Steelers stunned
CINCINNATI — Giovani Bernard scored two first-half touchdowns after turnovers and the Cincinnati Bengals held on to stun the badly slumping Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 on Monday night.
The Bengals (3-10-1) led 17-0 at halftime and survived a rally by the Steelers, who lost their third straight after 11 consecutive wins to start the season. Pittsburgh didn't get a first down until more than halfway through the second quarter.
Cincinnati snapped a streak of 11 straight losses to Pittsburgh in most unlikely fashion, with Ryan Finley at quarterback. The second-year player, starting in place of injured No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow, completed seven passes for 89 yards, but his 23-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter all but sealed it for the Bengals.
It was the second huge upset of this NFL weekend. Pittsburgh was a 14-point favorite, and the Los Angeles Rams were favored by 17 before losing to the previously winless New York Jets on Sunday. It was the first time since the 1970s that two teams favored by 14 points or more lost on the same weekend.
Three weeks ago, the Steelers were on track for the top overall seed in the AFC, but now they could end up a wild card. Pittsburgh has tough matchups remaining against Indianapolis (10-4) and Cleveland (10-4), which trails the Steelers by one game in the AFC North.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were without top running back James Conner.
The Steelers made Conner inactive because of a quadriceps injury before their game against Cincinnati. This marks the third time in Pittsburgh's past four games that Conner will not be available. He missed two games against Baltimore and Washington after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Benny Snell Jr. started in place of Conner. The Steelers (11-3) failed to clinch the AFC North with a victory as their running game has struggled. Pittsburgh had topped just 50 yards rushing twice in their past seven games.
The Steelers also made recently acquired offensive lineman Danny Isidora active. Pittsburgh signed Isidora off Kansas City's practice squad following a season-ending injury to starting left guard Matt Feiler. Rookie backup Kevin Dotson was also out with a shoulder injury.
Pittsburgh 0 0 10 7—17Cincinnati 3 14 0 10—27<b>First Quarter</b>Cin—FG Seibert 34, 5:12.<b>Second Quarter</b>Cin—Bernard 4 run (Seibert kick), 12:05.Cin—Bernard 14 pass from Finley (Seibert kick), 4:20.<b>Third Quarter</b>Pit—D.Johnson 23 pass from Roethlisberger (Boswell kick), 12:07.Pit—FG Boswell 25, 5:27.<b>Fourth Quarter</b>Cin—Finley 23 run (Seibert kick), 11:21.Pit—Snell 1 run (Boswell kick), 5:32.Cin—FG Seibert 33, :12.———<b> Pit Cin</b>First downs 12 13Total Net Yards 244 230Rushes-yards 23-86 41-152Passing 158 78Punt Returns 3-19 2-17Kickoff Returns 1-30 0-0Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-21Comp-Att-Int 20-38-1 7-13-0Sacked-Yards Lost 1-12 2-11Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0Penalties-Yards 4-30 2-16Time of Possession 27:57 32:03———<b>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</b><b>RUSHING—</b><i>Pittsburgh,</i> Snell 18-84, McFarland 1-5, Samuels 1-4, Roethlisberger 2-(minus 1), Claypool 1-(minus 6). <i>Cincinnati,</i> Bernard 25-83, Finley 10-47, Perine 4-14, T.Williams 2-8.<b>PASSING—</b><i>Pittsburgh,</i> Roethlisberger 20-38-1-170. <i>Cincinnati,</i> Finley 7-13-0-89.<b>RECEIVING—</b><i>Pittsburgh,</i> Johnson 8-59, Claypool 3-54, Snell 3-23, Smith-Schuster 3-15, Samuels 1-12, McFarland 1-9, McCloud 1-(minus 2). <i>Cincinnati,</i> Higgins 3-31, Green 2-40, Bernard 1-14, Sample 1-4.
