Quick take: Bengals ride Palmer's arm to beat Steelers, 41-38
Chris Henry celebarates his second TD that capped his coming-out party at Heintz field
It was over when...
Shayne Graham converted his second FG attempt from 39 yards out with only 6 seconds left on the clock. If you think this sounds boring, read on: Pittsburgh took a 31-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. After two long drives, Cincinnati tied the game with 1:51 left, and went on to take the lead only 40 seconds later after Leon Hall intercepted Roethlisberger at midfield and Palmer found Chris Henry in the endzone for a 46 yard TD. But the game was far from over: Roethlisberger only needed two plays to tie the game again at 38 points apiece. As if that wasn't enough excitement, the Bengals got the ball back with 44 seconds left, and Palmer didn't waste any time in hooking up with Chad Johnson, who outjumped Troy Polamalu and hauled in the long bomb for a 60 yard gain, setting up Graham for the game-winner.
Game ball
Chris Henry caught 7 passes for 235 yards, including 2 TDs (one from 72 yards and one from 46 yards out) and several crucial receptions on third down.
Key stat
Both teams combined for a grand total of 1,030 yards of offense. On the back of Carson Palmer's passing (24 for 39, 513 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs), Cincinnati accounted for 596 of those.
Noteworthy
As evidenced by the stats above, this game was all offense, no defense... Roethlisberger played cat and mouse with the hapless Bengals secondary all day, throwing for nearly 400 yards and 5 TDs. Hines Ward had 8 receptions for 201 yards and 2 TDs, and TE Heath Miller added 154 yards and a TD on only 4 receptions... Leon Hall looked especially lost; after coming back from an elbow injury that forced him to miss most of the first half, he was victimised by Roethlisberger and Ward time and time again. He got some measure of revenge when he picked off a pass intended for Ward with 1:21 to go that led to the Bengals taking the lead, but his joy was short-lived as Ward beat him again for a 55 yard TD only 3 plays later... The secondary's struggles were even more worrying considering that the Bengals' front seven played very well; they shut down the Steelers' running game, and sacked Roethlisberger 6 times... With the loss, the Steelers fall to 6-6 and are all but eliminated from playoff contention, while the Bengals will take over first place in the AFC North if Baltimore loses to New England on MNF.
