The Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2) won the Monday Night Game of Week 13 at 23:20 for AFC North rivals Cincinnati Bengal (5-7), but the match was overshadowed by a potentially grave injury from steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier and a dirty hit from Wide Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who must have led to the decision.
The Bengals got off to a better start in front of their home, rainy and windy backdrop and took the lead with the first drive 3:0 through a 35-yard field goal. At the end of the first quarter, an 8-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton to A. J. followed. Green.
However, the start of the game was overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, who was reportedly injured in a tackle attempt. He then lay down and seemed unable to move his legs. He was taken away and taken to a local hospital. Further information is not yet available.
Green added a second touchdown 31 seconds before the break, but the Steelers scored their first points with five seconds on the clock with a 30-yard field goal from Chris Boswell. In the middle of the third quarter the guests then came to their first touchdown by Le’ Veon Bell, who carried a 35-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger into the house.
With the exception of another field goal, the Bengals did not manage anything offensively, while the Steelers could hardly be held back. Antonio Brown finally equalised with less than four minutes to go and Boswell was once again the hero with a field goal of 38 yards to win with the clock running out.
Cincinnati Bengals (5-7) – Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2)20:23 (10:0,7:3,3:7,0:13) BOXSCORE
It was noticeable that the Bengal Defense with Burfict on the field made a significantly better impression than without him. He played 42 of 43 defensive snaps until his arm injury in the second half and his team only scored three points. Only after his injury did the Steelers get better. And after his departure through the dirty blindside block of JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Bengal defensive was no longer successful.
In the first half, Bengal’s offensive line dominated the action and left Andy Dalton with his back clear. But in the second half, the Steelers’ Pass Rush took over and put Dalton under increasing pressure. Before the break he was not even touched, after that he got two sacks and three QB-hits. As a result, the Bengal series became shorter and ineffective as the game progressed.
The running back of the Steelers was only used sporadically before the break and set hardly any exclamation points. Until he then prepared the field goal for the Steelers’ first points with a long reception shortly before the break. After the break he took over the command, provided numerous critical first downs and the touchdown to the connection. He literally turned things around for Pittsburgh.
In a game in which everyone was shocked early on by the potentially catastrophic injury of linebacker Ryan Shazier, Smith-Schuster scored a nasty blindside block that took the best defender of the Bengals, Burfict, out of the game. But that’s not all, after that he was also demonstratively above the injured opponent and presented him. The game was exceptionally brutal on both sides, but such actions are completely unnecessary.