The Steelers have a long history of memorable moments throughout the years, and during the 2025 season we are going to highlight those moments against each week's opponent.
This week, we feature the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.
Steelers 33, Cincinnati Bengals 27
November 10, 1991
The Steelers were looking to end a four-game skid, and it didn't come easy against the Bengals, as it took overtime to do so. The Steelers were able to pull out their first win in Cincinnati since 1987, as the Bengals had gotten the best of the Steelers in the last six games.
The Steelers spotted the Bengals a 17-3 lead after running back Ickey Woods four-yard touchdown and a 18-yard touchdown reception by Rodney Holman.
It was the Steelers defense who would get then in the end zone first. Boomer Esiason was sacked, recovered by Jerrol Williams, who returned it 38 yards for the score, pulling the Steelers to within four at 17-13.
Woods added another touchdown to extend the lead to 24-13, but then the Steelers started to turn things around. Neil O'Donnell, who threw for 309 yards on the day, hit Ernie Mills for a 35-yard touchdown and Louis Lipps for a 12-yard score, giving the Steelers their first lead of the day, 27-24. The Bengals tied the game at 27-27, sending it into overtime.
The Steelers got the ball to start the overtime period, but weren't able to move the chains, going three-and-out. The defense stepped up big for the Steelers when Greg Lloyd hit Woods after a completion, forcing a fumble, recovering it and returning it 19 yards to the Bengals 44-yard line. A 15-yard face mask penalty was tacked on, giving the Steelers a first down at the 29-yard line.
"I just was able to strip the ball from him," said Lloyd. "Then a guy grabbed my face mask and that stopped me, because I think I might have scored if he hadn't gotten ahold of the mask."
As the offense hit the field, Merril Hoge was able to only muster three yards, but on third-and seven Neil O'Donnell found Eric Green for a 26 yard touchdown, giving the Steelers a much-needed, 33-27, win.
"I was just concentrating on the football," said Green. "I dropped a possible game-tying touchdown pass a week earlier and O'Donnell threw this one perfectly, too."
Steelers 31, Cincinnati Bengals 17
January 8, 2006
AFC Wild Card Playoff Game
It was the first game in a journey that would end with the Steelers winning Super Bowl XL, and it was a game filled with ups and downs that would be an indication of a tough road ahead, but one the team could handle.
Cincinnati, who lost quarterback Carson Palmer to a knee injury in the game, still jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
The Steelers closed it to 10-7, when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got the team on the board with a 19-yard touchdown pass to running back Willie Parker.
"He made some big plays, some big scrambles, and (had) very good decision making," said Coach Bill Cowher of Roethlisberger. "I just thought our offensive line, we got through that first part after a couple of false starts, really they were with the receivers. There was a lot of energy and emotion in this game, and we kind of knew that going in."
The Bengals came back to make it 17-7, but from that point on it was all Steelers. The Steelers rattled off 24 unanswered points courtesy of touchdown passes to receivers Hines Ward and Cedrick Wilson and a five-yard touchdown run by Jerome Bettis for a 31-17 win.
"First of all, I want to congratulate Cincinnati on a tremendous season," said Cowher. "That's a good football team. This was a big challenge for our team coming in and kind of weathering the storm early in the game. We came out in the second half and made a couple of big plays. These are two very evenly matched teams, as was proven this year. We're fortunate and feel good about moving on."
Steelers 24, Cincinnati Bengals 20
December 18, 2016
It was a tale of two halves against the Bengals. In the first half the Bengals had 15 first downs and 68 yards rushing. The Bengals finished the game with 19 first downs, and in the second half a fired-up defense held them to eight, yes eight yards rushing.
"We are going to fight until the last whistle," said linebacker Ryan Shazier. "We understood we weren't playing good enough in the first half. We knew we had to come out and play better ball and that's what we did. We really didn't do much different. We just did our job better. Everybody understood they weren't doing their job good enough. They weren't beating the guy in front of them. They just weren't doing enough. We came in and understood that's what we need to do."
The offense got things rolling on the ground, helping to power the Steelers to a 24-20 win.
Kicker Chris Boswell, who was fighting his way back from an abdominal injury, connected on a single game career high six field goals, tying a Steelers record for most field goals in a game (Jeff Reed: 12/1/02 and Gary Anderson: 10/23/88).
"I was hitting the ball well," said Boswell. "Getting six field goals and making six of them is a pretty good day."
Boswell accounted for 18 of the Steelers 24 points in the win, and they weren't chip shots. He hit from 49 yards three times, once from 45 yards, and also from 40 and 30 yards. Not a bad day at the office by a long shot.
"Boswell did a heck of a job making sure all of our possessions were productive ones," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "I can't say enough about his effort. He kicked six field goals. That is big business. He needs no endorsement from me. I just gave him a game ball."
Steelers 16, Cincinnati Bengals 10
November 26, 2023
The Steelers turned up the heat in the AFC North, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10, to improve to 7-4 on the season, with a 3-1 division record.
It might not have been perfect, but it got the job done and keeps the Steelers near the top of the division.
"Excited about gaining victory. Wasn't an easy day, but they hung together, and they fought," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "I thought field positioning was a component of the first half. I thought we gave up a kickoff return to midfield. We had two touchbacks on punt circumstances when we had a chance to put them on a long field. We had some penalties in the punt return game. So, the field positioning component probably made it a little bit more uncomfortable than it should have been.
"Thought maybe Diontae (Johnson) scored on that one and then we fumbled a few plays later. We've got to take care of the football. Lost points there. So, I don't know that the score was reflective of how we were operating. But that's football. That's how things go.
"We did what we needed to do to win the game and I'm appreciative of the efforts. AFC North football, road venue. I'm just appreciative of the win today and the efforts that produced it."
The offense came to life under the guidance of interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan, who handled the play-calling. The offense put up over 400 yards for the first time in 59 games, with tight end Pat Freiermuth pulling in nine receptions for a career-high 120 yards.
Defensively the Steelers completely shut down the Bengals running game, allowing Joe Mixon just 16 yards on eight carries. Quarterback Jake Browning, making his first NFL start, completed 19 passes for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
"That's what we aspire to do," said Tomlin. "When the opponent is playing with a young quarterback, really puts the emphasis on the run game. That's two weeks in a row where we did a nice job versus the run when people were probably really committed to it and so I'm appreciative of that."
