Isaiah Buggs rose up to his feet and raised both arms triumphantly, Cam Heyward lay flat on his face either from exhaustion or exasperation, Mike Tomlin let out a palpable exhale as he pumped his right fist, and the 60,788 fans on hand at Heinz Field ... fled for the exits as if the place had been set afire.
In so many ways, I couldn't have painted a more perfect portrait of what'd just occurred if I'd moved around the pieces myself.
Not just this specific scene that saw the Bears' kicker, Cairo Santos, come up hopelessly short on a final-second, 65-yard field goal try. But really, the entirety of the Steelers' 29-27 victory over the Bears on this Monday night, their fourth in a row and one that improved the overall record to 5-3 and the AFC standing to a tie for third.
Oh, and that winning streak's currently the NFL's second-longest, trailing the Titans' five.
"That's just the nature of this thing," Mike Tomlin would say to open his postgame press conference. "It's the National Football League. You're going to be in battles."
Yep. Ask the Bills, Cowboys, Raiders, Rams and everyone else who was cut down this past weekend. There's always one outcome worse than playing poorly.
"The most important thing is that you smile in the face of adversity and deliver the necessary plays," Tomlin continued. "That's the silver lining in tonight's performance. We were up against it, a lot of it due to our own doing. But you’ve got to tip your cap to the Bears. They competed, and they competed for 60 minutes. The cool thing is we made the necessary plays. Ben took the offense down the field, and we got the necessary field goal. We were able to close the game out, and I'm thankful for that."
Expecting some kind of contrast from me here?
Nope, sorry.
Oh, I'll acknowledge all of the occasional awfulness in all phases: Ben Roethlisberger threw as if his newly injured right shoulder was either big-time hurting or attached to a 39-year-old body or both. Najee Harris and the running game couldn't generate a yawning yard at times. The offensive linemen, particularly Dan Moore, regressed into being rookie-level turnstiles. The defense had plenty of push up front, highlighted by Heyward and T.J. Watt as always, but the secondary was softer than Cassius Marsh's cerebellum. The special teams chipped in with a missed extra point, a shanked punt and, oh, you betcha, a fumbled return by Ray-Ray McCloud that the Bears flew back to the house. And the coaching was regrettable in barely adjusting to the Bears' second-half surge.
But it was, in fact, a win, as I'd confirm afterward with T.J.:
"A win is a win," he'd answer with a slight shrug. "I was definitely drained. A long game. I haven’t even checked how many plays it was, but I’m sure it was a decent amount for the defense. I’ll take a win."
That's what I'm seeing, as well, with little reason to complicate it. For now. There's a short week ahead to prepare for the 0-8 Lions, who are as pathetic as ever but who'll also be fresh off their bye week. There's time to stress corrections, much the same way the practices over the past week invited real officials in an attempt to minimize penalties and, coincidence or not, the Bears would get 12 of the 17 flags on this night.
Here's what else I'm seeing:
I'll reiterate that the O-line was oh-no, and that was deeply disappointing. Zach Banner's return needs to come against the Lions and not a second later. Bench Moore, slide Chuks Okorafor across to left tackle, and use the week to get the glue out.
But I'll also reiterate into eternity that, someday, when the blocks are there, Najee will run until there's no more running to be had. My goodness.
That's Chase Claypool fighting for a football. He'd get hurt in the third quarter, but he fought in every way before that, and he matters so much.
All of the receivers fought, actually, including on this James Washington 42-yarder ...
... that also, unfortunately, brought the first of a few quackers from Ben.
But that in and of itself illustrates the extra effort needed in this one. Because while Tomlin insisted the right shoulder injury, which popped up late in the week on the official participation report, was "not worth mentioning" and Ben claimed that Tomlin had instructed all players to not speak about injuries at all, it couldn't have been more painfully clear his arm wasn't what it'd been just the previous week in Cleveland.
So, in that context, completing 21 of 30 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns and no picks for a fourth consecutive game ... that's OK.
As was Ben taking to the huddle with 1:46 remaining, the Steelers down a point, and passing the team -- 5 of 5 for 55 yards -- toward his 50th career winning fourth-quarter drive, one that was capped thusly before giving way to Chris Boswell's kick:
What the ... ?
"It was an RPO, and I'm not supposed to be one of the Rs," Ben would say, referring to the run-pass options he calls at the line. "But they were collapsing really hard and, so, just keep it and don't throw it away, don't stop the clock. I thought I could get the first. I guess I'm a little too old to get an extra yard."
Baloney. He should've had it. Terrible spot.
But it didn't matter. The result did:
'Serial killer,' indeed.
A 40-yarder's a snooze for Boswell, but this came with its own challenges. He was a week removed from being concussed in Cleveland and, in the third quarter of this one, recovered a Chicago fumble on a kickoff return and got clocked again:
Who says kickers aren't football players?
Other than maybe kickers?
"It's not something I want to do every week," he'd tell me with a grin.
Here's something that does happen every week now:
Pat Freiermuth met Heath Miller on the field before the game -- first time for that -- then went out and caught a couple more Heath-level touchdowns.
"So cool," the kid said of the encounter. "He shared a few things with me about how to get through my rookie year, how to take care of my body, things he did in his rookie year, that I really appreciate."
On the other side of the ball, if setting aside the secondary for another blistering on another day -- besides, it's always a goal to keep these columns family-friendly -- the defensive front was no less gritty, gutsy, whatever grimy term might apply. T.J. had three sacks, a pass defensed and endless pressure. Minkah Fitzpatrick still didn't touch the ball, but he crushed Justin Fields on a scramble among his team-high eight tackles.
And all Cam contributed was three quarterback hits, a batted pass and this monster-piece:
"Yeah, I’ve been getting a lot of tips lately, and I just wanted to get a pick," the big man recalled. "We’ve been lacking in the turnover department, and I figured I could help out."
He'd get banged up late but still dragged himself onto the field for the final Chicago series ... only to collapse upon the missed kick before walking himself off.
Need more?
There's a ton of good up there, though I strongly suspect it'll be obliterated in public by the bad the next few days.
Which is ... well, too bad.
Tomlin was asked about this group's resilience, not so much regarding injuries and the like, but more at the many rallies.
"I think we've displayed that throughout," he came back without a pause. "We made plays against Denver, we made plays at the end of the game versus Seattle ... and I thought the significant thing in this one was that the offense had an opportunity to do it. That's the awesome thing about team sports and football, in particular. You're going to face enough adversity that everyone's going to have an opportunity to ante up and kick in. That's a good lesson to be learned throughout this. Hopefully, we grow and grow in the right ways."
Water those seeds. Don't rain on them.
EMILEE CHINN / GETTY
Ben Roethlisberger sprints through the tunnel upon being introduced Monday night at Heinz Field.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Chase Claypool, wide receiver, was the only player mentioned by Tomlin afterward as being hurt, but he offered no specifics of any kind. Claypool was hurt in the third quarter and didn't return, though the team never made an in-game injury announcement.
• Zach Banner, right tackle, was made inactive despite practicing all week amid a continuing recovery from knee surgery
• Eric Ebron, tight end, missed the game with a hamstring injury
THE AFC NORTH
THE SCHEDULE
Next game: Lions at home, then off to the left coast to take on the Chargers.
THE MULTIMEDIA
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THE CONTENT
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