Steelers ‘did their job’ in Cincinnati win
CINCINNATI – To find the key to the Steelers’ current five-game winning streak, you have to look at what happened during the four-game losing streak that preceded it.
As those losses continued to mount, players continued to try to do more on the field in an effort to pull out of that tailspin.
It came to a head in the Steelers’ 35-30 loss to Dallas that dropped them to 4-5.
The Steelers grabbed late leads in that game, only to have the defense melt down and give up another score because players were getting themselves out of position trying to make every tackle or every play.
It’s an easy mentality to acquire.
But the Steelers borrowed a saying from the New England Patriots, “Do your job,” that has worked wonders for this current group.
It was on display in Sunday’s 24-20 come-from-behind win at Cincinnati.
The Steelers fell behind 17-3 and 20-6 in the first half as the Bengals scored on each of their first four possessions.
Instead of hitting the panic button, the Steelers stuck with their game plan.
They continued to play hard and the Bengals not only didn’t score again, they managed just 38 yards of offense in the second half as the defense shut Cincinnati down. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ offense to keep chipping away at that lead.
And they allowed the Bengals to do what they seem to do best: implode.
“We’ve been down that path before,” said Steelers cornerback Ross Cockrell. “We know where that leads us. It leads us to a four-game losing streak. It’s been a good thing that we had that happen to us early in the season. Now we know what we need to do and where we need to go to continue to win games.”
The Steelers knew they hurt themselves in the first half to allow the Bengals to jump out to that early lead.
On Cincinnati’s first offensive possession, a facemask penalty on Stephon Tuitt negated a third-down sack and helped set up a Bengals field goal. Adding injury to insult, Tuitt hurt his right knee on the play and was unable to return.
On the Bengals’ second possession, rookie Artie Burns drew a 39-yard pass interference penalty in the end zone, helping Cincinnati score a touchdown on a drive in which it gained 25 offensive yards and took four plays to get into the end zone from the 1.
Finally, a chop block call on running back Le’Veon Bell negated a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown and the Steelers were forced to kick a field goal to make it 17-6 in the second quarter.
“The adversity that we overcame was mostly created by us,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged. “In the first half, we really worked against ourselves on those three specific plays.
“We stopped kicking our own butt. … When we weren’t kicking our own butt, things were going well for us.”
And they have been for well over a month.
Whether they can now transfer those lessons into a game against the Baltimore Ravens remains to be seen.
The Steelers host the Ravens next weekend in a winner-take-all game for the AFC North title.
On the strength of its 21-14 win over the Steelers earlier this season, if Baltimore wins, it takes control of the AFC North race.
A win by the Steelers would likely eliminate the Ravens from playoff contention, just as the Steelers did with Cincinnati Sunday.
The Steelers put themselves in that position by weathering the storm against the Bengals and allowing them to self destruct, much like they did in the playoffs last season.
Clinging to a 20-18 lead in the fourth quarter, the Bengals committed penalties on four consecutive defensive plays to help set up a game-winning TD pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Eli Rogers.
It wasn’t quite as dramatic a meltdown as what happened in Pittsburgh’s 18-16 win here last January, but it had the same effect. At 5-8-1, the Bengals’ playoff hopes are finished.
“We have played this team five times in the past 12 months,” said Tomlin. “It’s not a lot of secrets. It’s just technical expertise and a lot of butt kicking. And smiling in the face of adversity. It’s on both sides. That’s what determines how these games unfold.”
That, and doing your job.
Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com