Both teams looked very stagnant in this rivalry game up until Bengals safety Shawn Williams intercepted Ben Roethlisberger for a pick-six and put the first points on the board. The Bengals got off to a 7 - 0 lead after nearly 18 minutes of action.
The Bengals got momentum going once more on offense as quarterback Jeff Driskel kept the ball moving downfield. Kicker Randy Bullock came in to add another three points to the Bengals score as he converted a kick from 49 yards out. Cincinnati leads 10 - 0.
The Steelers were able to gain some traction as Big Ben found JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jaylen Samuels for chunks of yardage to put them in field goal range. Rookie kicker Matt McCrane came in to convert from 39 yards out. Bengals still lead 10 - 3.
Pittsburgh's defense came to play against Cincy as T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward put big time pressure on Driskel any chance they could. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the Steelers offense. Big Ben struggled mightily finding open receivers and it didn't help that Antonio Brown was missing in the team's final regular season game. Steelers tie things up at 10 - 10.
However, Pittsburgh's next offensive drive was incredibly efficient as it only took three plays for the Steelers to find the end zone for the first time in this contest. Big Ben set the tone with a huge completion to James Washington, then James Conner took a run for a nice chunk of yards. JuJu capped off the drive with a touchdown catch on a screen pass from Big Ben.
Really #GoodJuJu. pic.twitter.com/oTrqXOYmtz
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 30, 2018
Big Ben became the 7th quarterback in history to throw for 5,000 plus yards in a season after this drive.
Pittsburgh was able to make their way down field once again and this time they turned to McCrane once more. This time it a converted field goal would take the lead for Pittsburgh. McCrane knocked in a career long 47-yard field goal attempt to give the Steelers a 13 - 10 lead.
Joe Mixon opened up the Bengals next offensive drive with a huge 51-yard run to immediately put Cincy within the red zone.
Matt McCrane was on fire for the Steelers in this matchup as he lifted Pittsburgh over the Bengals once again to give them a 16 - 13 and ultimately lead to a Steelers victory over Cincy.
Pittsburgh Stat Leaders
Ben Roethlisberger 287 Yards 1 Touchdown
James Conner 14 Rushing Attempts 64 Yards
James Washington 3 Receptions 64 Yards
L.J. Fort 8 Tackles
