Check out the best pics from Steelers vs Bengals

Here’s our gallery of the best pics from last week’s win.

The game wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. The Pittsburgh Steelers found a way to sneak past the winless Cincinnati Bengals 16-10. It took a quarterback change, fresh legs on a returning running back and another monumental effort by the Steelers defense to get the victory.

Here is our gallery of the best photos from the Steelers narrow win.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin hints at quarterback change

Mike Tomlin has to name a starting quarterback soon.

In Sunday’s game, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was put in the unenviable position of benching his quarterback. Mason Rudolph was completely ineffective through two quarters and to get a spark to the offense made the switch to Devlin Hodges. The move paid off and the Steelers ended up winning 16-10.

But this leaves Tomlin with a decision to make about the upcoming week. The Steelers have to take on the Cleveland Browns this week in a must-win game. Which quarterback will Tomlin start? He didn’t share any of his insight in the postgame press conference but teased he might already know.

There will be a great deal of debate about this but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. No doubt Hodges gave the Steelers something of a spark when he came off the bench in the third quarter. But after throwing for 90 yards and a touchdown in his first drive could only muster 28 passing yards after that.

Who will Tomlin start at quarterback this week? We should know something on Tuesday at his first press conference of the week because whoever it is will need plenty of reps ahead of the Browns game.

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Steelers vs Bengals: Week 12 player of the game

Cast your vote for the Steelers player of the game.

Sometimes you win a football game despite not playing very well. This was the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend with their 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Nevertheless, this game was defined by several big plays and big efforts. But who was the best?

[polldaddy poll=10466771]

This is the largest pool of players we’ve ever used for a poll like this. But it really illustrates just how this game was won based on a series of big plays that either swung the momentum in Pittsburgh’s favor or shut down any momentum the Bengals might have had.

If we had a vote, we’d probably go with kicker Chris Boswell over anyone else. The defensive players sort of cancel each other out and while several guys were huge, none really stood above the rest for me. Same for the offense. But Boswell was so money. He accounted for 10 of the Steelers 16 points and bailed out an anemic offense on three drives.

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Steelers back in the wildcard after crazy win over Bengals

Steelers back in the wildcard after crazy win over Bengals

Thanks to a win by the New York Jets and a comback win in Cincinnati, the Pittsburgh Steelers are once again back in the AFC playoffs. The Jets trounced the Oakland Raiders and the Steelers snuck past the Bengals 16-10 and with five games left to play, Pittsburgh controls the final wild card spot.

1-New England Patriots

2-Baltimore Ravens

3-Houston Texans

4-Kansas City Chiefs

5-Buffalo Bills

6-Pittsburgh Steelers

Heres’s how the Steelers’ remaining schedule plays out.

Week 13-vs Cleveland Browns

Week 14-@ Arizona Cardinals

Week 15-vs Buffalo Bills

Week 16-@ New York Jets

Week 17-@ Baltimore Ravens

That’s two of five games against AFC playoff teams including the Ravens who might be the best team in the NFL. The margin for error with the Steelers is tiny. They really cannot afford to lose more than one of these last five games if they want to be sure they make the playoffs. It all starts next week when they try for some payback against the Browns after their Week 11 loss.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on the QB change: ‘Mason wasn’t doing enough’

Mike Tomlin talks about benching Mason Rudolph.

During his postgame press conference, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had to answer for why he chose to bench quarterback Mason Rudolph early in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals.

And in usual Tomlin style, he didn’t want anyone to read too much into bringing Devlin Hodges in. For Tomlin, swapping the quarterback was all about getting a spark out of him to get the offense going. Something Rudolph obviously wasn’t doing.

“I just felt like our offense needed a spark,” Tomlin said. “Mason wasn’t doing enough. Duck came in and gave us a spark.” The spark Hodges gave Pittsburgh lasted all of one drive. But it was the only touchdown the Steelers scored.

Hodges is going to get way too much credit for Sunday’s win but this is what happens. His throw to James Washington for the touchdown was great and a throw I’m not convinced Rudolph could have made today. But after throwing for 90 yards on that first drive, Hodges mustered 28 in the rest of the second half.

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Steelers QB Mason Rudolph again denies Myles Garrett’s allegation

Reporters are not letting up on Mason Rudolph despite his awful day.

Let’s hope at some point the Pittsburgh media can stop asking Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph about what he did or didn’t say after the Cleveland Browns game. But it won’t start today.

As if Rudolph’s day wasn’t bad enough, he once again had to answer questions about whether or not he used a racial slur toward Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.

Rudolph maintained he said nothing racial toward Garrett and nothing that could be construed as such. “Absolutely not,” Garrett said. “There is nothing, not even close.” It seems more and more likely Garrett fabricated his allegation in order to lighten his suspension and deflect negative attention away from himself.

Rudolph got himself benched early in the second half against the Bengals after a first-half that only netted 85 passing yards, an interception and no touchdowns.

Pittsburgh will welcome Cleveland to Heinz Field next week for a huge rematch. Let’s hope there’s no replay of the brawl at the end of the last game.

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Steelers vs Bengals: 4 big takeaways from the win

The Steelers pulled off a narrow win over the Bengals.

Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

With their backs against the playoff wall and hobbled with injuries, the Pittsburgh Steelers found a way to get past the hapless Cincinnati Bengals. The win pushes the Steelers record to 6-5 and keeps them in the mix for a playoff spot in the AFC with five games to play. Here are our big takeaways from the game.

A win is a win

At this point in the season, it is more about attrition than talent at times. Cincinnati is winless and racing to the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. They had nothing to play for. And that made them dangerous. But when you are the better team you have to find a way to win in spite of everything else. And that is exactly what the Steelers did. They won’t earn any style points but in the end how you win doesn’t matter.

Steelers escape Cincinnati with narrow win over Bengals

The Steelers went to Cincinnati and snuck out with a win.

It wasn’t pretty but the Pittsburgh Steelers went into Cincinnati and found a way to beat the winless Cincinnati Bengals 16-10. Pittsburgh’s defense got its groove back and the run game came through but there are still more questions than answers with this offense.

Pittsburgh made a quarterback change early in the third quarter when Mason Rudolph was benched in favor of Devlin Hodges. Hodges came in and promptly led the Steelers to their only touchdown when he hit James Washington in stride for a 79-yard score.

Running back Benny Snell Jr. returned from injury and had a big game with 21 carries for 98 yards. In fact, the entire run game stepped up when they had to and powered the offense.

But the defense found a rhythm and just smothered the Bengals offense. They held the Bengals to 244 yards of offense and aside from a handful of big plays shut the Bengals down completely.

Pittsburgh now finds itself at 6-5 and back in the final wildcard spot in the AFC. They get to return home for a huge rematch with the Cleveland Browns.

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Check out Devlin Hodges to James Washington for the long TD

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1198692669003882496

Well, it didn’t take long for Devlin Hodges to come in and wake up the offense. Hodges went 2-for-2 in his first drive and capped it off with a great 79-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver James Washington.

Hodges threw a horribly underthrown ball to Washington on his first shot deep resulting in an offensive pass interference penalty. But undeterred, Hodges went right back to Washington and let the former Oklahoma State wide receiver do the rest. Hodges now has 90 passing yards in the game. Mason Rudolph, who he replaced threw for 85 yards in the first half.

The Steelers now lead 10-7 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin benches Mason Rudolph for Devlin Hodges

The Steelers have made a change at quarterback.

In what had to be something of a surprise, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin benched quarterback Mason Rudolph with 12:36 left in the third quarter and replaced him with rookie Devlin Hodges.

The Steelers’ offense needs a spark so maybe Hodges will be it. Rudolph was clearly in his own head and failing to make even simple throws. Hodges is a high-energy guy with a strong arm and no fear. Hopefully the team will rally around Hodges and make some big plays.

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