Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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The Pittsburgh Steelers got their first win of the season and made the Cincinnati Bengals look like a very poor football team in the process.
The Bengals couldn’t do much of anything offensively against a Steelers defense that sacked Andy Dalton eight times, which is the most he’s ever been sacked in his career. They couldn’t block, they couldn’t run and they couldn’t throw as they amassed just 175 yards of offense as the Steelers cruised to a 27-3 victory on Monday night.
Jaylen Samuels and James Conner carved up the Bengals defense as the Steelers utilized Samuels in a wildcat formation to create a new wrinkle for the Mason Rudolph led offensive attack. Samuels and Conner combined for 208 yards from scrimmage as fly motions and quick passes helped vary Pittsburgh’s attack.
The Bengals could have been held scoreless if not for a mistake from the Steelers. Nick Vigil punched the ball free from the grasp of Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, which was recovered by Jessie Bates at the Pittsburgh 15-yard line to give the Bengals terrific field position. But Cincinnati would move the ball just five yards on their ensuing possession before settling for a 28-yard field goal from Randy Bullock.
The Steelers would score points on four consecutive possessions as they put the Bengals away.
Rudolph connected with Conner for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. Chris Boswell would add a 29-yard field goal inside the final minute of the half to push the lead to 10-3 at the break.
Pittsburgh would march 75 yards on eight plays on their first possession of the third quarter as Samuels 2-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat gave the Steelers a 17-3 lead. A 43-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Johnson and a 49-yard Boswell field goal carried the Steelers to their 27-3 final margin.
Rudolph didn’t take many shots downfield but picked his spots well. He completed 24 of 28 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns for the Steelers. Samuels also completed all three of his passes for 31 yards on his three touch passes to motioning players out of the wildcat sets.
Dalton was held to just 171 yards on 21 of 37 passing with an interception by Mark Barron. Joe Mixon was held to 62 yards on 15 carries by the Steelers defense.