The Pittsburgh Steelers came alive, particularly on offense, in a thrilling 30-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdowns, Jaylen Warren rushed for 127 yards, and even DK Metcalf had a touchdown in the home victory. The game was a complete turnaround following last week’s 20-3 loss against New England in which even converting a third down looked like an impossible task.
Steelers fans are elated and former head coach Mike Tomlin chimed in on the win during Sunday night’s pregame show on NBC.
Mike Tomlin Details How Steelers Won
Tomlin began by noting how the Steelers answered all the questions he had for them following last week’s ugly loss.
“They had some explosive plays early, and that certainly provides energy not only to their team, but it takes advantage of that home environment,” he began. “As the game wore on they ran the ball effectively, they were 7-of-12 on third down. Going into the game they were 5-of-25 on the season. So they converted third downs, they ran the football, they got some chunk plays, those are the things you need to do to bring the scoreboard up.”
The Steelers basically corrected everything that was an issue the first two weeks. They had success on third down, Warren ran all over the Bengals defense, and there were explosive plays right from the start. Rodgers connected with Roman Wilson on a 38-yard touchdown on the fourth play from scrimmage.
Warren also had a 35-yard run after he had a total of 89 rushing yards the first two games. The Steelers looked like a completely new team and one fans expected to see from the start.
The team now joins the rest of the AFC North at 2-1 in the standings and has a short week ahead.
Quick Turnaround in Week 4
The Steelers are now on a short week and will head to Cleveland for a Thursday night showdown against a resurgent Browns team. Cleveland pulled off a rare home-opener win Sunday with a 21-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The Browns defense looks elite and Deshaun Watson is playing at an above-average level. The crowd will also be rocking from the start as the team chases a rare 3-1 start.
The game may simply come down to what version of the Steelers offense shows up. Will it be the version that managed three points against a New England Patriots team that looked awful in Week 3? Or will it be the version that made a dominant Bengals defense look average on Sunday?
Mike Tomlin Explains How Steelers Took Down Bengals