28-yard line and, two plays later, Roethlisberger passed to Martavis Bryant for a 21-yard touchdown to put the Steelers ahead, 17-10, 5:52 before halftime. Bryant became the second Steelers’ rookie to catch seven touchdown passes. Lipps had nine as a rookie.

The Steelers moved into the red zone late in the second quarter, but settled for a 25-yard Suisham field goal and a 20-10 lead 40 seconds before the break. The drive covered 70 yards in 11 plays.

Cincinnati took the second half kickoff and moved into range for a 50-yard Nugent field goal attempt, but the kick was wide right and the Steelers took over with 9:45 left in the third quarter.

Roethlisberger was intercepted by Nelson on a play that also drew flags like confetti. The resulting offsetting penalties made the pick no worse than a punt, as the Bengals took over at the Cincinnati 11-yard line.

The interception came a few plays after Bell was sidelined on a hard hit at the end of a 19-yard pass completion. A hush fell over the stadium until Bell ran off the field under his own power to an ovation from the fans. His return was announced as doubtful with a right knee injury.

The Bengals, meanwhile, were stringing together a couple of first downs and had moved to the 36-yard line, from where Dalton passed to Green for 16 yards and a first down at the Steelers’ 48-yard line. The scoreless third quarter ended with the Bengals at the Steelers’ 42-yard line.

Cincinnati kept the drive moving and Green got another first down at the 20-yard line. Hill got another first down on an 11-yard run to the Steelers’ 5-yard line and Dalton passed to Jermaine Gresham for a 5-yard touchdown with 11:14 remaining to make it 20-17. The 15-play drive covered 89 yards. And took 7:29 to complete.

Josh Harris’s first carry looked like a 50-plus yard gainer, but was called back by a Ramon Foster holding penalty. Markus Wheaton caught a pass for a first down before Harris ran for 10 more and Roethlisberger passed to Brown for 15 and another first down at the Cincinnati 46-yard line.

Harris was stopped for a 3-yard loss to the 49 before Roethlisberger ran for four yards to the 45, but the drive stalled there and Wing came in to punt. But his fake-punt pass was intercepted by Dane Sanzenbacher and the Bengals took over at their own 41-yard line with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter.

Dalton passed to Green for six yards and Hill ran for three bringing up third-and-1, which Hill converted with a two-yard gain to the Steelers’ 48-yard line. Dalton passed to Green, who was hit and fumbled. Blake caused and recovered the fumble at the Pittsburgh 30-yard line.

Roethlisberger capped the victory with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Brown with 2:50 remaining. The play capped a 3-play, 70-yard drive and gave the Steelers a 27-17 lead. Brown’s TD was his 13th receiving touchdown of the season, which is a new Steelers record.

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