Pittsburgh Steelers Win Over Cincinnati Bengals

The right thumb of Andy Dalton was hurt as he went to the sidelines during the game of the Cincinnati Bengals against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The thumb was broken when he made a tackle after an interception.

The injury turned the season of the Bengals upside-down. Aside from losing its chance of clinching the AFC North at home, the team also lost its quarterback. Backup AJ McCarron was pummeled by Pittsburgh as they pulled away before winning the game, 33-20.

Cincinnati left tackle Andrew Whitworth said it was very frustrating.

Dalton had the top passer rating in the NFL before the game and Cincinnati is waiting to know how long their quarterback will be out. Dalton is set to see a specialist to look into his treatment options. Dalton said he was mentally fine and the injury happened at an inopportune time. He added that he was doing fine and he was doing better compared to a “lot of people.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers kept up with the Cincinnati Bengals at the pregame warm-ups. However, they went past Cincinnati, which experienced its first lopsided loss for the season. One of the passes of McCarron was returned by William Gay for a touchdown. Ben Roethlisberger led the resurgent offense of Pittsburgh as it scored 30 points in five consecutive games.

One interception turned the game and possibly the season of Cincinnati. The shovel pass of Dalton was picked by Stephon Tuitt in the first quarter. Dalton got hurt as he attempted a tackle. Dalton is among the most reliable quarterbacks at the NFL as he only missed half a game due to an injury in the last five seasons.

Pittsburgh Steelers Win Over Cincinnati Bengals - image credit: usatoday.com

The Bengals will have to rely on a second-year quarterback who missed his entire rookie season due to a sore passing shoulder. McCarron said he always believed in himself whenever he steps into the field. He added that losing one’s confidence will result to a bad ending for the team. McCarron was limited to four passes in the NFL before the game of the team against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

While McCarron was able to throw a 66-yard touchdown pass to AJ Green, his floating sideline pass was picked by Gay, who returned it for a touchdown, as Pittsburgh led 23-7. McCarron completed 22 out of 32 passes for 280 yards including two touchdowns. However, two of his passes were intercepted leading to touchdowns for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before the game, Cincinnati had the smallest number of injured players. However, the teams also lost Tyler Eifert in the first half due to a concussion. Eifert led the NFL for touchdown catches before the game. On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Steelers were also recovering from considerable losses during the season with Roethlisberger returning after some time off due to a sprained knee.

Roethlisberger was at his best as he completed 30-of-39 passes for 282 yards. Pittsburgh also protected it lead in the second half as DeAngelo Williams had two touchdowns. Chris Boswell also made a number of field goals ranging from 31 to 47 yards.

Pittsburgh prepared for its rematch with Cincinnati after they lost 16-10 on November 1, which resulted to bad feelings between the two teams. A showing and shouting match happened during warm-ups in the middle of the field on Sunday. Coach Mike Tomlin of the Steelers said they will be aggressively defending.

However, the drama between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers ended in the fourth quarter as fans started to leave after the pass of McCarron was picked by Robert Golden with 5:14 remaining in the game.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday December 14 2015, 9:57 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0