CINCINNATI -- For the Steelers, it was gut-check time.
For the Bengals, it was gut-wrenching.
That was pretty much the feeling in both locker rooms following the Steelers' 28-21 victory over the Bengals when Antonio Brown walked -- or sprinted -- one off at Paul Brown Stadium with his 31-yard catch-and-run with 10 seconds remaining.
The Steelers (3-2-1) stood 77 yards away from the end zone with just 1:12 remaining on the clock after the Bengals (4-2) had just scored on a 4-yard Joe Mixon touchdown to take a 21-20 lead.
Forget blinking. The offense embraced the moment.
"Ben told us, ‘They messed up. They gave us too much time. Let’s go do our thing.’" Marcus Gilbert told me. "All bets were off. We wanted to go out and handle business."
Ben Roethlisberger notched his 45th career game-winning drive — 33rd in the fourth-quarter — and said the feeling was one of confidence.
"I told the guys, 'This is what legacies are made of for all of us. Let's go take care of business,'" Roethlisberger said. "That's what makes it fun."
The idea was to get into field-goal range for a potential game-winning Chris Boswell kick.
"I talked to (special teams coordinator) Danny Smith before the drive and said, 'Tell me what yard line you need,'" Roethlisberger said. "Because the thought was to get us into field-goal range and win it that way. But things happened differently."
Indeed.
With three timeouts remaining, Roethlisberger could use the entire field despite the lack of time. His first pass went to JuJu Smith-Schuster for an eight-yard gain in the middle of the field, but it took 25 seconds off the clock.
He then took a shot deep to little-used Justin Hunter -- who replaced struggling rookie James Washington on the final series -- for an incompletion to stop the clock with 42 seconds remaining. But Roethlisberger went back to Smith-Schuster along the sideline to convert the first down and move the ball to the Steelers' 41.
That's when things got interesting. Two straight incompletions left the Steelers in third down with just 29 seconds left in the game. And when Roethlisberger overthrew Smith-Schuster down the sideline on third down, it appeared the Steelers would be staring at another AFC North loss.
Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, however, was penalized for defensive holding against Brown on the play, giving the Steelers five yards and a new set of downs.
"It was right in front of me," Roethlisberger said. "It was kind of a free play because I saw the flag being thrown. I'm more mad I missed JuJu, because we could have declined the penalty and picked up a big chunk of yards there."
It didn't matter. On the next play, Roethlisberger found Smith-Schuster down the middle of the field for a 23-yard gain over the outstretched hands of linebacker Vontaze Burfict for a gain to the Bengals' 31, the outer limits of where Smith had told Roethlisberger the Steelers could kick.
The Steelers called a timeout and set up a play similar to one they had run earlier, with Brown next to Hunter on Roethlisberger's left.
"I knew I was going to have an opportunity," Brown said. "They had zero coverage a couple of plays earlier in the drive. And in the same formation, I had an out-and-up on a guy and had a step on him. I think he knew. When he saw me motion back to that same formation, I saw him get back. I knew once I was able to get inside, I'd be able to run away from him."
With the Bengals blitzing, William Jackson, the corner, backed off Brown, leaving corner Tony McRae with Hunter and Brown at the line of scrimmage. Brown cut inside Hunter -- who sealed off McRae -- and caught a short pass from Roethlisberger, racing into the end zone untouched through the middle of the field.
"I saw Antonio Brown running and I heard the crowd," Alejandro Villanueva said. "It was an unbelievable feeling."
And a nearly unbelievable win if the Steelers hadn't made a habit of finding ways to beat the Bengals in Cincinnati. They've now won 18 of 21 games between the two teams here.
But this one was different.
"That was one of the best finishes I’ve had in my career," Gilbert told me. "Just to have Ben and AB, it was so special. The whole offense was fun to play with."
Perhaps Mike Tomlin summed the whole thing up best:
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. Steelers offensive line
Really, the entire group. James Conner rushed for 111 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Roethlisberger dropped back to pass 46 times and was not sacked. He was hit just once.
2. James Conner
Steelers running back
Conner finished with 19 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. He also had four receptions for another 18 and ran over and through Bengals throughout the game, knocking strong safety Shawn Williams out of the game with a concussion.
3. Antonio Brown
Steelers wide receiver
Really, this could have been a number of guys, but Brown rebounded from having just one catch for nine yards at the half to finish with five receptions for 105 yards and the game-winning score. He had two receptions for 79 yards in the fourth quarter alone, setting up a field goal with a 48-yard catch-and-run earlier in the quarter.
THE GOOD
The Steelers knew if they were going to win this game, they would need to control defensive tackle Geno Atkins and defensive end Carlos Dunlap. If those two started rolling, it was going to be a long day for their offense.
"They did an awesome job," Tomlin said. "There was a reason that group was 4-1 coming into this game. That front has a lot to do with it. ... I can't say enough about Al (Villanueva) and Gilbert and company getting up in the face of those guys. The interior people with Geno, who's the league leader in sacks. For an interior guy, that speaks to his talent."
Atkins, who came in tied for the league lead with six sacks, had one assisted tackle. Dunlap, who had four sacks in the Bengals' first five games, made two solo tackles and assisted on two others.
"My team needed me, needed the inside guys to handle Geno and Dunlap," Gilbert told me. "We had a good day."
THE BAD
Thanks to solid kickoff coverage, the Steelers entered the game first in the NFL in terms of opponents' starting position, with the average drive starting at the 22.6.
Moments after Conner scored on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter, Alex Erickson returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Pittsburgh 49. Five plays later, Andy Dalton, who was 26 of 42 for 229 yards and two touchdowns, tossed a 14-yard TD pass to former Pitt star Tyler Boyd, his second scoring catch of the game.
Erickson also returned the opening kickoff of the second half to midfield, but the Steelers stopped Mixon on a third-and-1 run for no gain to force a punt from their 40.
Cincinnati's first two touchdowns came on short drives -- 54 and 44 yards -- thanks to great field position. Overall, the Steelers limited the Bengals to just 275 yards of offense.
"Really, they just made big plays (to score)," defensive end Stephon Tuitt told me. "They’ve got some great players on their side, too."
THE PLAY
If the Bengals thought they were going to bully the Steelers in this game, Vance McDonald and Conner had different ideas.
McDonald is quickly establishing himself as one of the most physical players in the league at the tight end — or any — position.
He once again went rumbling, stumbling and bumbling through defensive players to get a drive rolling, this time catching a short pass along the sideline midway through the second quarter and running through tackle attempts by Burfict and safety Shawn Williams.
"I really enjoy it. I won’t lie about that," McDonald told me when I said it looks like he goes looking for people to run through. "To me, it’s the game within the game. To have opportunities is one thing in the game, but it’s just, ‘I dare you to come get me down.’ It’s the game in the game that I really enjoy."
That's why he really enjoyed Conner's run later in the game. Conner took a first-down handoff from Roethlisberger and did this to Williams.
That ended the day for Williams. He left with a concussion and did not return.
It might have saved him from another bullying run.
"Hell yeah," Gilbert told me when I asked if those kind of plays fire up the offense. "Those guys put their bodies on the line. When we have effort like that, we can go a long way."
THE CALL
Roethlisberger might have seen the holding penalty called against Kirkpatrick, but not everyone in Paul Brown Stadium was in agreement that it should have been called.
"I was over the top right there (on that play) and I don't feel it was a hold," said Bengals safety Clayton Fejedelem. "I don't think it was at all. They were just kind of scrambling and running into each other. Sometimes, you've got to take it out of the refs' hands."
Replay showed Kirkpatrick with his arms wrapped around Brown.
"Trash call," Kirkpatrick said. "I don't care if I get fined. Trash call."
THE OTHER SIDE
The Bengals lost their seventh in a row to the Steelers.
"That is a disappointing way to lose a football game, after we get back and get the lead and so forth," Marvin Lewis said. "We had some good things throughout the day, but not enough to win the football game. ... That was a great job by the offense going down the field and giving us the lead after the field goal. But we have to figure out a way to stop the offense and win the game."
"We're better than them -- they're not better than us," Kirkpatrick said. "They got the win, we got the loss, but they ain't better than us."
THE INJURY UPDATE
Morgan Burnett (groin), L.J. Fort (ankle) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (ankle) did not dress for this game because of injuries. But the Steelers had no major in-game issues.
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers have their bye next week. They'll have a team meeting tomorrow after an open locker room from 1:15 to 2 p.m. I'll have the coverage from there -- and we'll see if Le'Veon Bell shows up.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Bengals, Cincinnati, Oct. 14, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS