CINCINNATI -- One of the great benefits of running the ball in the NFL is that it allows you to establish control at the line of scrimmage. It also is a great way to show the opposing team who is the more physical competitor.
But physicality also can be exerted in the passing game.
The Steelers pounded the Bengals into submission for long periods in this game, punishing them not only on runs, but on runs after the catch.
It all helped lead to a 28-21 come-from-behind win that put the Steelers firmly back into the race for the AFC North title.
If it wasn't James Conner punishing the Bengals on his runs, it was once again Vance McDonald, who else, blasting through Cincinnati defenders.
That's physicality, folks.
And that was Vontaze Burfict falling off McDonald on first contact. You'd better believe McDonald -- who told me he goes looking for people to run over -- enjoyed running through Burfict.
"It’s just really fun to break tackles," McDonald said.
Did he know who he was running through?
"Yeah, Vontaze," McDonald said. "Great player. He’s an unbelievable player."
Not on that play, he wasn't.
McDonald's physical runs after the catch are becoming a regular staple of the Steelers offense. He's seemingly doing it every week.
And that play sent Burfict to the sideline with a shoulder injury. That, of course, fired up the Steelers' sideline.
"That gets guys going," Ben Roethlisberger said. "It gets you juiced up that guys are being physical. It’s a lot of fun to know guys aren’t going to quit on plays."
It would have been nice to see some of that physical play when the Steelers hosted the Ravens a couple weeks ago. The Steelers were outplayed at the line of scrimmage in that game.
"It’s getting colder, it’s getting later in the season and it’s on the o-line and tight ends to beat up on guys," guard Ramon Foster said. "Roosevelt Nix has been in there. Later in the season, we’ve got to be a team that’s able to run the ball. We were efficient more than anything."
• Of course, Burfict couldn't make it through a game without taking a cheap shot. He tried to take Antonio Brown's head off on a catch over the middle in the third quarter.
He ended up blasting a teammate instead, rookie safety Jessie Bates, though he also connected with an elbow to Brown's head.
Burfict wasn't penalized for that play, but he should hear from the league about it. And if you have any doubt regarding his intent on the play, here it is from a different angle.
Burfict throwing an elbow into AB's head, because of course! pic.twitter.com/182OzqxE62
— Benstonium (@Benstonium) October 14, 2018
Marvin Lewis, however, seemingly had trouble recalling the play.
"I don't know what play you're talking about," Lewis said when asked if he expected Burfict to hear from the league about the play. "There were a lot of plays out there."
When it was described more clearly, Lewis still played dumb.
"There are a lot of plays out there, and the league looks at every play," Lewis said.
It should look at that one very closely. And Burfict should be suspended -- again. Or, better yet, the league could allow Conner and McDonald to run him over a few more times.
• The Steelers' offensive line was dominant in this game. But the team still stalled out twice on drives inside the 5, settling for field goals.
The crazy thing is that both of those drives -- 85 and 82 yards -- were the longest in the game by either team.
The Steelers didn't have a drive start beyond their own 26 in this game. Thanks to a couple of long kick returns, the Bengals twice started possessions in Steelers territory. Yet they scored on just one of those.
The Steelers' scoring drives were 75, 75, 85, 82 and 77 yards. Cincinnati's were 54, 44 and 75 yards.
• That final scoring drive by the Bengals tarnished what was otherwise a strong game by the Steelers defense.
Prior to that final drive, the Bengals had less than 200 yards of offense. They had four total yards on two third quarter possessions.
• The Steelers head into their bye relatively healthy with the opportunity to get more so coming out of it.
Morgan Burnett should be back the next time the Steelers take the field. Same goes for L.J. Fort and Darrius Heyward-Bey.
I'm willing to give the Steelers' special teams a pass on this one since it was playing without Fort and Heyward-Bey, two of its more impactful players.
Plus, the Steelers had come into this game leading the league in kickoff coverage. That had not been an issue this season.
• It would seem the Steelers could get the ball to Brown anytime they want running plays similar to this one, on which, of course, he scored the game-winning touchdown.
But they are definitely not forcing the ball to Brown as much as they were earlier in the season. In fact, in this game, four Steelers had more targets than Brown's six.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Brown, however, made two of the bigger offensive plays in the game. The TD catch was a big one. He also had a 48-yard catch-and-run earlier in the fourth quarter to set up a short field goal.
"Everyone wants to shut me down," Brown said. "It's their job to shut me down. It's my job to beat those guys. We got the better of the matchup."
• Chris Boswell made all of his kicks in this game and looked good doing so. But I'll bet there were more than a few people out there who weren't exactly looking forward to seeing him trot out for a potential game winner with the Steelers down 21-20.
• I'm not quite sure why Mike Tomlin would challenge the spot of the ball on a Ryan Switzer catch earlier in the game but wouldn't challenge the spot on this James Conner run in the third quarter.
Conner lands right at the goal line on that play. And the Steelers wouldn't get into the end zone from there, with Conner getting stuffed on a pair of runs and Roethlisberger missing Jesse James on a second-down throw.
Tomlin said after the game he didn't get an opportunity to see the play in stadium. But he shouldn't need to. Somebody upstairs has to see that and tell Tomlin it needs to be challenged.
• Of all of the things I've seen covering sports, the most amazing thing might be that the Steelers are now 18-3 at Paul Brown Stadium.
That's better than their record in Cleveland since the Browns came back into the league. And the Bengals have been a lot better than the Browns during most of that time.
Because of that record, there was little doubt who was going to win this game when the Steelers set foot on the field with 1:12 left on the clock and all three timeouts remaining.
• So the Le'Veon Bell watch begins anew Monday. Will he show up? When will he show up?
And then what happens when he does show up?
The Steelers, at least, have a sense of humor about the situation.
"James (Conner), I thought he was a bowling ball today," said Roethlisberger. "He was all over the place. What a great game. Now, I know it's hist last game for us because Le'Veon's coming back, so we're glad he did well in that last one."