The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to Heinz Field today after a three-game road trip to host the Cincinnati Bengals in an AFC North matchup. Pittsburgh has been winning close games as of late, with all three of their previous games coming down to the last play. Even with those ending in victories, many critics were not happy that they were playing down to teams that were not on the Steelers level. Today Pittsburgh would match up with another team, that on paper was not on their level, but unlike the past few weeks they would dominate from start to finish.
Field goals would give the Steelers a boost early in the first quarter. Chris Boswell would kick a pair of field goals from 41 and 30 yards respectively to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the quarter. Prior to the quarter ending, Ben Roethlisberger would throw a 12yd touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson to put the Steelers up twelve.
Cincinnati would get on the board at the 10:37 minute mark of the second quarter. Joe Burrow found Tee Higgins for a 2yd touchdown pass. That would end up being the only touchdown on the day for the Bengals, as Pittsburgh would dominate for the remainder of the contest. Roethlisberger threw his second touchdown pass of the day halfway through the second quarter on an 8yd pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Before the half ended, Boswell would boot a 45yd field goal to give the Steelers a 22-7 advantage.
There would be only one score in the third quarter, and that would belong to Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger would connect with Chase Claypool for the first of two times at the 4:22 mark of the third quarter. This touchdown pass would come from five yards out. The second time these two connected would be with 10:31 remaining in the fourth quarter on another five yard pass. Cincinnati would pick up three more points late in the fourth quarter on a 37yd field goal by Randy Bullock. After that kick the score was 36-10, which would end up being the final.
There was plenty to be happy about today. Roethlisberger threw for four touchdowns and 333 yards after not being able to practice with the team all week. Seven different receivers caught two or more passes today with Johnson leading the way with 116 yards on six receptions, and Boswell remained perfect on the season with three more made field goals. TJ Watt led the team with two sacks, while Terrell Edmunds had a team high eight tackles.
The lone negative on the day was the running game. As a team they would only collect 44 yards on twenty carries. That has to get better in order for this team to play well against the top teams in the league. The Steelers will be back on the road next week when they play the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville may have a 1-8 record, but they always seem to play Pittsburgh tough, and the Steelers can not be looking past them if they hope to remain undefeated. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm on CBS.
