After one quarter, Pittsburgh took a 14-7 lead in Cincinnati against the first place Bengals. The Steelers offense was impressive, going two for two on offense and dominating much of the game clock.
On their second drive, the Steelers quickly moved into Cincinnati territory. On first and ten from the Cincy 20, Big Ben had a wide open Jerricho Cotchery in the middle of the field for his second TD but just missed him. It appeared Cotchery slowed down and did not run through and finish the route after Big Ben bought more time in the pocket, indicative of the duo’s limited reps together.
Two plays later, however, on third and ten, Ben would find Heath Miler streaking down the seam, hitting him at the two yard line. Miller was crushed on a questionable high hit by Bengals safety Reggie Nelson. There was no flag but on the very next play, Rashard Mendenhall would punch it in from the two yard line for the 14-0 lead. It capped another impressive scoring drive, going 78 yards in less than five minutes.
The Bengals, with six seconds left in the quarter, would pull within seven on a deep heave from Andy Dalton to AJ Green. Green went up and beat two Pittsburgh defenders to pull down the 36 yard touchdown. The rookie wide receiver was shaken up on the play and remained down in the end zone on his back before eventually walking off the field with the Cincy training staff.
Video of the Dalton heave is below: