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Tim Benz: First 'Feats of Strength,' 'Airing of Grievances' after emotionally conflicting Steelers victory in Cincinnati | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Tim Benz: First 'Feats of Strength,' 'Airing of Grievances' after emotionally conflicting Steelers victory in Cincinnati

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick returns an interception for a first-quarter touchdown against the Bengals on Sunday.

Our “Breakfast With Benz” tradition of logging the “Feats of Strength” following Pittsburgh Steelers wins and listing the “Airing of Grievances” after they lose continues in 2022.

However, in a game like the one we saw Sunday, we have to include both. I was ready to do so anyway because it looked like the Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals might end the season opener in a 20-20 tie.

Instead, thanks to kicker Chris Boswell, the Steelers won 23-20 at the very end of overtime.

It didn’t come without a heavy cost, though, and a ton of agonizing, agitating moments.

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Feats of Strength

Minkah the Magician: Minkah Fitzpatrick forced overtime with a blocked extra point when it appeared the Bengals were about to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

He also had 14 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter.

“Everyone respects that dude,” Tomlin said of Fitzpatrick. “Not only in terms of his talents and work ethic but his leadership.”

Fitzpatrick’s pick was the first of five Steelers turnovers on the day. They totaled 22 last year.

The Steelers also had seven sacks. Via NFL Research, the Steelers are 53-0 in games when they amass at least four takeaways and four sacks.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was responsible for all five turnovers, the most in a game in his career.

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Oh those OLBs!: Outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were fantastic.

Watt grabbed an interception. He added six tackles, a batted pass and a sack. He also had a second sack erased because of a penalty downfield and a tackle of Bengals running back Joe Mixon behind the line of scrimmage. But Watt left the game because of a pectoral injury.

“We are just praying that it’s nothing serious,” Highsmith said of Watt. “It’s gonna kill him if he can’t be out here. It (stinks).”

Unfortunately, some watching television thought they saw him say that he thinks he tore it.

That’s the word coming from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, too.

As for Highsmith, he had nine tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hits. If Watt is out a long time, Highsmith is going to have to be every bit as good as his double-digit sack prediction this offseason.

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Terrific tight ends: The Steelers had very few big plays offensively. But most of the ones they did have were courtesy of their tight ends.

Pat Freiermuth had five catches for 75 yards including a clutch catch-and-run on a free play in overtime.

He also had a 31-yarder earlier in the game.

Meanwhile, Zach Gentry had the longest Steelers’ play of the game, a 32-yard jaunt in the second quarter.

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Diontae dazzles: Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson turned in one of the most impressive catches you’ll ever see. It happened along the sidelines in overtime with one hand.

Initially, Johnson’s grab was ruled incomplete. But it was overturned via replay. Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase had one for a touchdown that may have been even better. But it was ruled incomplete.

Keep in mind, Chase eventually caught a TD a few plays later anyway to force overtime. Watt got hurt on the very next snap after Chase’s one-hander was ruled incomplete. If Chase is able to complete that grab with 27 seconds left, Watt doesn’t get hurt.

Who knows? Maybe the Bengals backup long snapper, Mitchell Wilcox, has a slow snap anyway, and Fitzpatrick, or someone else, still gets the block a few snaps earlier.

We’d all feel even better about the win if that were the case.

——

Boz bounces back: Boswell hammered a 55-yard field-goal attempt in overtime. Unfortunately for Boz, the ball hit the left upright as hard as he kicked it.

If the Steelers had lost, that “bong” sound that the CBS microphones picked up would’ve been haunting the nightmares of Pittsburghers for weeks.

But Boswell responded with a 53-yard attempt that was good to win the game as the final seconds of overtime ticked off the clock.

Boswell’s miss off the upright was his first failed field goal in 23 tries in Cincinnati. I’m sure he’ll be happy enough with being 23 of 24 now.

Airing of Grievances

Awful offense: New quarterback. New wrinkles in the playbook. Some new offensive linemen.

Same frustrations.

The Steelers only averaged 4.4 yards per play and 3.4 yards per rush. As chronicled by TribLIVE’s Chris Adamski, 11 of the Steelers’ first 12 offensive possessions sputtered to a rapid conclusion.

Going 4 of 15 on third-down attempts certainly didn’t help the cause. The Steelers only managed 26 minutes, 17 seconds of possession time in a game that lasted five full quarters. The Steelers scored just one offensive touchdown, despite forcing five turnovers (four if you don’t want to count Fitzpatrick’s pick-six).

“It was enough. We’re 1-0,” Tomlin said of his offense. “Just like special teams and defense. We win together and lose together.”

More from Tim Benz:

• Madden Monday: 'The season is over' if T.J. Watt is out long-term
• First Call: Patriots QB gets X-rays in advance of Steelers game; JuJu vs. James Conner; ex-Steeler linebacker scores

To Tomlin’s point, hey, at least they didn’t turn it over. The Bengals did plenty of that for everybody.

By the way, where was George Pickens? The talk of training camp at Saint Vincent, the rookie wide receiver had just one catch on three targets for 3 yards.

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Lagging late: For as great as the Steelers defense was, it faded late and allowed a 14-point lead to disappear.

If the Bengals have their regular long snapper healthy, the game never gets to overtime. They also gave up a nine-play 64-yard drive in the extra quarter that resulted in another field-goal attempt.

For the most part, the defense should be credited for containing the Bengals star skill players. That job became easier when Tee Higgins left with a concussion in the first half. But Chase, who had two touchdowns in the first meeting against the Steelers last year, had 10 catches for 129 yards and the tying touchdown.

Joe Mixon, who had 257 yards from scrimmage against the Steelers last year during the two Bengals wins, had 145 Sunday. The BetRivers projected total was 88.5.

—-

Anyone else?: Watt left with that pectoral injury. Najee Harris appeared to leave with a foot injury. We found out he had a Lisfranc injury during training camp. Cam Heyward left the game late as well. So did rookie DeMarvin Leal.

Tomlin also mentioned injuries to Levi Wallace (ankle) and Robert Spillane (eye).

What kept the Steelers competitive in this game was its defense. Watt is the Defensive Player of the Year. If they lose him, forget it. And with the pass game as choppy as it was, they’ll need Harris to run the ball and make his own holes because the offensive line can’t run block.

As exciting as Sunday’s victory was, it’s going to be considered Pyrrhic if Watt and Harris are out long-term.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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