• DK: Burrow faces a third-and-3 at midfield. Steelers call their penultimate timeout.
• DK: A big two-yard drive after the fumble recovery.
• FIELD GOAL: Boswell is good from 54 yards. That was the most impressive play on that drive. Ugly. Bengals, 19-17
• DK: Where was Warren on that possession? Not important enough?
• Chris: Toss to Cordarrelle Patterson. One yard. You get what you deserve sometimes.
• DK: Pickens having a terrible game. Just terrible.
• DK: The Steelers say Najee's being evaluated for a 'head injury.' Got his bell rung big-time. He's questionable to return.
• Greg: Of all people, Connor Heyward.
• TURNOVER: Waitman's punt hit DJ Ivey, which is a fumble, and Connor Heyward pounced on it. Steelers get a HUGE break and take over at the Cincinnati 38.
• Chris: Three-and-out. On third-and-1.
• Chris: Steelers get the ball back at their own 11 after the punt. 5:54 remaining.
• Chris: Defense gets the stand they need. Bengals punting.
• Greg: It's amazing what a scoring drive can do for this team and the stadium. It's like everyone has woken up from a mid-game nap.
• Chris: Three batted passes for Heyward. Sheesh.
• Greg: If not for the bobbled snap on Russ' scramble that drive would've been nine passes and the offense moved right down the field.
• DK: Renegade.
• Greg: The Russ to Muth connection in the red zone shows up again. He just got left all by himself.
• DK: Well, he WAS open.
• TOUCHDOWN: Russ hits Freiermuth wide open on a busted coverage. 19-yard pitch and catch. Life, but still need another defensive stop and touchdown. Bengals, 19-14
• Chris: Two passes that have hit Pickens in the hands, but can't hold on through contact.
• DK: He's up, but he's really groggy-looking in being led off the field. Doesn't look great at all. Headed to the blue tent.
• DK: A dogged run after the catch for Najee gets the Steelers to the Cincinnati 31, but now Najee's down.
• DK: The team's apparently about to Van Jefferson its way back into this game.
• Chris: Steelers going hurry up.
• FIELD GOAL: York is good from 23 yards. Another time the defense limited the damage. They've been out there for nearly 35 minutes already. Not too bad, all things considered. Bengals, 19-7
• Greg: Still a lot of pre-snap confusion there before that last completion. Trice was running all over the secondary after Queen slid to the outside.
• Chris: The Steelers have had the ball for 14:10 in this game. 91 total yards. 11:10 left in the game. Even if they possessed the ball the rest of the way, they'd barely have it for just over 25 minutes. My God, that's horrendous.
• Chris: Burrow somehow gets the ball out while surrounded on third down and converts. First-and-goal at the 10.
• Chris: Joey Porter Jr. should be following Chase around now. Higgins isn't out there. Trice is getting shredded.
• DK: Man, this is just so bad. Hard to believe where all this was a month ago. All of it. Even the stuff that wasn't going super-well was at least progressing to an extent (except the O-line).
• INJURY: Tee Higgins is questionable to return with an ankle injury.
• End of the third quarter. Bengals, 16-7
• Chris: Burrow's back in there.
• Greg: The Steelers currently have 91 total yards of offense, are averaging 2.7 yards per play, have had three three-and-outs and have had five drives last six plays or less.
• Chris: Go ball on third-and-8 is incomplete to Pickens. Knocked out late. Another empty possession. The offense's only solution on third-and-long is a go ball. It's been that way for too long now. Multiple games. I know the Steelers and Russ want to reunite, but this ain't it. You're not winning with this QB play.
• Greg: Five weeks ago, this offense had its best game of the season against this defense. Now, they are in danger of having their worst offensive performance of the season. How does that happen?
• Chris: Russ escapes and throws away on second down. More boos. Louder this time. Third-and-8 coming.
• Chris: First-down toss to Najee gains two yards. More boos from the crowd.
• DK: The Steelers have seven whole points against the worst defense any of us has seen all season.
• FIELD GOAL: Steelers keep the Bengals to three points again. York is good from 35 yards. Bengals, 16-7
• DK: Burrow's fine, apparently. Bounds up, trots off to the sideline flexing his neck with his helmet off.
• DK: Burrow's down. Sacked by Nick Herbig. Hard.
• Chris: Two more first downs. Bengals in the red zone.
• Chris: A couple of first downs for the Bengals, and Cincinnati's on the fringe of field goal range.
• Chris: Three-and-out to start the second half. Boos come from the crowd.
• Greg: Even after how sloppy they played in the first half, the Steelers are still only down six points. Over the last three-game stretch, they've been in games and one or two plays have completely swung momentum. They can't let that happen here and need to strike to stay in the game.
• Chris: First play of the third quarter: 4-yard loss on a toss to Najee.
• Chris: York's kick to start the second half goes into the end zone for a touchback.
• Chris: Once again, this team is beating themselves. Fumbling away punt returns, failed fourth-down attempts (on a controversial coaching decision). This is why the Steelers aren't a true contender. When they play clean football, they can compete with anyone any given day. The problem is they seldom play clean.
• Chris: Burrow is 21 of 27. Bengals not even trying to run the ball.
• DK: Some snow swirling now. As if this scene could get any sloppier.
• DK: Paid attendance, which is all that's announced anymore, is 65,631.
• DK: Halftime: Bengals, 13-7
• DK: Handed them three points. For no real reason, relative to the risk/benefit.
• FIELD GOAL: Bengals capitalize on the turnover on downs, but the defense limits the damage. York is good from 27 yards. Bengals, 13-7
• DK: I'm always in favor of being aggressive, but that's a head-scratcher. You're handing the other guys three points if you don't get it.
• Greg: Just a complete backfire right there. Tomlin decides to go for it, they come up short and give Burrow another chance.
• Chris: Handoff to Warren fails on fourth-and-1. Bengals take over. Yikes.
• DK: Complete clown show by these refs. What an embarrassment for the NFL.
• Chris: Steelers try a quick QB sneak to convert third-and-1, but Russ is just short. Line to gain is the Pittsburgh 38. 49 seconds left.
• Chris: Two quick outs to Pat Freiermuth, and the Steelers are moving the ball.
• Greg: Beanie, coming up big. Time to play some complementary football.
• DK: (A-hem!)
• INTERCEPTION: Queen breaks up a pass intended for Chase, and Beanie Bishop catches the deflection just before the ball hits the ground. Steelers take over at their own 17.
• Chris: Killer penalty by Trice. Defensive holding negates a sack by T.J. Watt, which would have forced fourth down, a long field goal attempt and the Steelers a chance to get the ball back and potentially double dip.
• Two-minute warning. Bengals have second-and-6 at the Pittsburgh 29.
• DK: Oh, Cal. No, Cal. Just no. Held the ball up against his chest, easy target. Wow, and this after a 57-yard punt that should've bought everyone a bit of time.
• DK: Massive sack for Preston Smith there, but there also was good coverage. Let's see what the offense does with this. Jefferson, please.
• Chris: Defense is making adjustments. Making Burrow hold the ball.
• Steelers go three-and-out, ending with a good quick pass from Russ, but Van Jefferson can't come back to the ball and it gets broken up. Corliss Waitman's punt goes out of bounds at the Bengals' 16-yard line.
• Cam Heyward tips a quick pass from Burrow on fourth-and-1, and the Steelers take over at their own 38-yard line. Momentum swinging here?
• Isaiah Williams runs the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to the Cincinnati 44.
• TOUCHDOWN: Najee punches it in from the 1-yard line on first down. Bengals, 10-7
• First down, outside run to Najee that gains nothing. Second down, up the middle with Najee for two yards. Pass interference in the end zone bails out a couple of questionable play calls. First-and-goal at the 1.
• A couple more nice runs by Harris and a QB sneak by Wilson, and the Steelers have the ball first-and-goal at the 8.
• Offense is moving along. Into the red zone now after an 11-yard gallop by Najee Harris.
• End of the first quarter. Bengals, 10-0
• First quarter ends with this beaut from Wilson to Mike Williams:
• FIELD GOAL: After Patrick Queen's sack fumble stalls the Bengals' second drive, Cade York is good from 48 yards out. Bengals, 10-0
• Ugly three-and-out for the Steelers' offense. Ends with Trey Hendrickson sacking Russell Wilson.
• Steelers get a break on the ensuing kickoff. Kick didn't make it into the landing zone, so the Steelers start with the ball at their own 40.
• TOUCHDOWN: Joe Burrow makes it look easy moving the Bengals downfield for a 73-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. Bengals, 7-0
• KICKOFF: Chris Boswell boots the opening kick to the goal line and Isaiah Williams brings it to the Cincinnati 27.
Inactives:
Steelers: QB Kyle Allen (third quarterback), WR Scotty Miller, CB Donte Jackson, DT Isaiahh Loudermilk, DE Dean Lowry
Bengals: WR Charlie Jones, RB Chase Brown, DE Isaiah Thomas, OT Andrew Stueber, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Tanner McLachlan, DE Sam Hubbard
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
5:47 am - 01.04.2025North ShoreFinal: Bengals 19, Steelers 17
Looking forward to kickoff ...
• Who: Steelers (10-6) vs. Bengals (8-8)
• What: NFL regular season, Week 18
• When: 8:07 p.m.
• Where: Acrisure Stadium
• Weather: 21°, cloudy, 7% snow, 14-mph wind
• TV: ABC, ESPN
• Radio: Steelers Audio Network
• Streaming: ESPN+, Steelers Nation Radio
• Satellite: SiriusXM 225/826
• Boxscore: NFL.com
• Media notes: Steelers | Bengals
► FOLLOW ALONG
• DK: Ballgame. What a joke. The whole thing.
• DK: Incomplete to Freiermuth. Bullet pass from Russ. Seemed catchable. Wasn't caught.
• DK: Deep ball for George, who tries very awkwardly to grasp an incompletion. Fourth-and-12. This is it, really.
• DK: My God, this line. Sack for a loss of 5. Timeout.
• DK: Russ scrambles for 3.
• DK: Two passes to nowhere, followed by a third-down 17-yard pass to Freiermuth.
• DK: Najee's back. No idea what might be wrong with Jaylen, if anything.
• DK: Cal returns to the 25. Clock shows 1:51. One timeout.
• DK: Benton FINALLY gets his first sack, and talk about timely. Massive. Loss of 11. Punt forthcoming from the Cincinnati 40.
• DK: Queen's really hobbling out there.
• DK: Burrow faces a third-and-3 at midfield. Steelers call their penultimate timeout.
• DK: A big two-yard drive after the fumble recovery.
• FIELD GOAL: Boswell is good from 54 yards. That was the most impressive play on that drive. Ugly. Bengals, 19-17
• DK: Where was Warren on that possession? Not important enough?
• Chris: Toss to Cordarrelle Patterson. One yard. You get what you deserve sometimes.
• DK: Pickens having a terrible game. Just terrible.
• DK: The Steelers say Najee's being evaluated for a 'head injury.' Got his bell rung big-time. He's questionable to return.
• Greg: Of all people, Connor Heyward.
• TURNOVER: Waitman's punt hit DJ Ivey, which is a fumble, and Connor Heyward pounced on it. Steelers get a HUGE break and take over at the Cincinnati 38.
• Chris: Three-and-out. On third-and-1.
• Chris: Steelers get the ball back at their own 11 after the punt. 5:54 remaining.
• Chris: Defense gets the stand they need. Bengals punting.
• Greg: It's amazing what a scoring drive can do for this team and the stadium. It's like everyone has woken up from a mid-game nap.
• Chris: Three batted passes for Heyward. Sheesh.
• Greg: If not for the bobbled snap on Russ' scramble that drive would've been nine passes and the offense moved right down the field.
• DK: Renegade.
• Greg: The Russ to Muth connection in the red zone shows up again. He just got left all by himself.
• DK: Well, he WAS open.
• TOUCHDOWN: Russ hits Freiermuth wide open on a busted coverage. 19-yard pitch and catch. Life, but still need another defensive stop and touchdown. Bengals, 19-14
• Chris: Two passes that have hit Pickens in the hands, but can't hold on through contact.
• DK: He's up, but he's really groggy-looking in being led off the field. Doesn't look great at all. Headed to the blue tent.
• DK: A dogged run after the catch for Najee gets the Steelers to the Cincinnati 31, but now Najee's down.
• DK: The team's apparently about to Van Jefferson its way back into this game.
• Chris: Steelers going hurry up.
• FIELD GOAL: York is good from 23 yards. Another time the defense limited the damage. They've been out there for nearly 35 minutes already. Not too bad, all things considered. Bengals, 19-7
• Greg: Still a lot of pre-snap confusion there before that last completion. Trice was running all over the secondary after Queen slid to the outside.
• Chris: The Steelers have had the ball for 14:10 in this game. 91 total yards. 11:10 left in the game. Even if they possessed the ball the rest of the way, they'd barely have it for just over 25 minutes. My God, that's horrendous.
• Chris: Burrow somehow gets the ball out while surrounded on third down and converts. First-and-goal at the 10.
• Chris: Joey Porter Jr. should be following Chase around now. Higgins isn't out there. Trice is getting shredded.
• DK: Man, this is just so bad. Hard to believe where all this was a month ago. All of it. Even the stuff that wasn't going super-well was at least progressing to an extent (except the O-line).
• INJURY: Tee Higgins is questionable to return with an ankle injury.
• End of the third quarter. Bengals, 16-7
• Chris: Burrow's back in there.
• Greg: The Steelers currently have 91 total yards of offense, are averaging 2.7 yards per play, have had three three-and-outs and have had five drives last six plays or less.
• Chris: Go ball on third-and-8 is incomplete to Pickens. Knocked out late. Another empty possession. The offense's only solution on third-and-long is a go ball. It's been that way for too long now. Multiple games. I know the Steelers and Russ want to reunite, but this ain't it. You're not winning with this QB play.
• Greg: Five weeks ago, this offense had its best game of the season against this defense. Now, they are in danger of having their worst offensive performance of the season. How does that happen?
• Chris: Russ escapes and throws away on second down. More boos. Louder this time. Third-and-8 coming.
• Chris: First-down toss to Najee gains two yards. More boos from the crowd.
• DK: The Steelers have seven whole points against the worst defense any of us has seen all season.
• FIELD GOAL: Steelers keep the Bengals to three points again. York is good from 35 yards. Bengals, 16-7
• DK: Burrow's fine, apparently. Bounds up, trots off to the sideline flexing his neck with his helmet off.
• DK: Burrow's down. Sacked by Nick Herbig. Hard.
• Chris: Two more first downs. Bengals in the red zone.
• Chris: A couple of first downs for the Bengals, and Cincinnati's on the fringe of field goal range.
• Chris: Three-and-out to start the second half. Boos come from the crowd.
• Greg: Even after how sloppy they played in the first half, the Steelers are still only down six points. Over the last three-game stretch, they've been in games and one or two plays have completely swung momentum. They can't let that happen here and need to strike to stay in the game.
• Chris: First play of the third quarter: 4-yard loss on a toss to Najee.
• Chris: York's kick to start the second half goes into the end zone for a touchback.
• Chris: Once again, this team is beating themselves. Fumbling away punt returns, failed fourth-down attempts (on a controversial coaching decision). This is why the Steelers aren't a true contender. When they play clean football, they can compete with anyone any given day. The problem is they seldom play clean.
• Chris: Burrow is 21 of 27. Bengals not even trying to run the ball.
• DK: Some snow swirling now. As if this scene could get any sloppier.
• DK: Paid attendance, which is all that's announced anymore, is 65,631.
• DK: Halftime: Bengals, 13-7
• DK: Handed them three points. For no real reason, relative to the risk/benefit.
• FIELD GOAL: Bengals capitalize on the turnover on downs, but the defense limits the damage. York is good from 27 yards. Bengals, 13-7
• DK: I'm always in favor of being aggressive, but that's a head-scratcher. You're handing the other guys three points if you don't get it.
• Greg: Just a complete backfire right there. Tomlin decides to go for it, they come up short and give Burrow another chance.
• Chris: Handoff to Warren fails on fourth-and-1. Bengals take over. Yikes.
• DK: Complete clown show by these refs. What an embarrassment for the NFL.
• Chris: Steelers try a quick QB sneak to convert third-and-1, but Russ is just short. Line to gain is the Pittsburgh 38. 49 seconds left.
• Chris: Two quick outs to Pat Freiermuth, and the Steelers are moving the ball.
• Greg: Beanie, coming up big. Time to play some complementary football.
• DK: (A-hem!)
• INTERCEPTION: Queen breaks up a pass intended for Chase, and Beanie Bishop catches the deflection just before the ball hits the ground. Steelers take over at their own 17.
• Chris: Killer penalty by Trice. Defensive holding negates a sack by T.J. Watt, which would have forced fourth down, a long field goal attempt and the Steelers a chance to get the ball back and potentially double dip.
• Two-minute warning. Bengals have second-and-6 at the Pittsburgh 29.
• DK: Oh, Cal. No, Cal. Just no. Held the ball up against his chest, easy target. Wow, and this after a 57-yard punt that should've bought everyone a bit of time.
• DK: Massive sack for Preston Smith there, but there also was good coverage. Let's see what the offense does with this. Jefferson, please.
• Chris: Defense is making adjustments. Making Burrow hold the ball.
• Steelers go three-and-out, ending with a good quick pass from Russ, but Van Jefferson can't come back to the ball and it gets broken up. Corliss Waitman's punt goes out of bounds at the Bengals' 16-yard line.
• Cam Heyward tips a quick pass from Burrow on fourth-and-1, and the Steelers take over at their own 38-yard line. Momentum swinging here?
• Isaiah Williams runs the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to the Cincinnati 44.
• TOUCHDOWN: Najee punches it in from the 1-yard line on first down. Bengals, 10-7
• First down, outside run to Najee that gains nothing. Second down, up the middle with Najee for two yards. Pass interference in the end zone bails out a couple of questionable play calls. First-and-goal at the 1.
• A couple more nice runs by Harris and a QB sneak by Wilson, and the Steelers have the ball first-and-goal at the 8.
• Offense is moving along. Into the red zone now after an 11-yard gallop by Najee Harris.
• End of the first quarter. Bengals, 10-0
• First quarter ends with this beaut from Wilson to Mike Williams:
• FIELD GOAL: After Patrick Queen's sack fumble stalls the Bengals' second drive, Cade York is good from 48 yards out. Bengals, 10-0
• Ugly three-and-out for the Steelers' offense. Ends with Trey Hendrickson sacking Russell Wilson.
• Steelers get a break on the ensuing kickoff. Kick didn't make it into the landing zone, so the Steelers start with the ball at their own 40.
• TOUCHDOWN: Joe Burrow makes it look easy moving the Bengals downfield for a 73-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. Bengals, 7-0
• KICKOFF: Chris Boswell boots the opening kick to the goal line and Isaiah Williams brings it to the Cincinnati 27.
Inactives:
Steelers: QB Kyle Allen (third quarterback), WR Scotty Miller, CB Donte Jackson, DT Isaiahh Loudermilk, DE Dean Lowry
Bengals: WR Charlie Jones, RB Chase Brown, DE Isaiah Thomas, OT Andrew Stueber, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Tanner McLachlan, DE Sam Hubbard
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