Rodgers turns back time to inspire Steelers over Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals’ start to the season had made them look like a whole new team compared to years gone by, winning their opening 2 games mostly on the back of strong defensive play, easing the pressure on their highly-talented offense to win games with individual brilliance. They faced their first divisional test this afternoon, as the Pittsburgh Steelers awaited, looking to improve to 2-1.

AFC North matchups have had a tendency to be cagey affairs in recent years, and with both teams being defense-focused so far this season, it looked set to be another low-scoring battle.

But it didn’t start that way. The Steelers worked their way down the field with ease on the opening drive, making the Bengals’ defense look like it has in previous years, as Aaron Rodgers found a wide open Roman Wilson for a 38-yard touchdown to take an early lead.

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense were unfazed by the early deficit. Burrow went 7-for-7 on pass attempts on the first drive, including throwing a touchdown to none other than Ja’Marr Chase, who continued his hot form after a stellar performance in Houston last week.

Rodgers continued to wind back the clock, however, looking in command on another perfect drive to take back the lead, finding an unlikely touchdown scorer in Ben Skowronek for his second passing touchdown to go with 143 first-quarter yards.

The Steelers and Bengals then traded field goals, as points were scored on each of the game’s first 5 drives.

Jordan Battle brought Rodgers’ dream start to the game to an abrupt end, when he was gifted with an interception as Wilson let one slip straight through his hands, giving the Bengals’ safety no choice but to claim the easy takeaway.

Tee Higgins reeled in a highlight-level catch to level the scores before halftime, with nothing able to separate the teams in an evenly-balanced offensive clinic – something that Steelers fans haven’t witnessed a whole lot in recent years.

The teams continued to trade blows into the second half. Evan McPherson gave Cincinnati a small lead before DK Metcalf scored his first touchdown of the year, setting up a grandstand final period.

Burrow’s 3rd passing touchdown of the encounter came on 4th down to a wide-open Mike Gesicki to wrestle back the scoreboard advantage, but a muffed punt by Ke’Shawn Williams proved costly, giving Pittsburgh the field position they required to tie the scores with a field goal.

After the Steelers’ defense had done their job in forcing the Bengals off the field, Chris Boswell went back-to-back with made field goals, as the home side took the lead with 2 minutes to play.

With the game on the line, Burrow and the Bengals worked their way across midfield but had less than a minute to score, before Pittsburgh came up with a huge defensive play to win the game, stripping the ball from Cincinnati’s quarterback who was unable to throw the ball away.

The Bengals came up short in their attempt to gain some control over the AFC North, with the door now open for every team within the division to end the week at 2-1. Their defense was unable to continue its strong form, as Aaron Rodgers wound back the clock to pick them apart for most of the day.

Touchdowns
Cincinnati: Chase, Higgins, Gesicki
Pittsburgh: Wilson, Metcalf, Skowronek

Top Performers
Cincinnati: Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Lawrence II
Pittsburgh: Rodgers, Warren, Boswell, Harmon, Queen

Injuries
Cincinnati: Young (knee)
Pittsburgh: Echols (concussion)

Crowd: TBC at Acrisure Stadium