What's Going On? The Steelers Lose To The Bengals And Go To 1-2

Does anyone have a clue why the Steelers can't hold a lead and beat teams they should beat? The Steelers were leading when they went into the fourth quarter by a score of 20-9, but Cincinnati scored 14 unanswered points and won the game. That loss, ended a 9 game winning streak the Steelers had against the Bengals when they played them on Cincinnati's home field. The Steelers dropped to a 1-2 record on the year while Cincinnati improved to 2-1, second in the division behind the Ravens who are 3-0.

The Steelers started out looking like the Steelers of old. The defense made the Bengals punt after three and out and only 1:23 into the game. Then Ben led the Steelers offense on a 79 yard, 11 play drive to the 1 that ate up 8:05. Of that 79 yards, Parker gained 26 on the ground. Ben threw for another 53 yards in the air. Great drive! The only thing was, we couldn't punch it in for a touchdown and had to settle for 3.

On Cincinnati's next possession, the Steelers "D" stepped up again and made them punt after another three and out and only holding onto the ball a little over a minute. Now, here's where they really got my hopes up as I thought the Steelers offense was finally coming together. Roethlisberger started mixing up the plays and the offensive line blocked like they knew what they were doing. They went down the field on 8 plays as Parker ran for 25 yards and caught a 27 yard touchdown pass from Ben to give the Steelers a ten point lead. "Here we go Steelers"!

On the next series of downs the Bengals got nowhere. The Steelers defense came out smokin' and punched the the Bengals in the mouth with a ten yard sack of Palmer. The result was another three and out and a punt. This is terrific! This is football! How could you ask for anything more? The offense is clicking and scoring points and the defense, well it's the Steelers!

Early in the second quarter, Ben didn't waste any time getting the Steelers back down the field with a chance to score. He hit Wallace for a 51-yard pass at the 10-yard line and it looked like we might get another touchdown. Somehow Cincinnati kept them out of the end zone and they had to settle foe a 24-yard Reed field goal. Now the Steelers were ahead 13-0. Not bad!

The Bengals tried to mount a drive and mixed in the running of Benson and the receiving of Ochocinco to gain 47 yards before being forced to punt. The Steelers got a break because the punt went only 29 yards. It looked like they had another nice drive going as Hines caught a pass that put him over 10,000 yards for his career. They managed to get into Bengals' territory and tried to convert on fourth down, but Holmes couldn't hold onto a Roethlisberger pass and Cincinnati took over on downs.

There was only 1:06 left in the half when the Bengals' quarterback went to work. He made three completions for 38 yards and then missed two in a row, one of them was tipped at the scrimmage line by the Steelers defense. With the clock down to :03, Graham kicked a 34 yarder to make it 13-3 and time ran out. Not a bad first half. It could've been better, but we were up by two scores and the defense looked great.

It was a rough start for the Steelers in the second half . With a 2nd and 15 Ben tried to pass to Santonio and was intercepted by Johnathan Joseph. He took it 30 yards for a TD. Now the Steelers lead was 13-9. It should have been 13-10, but because of a bad snap the extra point was no good. It was a small break for the Steelers, but the momentum was already shifting.

The Steelers missed a good opportunity to extend their lead after a 56 yard kick return by Logan to the Bengals' 40. Roethlisberger had a 3rd and 4 on the 34 yard line when he threw a perfect pass to Sweed in the end zone. Limas just dropped the ball. It should have been a touchdown. Reed tried another field goal, but this time the 52-yard attempt was no good. The Steelers defense shut down the Bengals again and Pittsburgh had the ball right back.

When they got the ball, Ben completed five passes, a 6 yarder to Moore, a 16 yarder to Wallace, a 21 yarder to Ward, an 18 yarder to Holmes and a pass to Parker who then ran 10 yards to the four. Parker got it down to the one and Roethlisberger took it in for the touchdown. Now they had a 20-9 lead. I'm starting to feel a little better about this game.

The Bengals missed a chance for three, when Graham couldn't make 52-yard field goal try. But, soon the Steelers gave the ball back to Palmer and he started to moved the team pretty good. Using his receivers and a 23 yard touchdown run by Benson, they were able to get closer to the Steelers lead. After missing a 2 point conversion, it was 20-15 and a 5 point lead. The momentum was shifting.

It wasn't long until the Bengals got their first sack on Roethlisberger and forced the Steelers to punt again. Cincinnati started on their own 29 with 5:14 left in the 4th quarter. They quickly passed and ran to the Pittsburgh 29. With 2 minutes remaining and the Bengals needing a touchdown, all the Steelers had to do was keep them out of the end zone. That was easier said than done. Overcoming 2 fourth down situations, Palmer hit Caldwell for a 4 yard touchdown with only 14 seconds left on the clock. They made the 2 point conversion and defeated the Steelers 23-20.