The Cincinnati Bengals put up an ugly first half of football during the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That still wasn’t enough to put the game out of reach thanks to a strong defensive effort. In the end, the game came right down to the wire with the Bengals driving late with a chance to take the lead right near the two-minute warning.
The comeback bid fell short…until it didn’t, as the Bengals had multiple shots at game-winning scores and finally got it when Joe Burrow linked up with Ja’Marr Chase in the final seconds. Things got chaotic from there in an overtime session that went down to the wire before a 23-20 final favoring the Steelers.
Here’s a look at some quick notes and analysis from Sunday’s chaotic thriller.
Quick Hits
— Nightmare start for the Bengals as the line starting four new players gave up a sack on the first play. A rusty-looking Burrow then fired a late throw that went for a pick-six. Not totally unexpected given the lack of reps for the whole unit this summer, but a majorly bad start.
— Evan McPherson hit from 59 yards, a club record and one yard longer than the record he set last year.
— As expected, pass-blocking was an issue early for the Bengals, whereas the run-blocking was just fine. But a Burrow-sack fumble during the former gave the Steelers free points to make it 10-3.
— Third turnover for Burrow was a leaping interception by T.J. Watt at the line of scrimmage. Best defender in football read the quick pass and timed it right while the offensive line didn’t get in him to prevent it.
— Steelers ran up to 14 points off Bengals turnovers in the first half after that Watt INT led to a touchdown.
— Cincinnati stayed in the game through sheer defensive effort headed up by the defensive line and stout coverage.
— Burrow threw a fourth pick in the second half on a ball that had no chance to make it through a pair of defenders. He was throwing off his back foot often because of his line, but he wasn’t seeing the field all that well, either.
— Bengals fell short on a fourth-and-inches attempt that would have likely won the game after stunningly choosing not to challenge what might have been a touchdown by Ja’Marr Chase.
— The final two minutes of this game were the craziest fans will ever see. Bengals blew a fourth-and-inches for a game-winning score, then got the ball back because the Steelers were silly with their possession, only to march down the field and score. But…they missed the extra point because long-snapper Clark Harris left the game earlier due to injury, which meant overtime. And that’s a nice, clean summation of it.
— Evan McPherson missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime to win it, likely due to the change in timing after the switch at long-snapper.
— …Then Chris Boswell missed his first attempt ever in the building, giving the Bengals one last chance.
— Boswell didn’t miss his second chance right at the buzzer.
Key Stat
5: The number of turnovers for the Bengals. That let the Steelers dictate the pace early and is exactly how an inferior team can pull off an upset.
Game Balls
WR Ja’Marr Chase: Nobody can cover Chase, the latest example. He put up 10 catches for 129 yards and a score on the day and had some key moments when the pocket broke down around Burrow.
DE Sam Hubbard: Hubbard was a key aspect of a strong day for the run defense and also had a few standout plays, including one that probably should have been a safety.
Top Takeaway
Chaos: A rusty start was always probably going to be the case. Cincinnati didn’t play starters during the preseason and various guys had missed camp with injuries or other reasons. The line in front of Burrow — coming off a surgery at the start of camp — debuted four new starters who didn’t get a lot of practice time together. So yes, this was going to resemble a fourth preseason game, if not worse for a while, including some potential carnage late.
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