2005 Bengals @ Steelers

[Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] temperatures right at freezing roethlisberger will wear two gloves not because it's cold but to help his grip with that bad thumb and Carson Palmer can he lead Cincinnati to a victory it'll be the first Bengal winning season in 15 years in the game will be brought to you in high definition by Sony Heinz Field some 64,000 as the Steelers and the Bengals battle for first place this is the push toward the playoffs not only to make the playoffs but a possible win by either team may kick them toward a buy that first week Steelers won the toss the Terrible Towels are out and Cincinnati will kick it off with Shayne Graham who's had trouble with the depth of his kickoffs Ricardo Coakley and Quincy Morgan for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Graham gets us underway and over in and shorten and on the run its Coakley tacklers and is grilled at the 28-yard line and out comes van Roethlisberger the second-year quarterback during the warm-up he came out of one of the very first players constantly working the thumb the injury is in the V between the thumb and the forefinger and there is this splint that he's wearing under the gloves that will help him to get more grip on the ball he said because of the sensitivity the pain in that right thumb he's not able to apply the pressure a thumb pressure that he normally would but the gloves will help times warden motion and he comes out on Randall L nearly a first down up front in support of Roethlisberger better protection is key obviously 22 year old rookie Trey Essex starts again at left tackle for the injured Marvell Smith and Pittsburgh loves to run we all know that speedy Willie Parker leads the Steelers with 717 yards rushing but of course they have boots Dailey in Jerome Bettis they can throw three tough backs of the defense Parker in there now second down and throw a motion there he hits Randall Ella many hits Hines Ward and a first down at midfield and the Cincinnati defense tested early justin smith has led the Bengals defensive line in tackles four straight years he's a Pro Bowl candidate rookie middle linebacker Odell Thurmond leads with a hundred tackles plus four interceptions in the bowl hulking Bengal secondary has 17 interceptions led by cornerback Delta O'Neil 7 tied for the league lead knifing him down from the ofon EOKA late a the safety and I think that is so smart Ken Whisenhunt the offensive coordinator the Steelers to come out and have been throw two passes to get this game started to relatively simple patterns not really putting a lot of air under the ball but clearly you could see that there's velocity in his throws he was able to put some pressure on with that thumb and control where the ball was going a good sign for Pittsburgh second and nine back to Parker he runs into his own blocker and then it's tough at the line of scrimmage we talked to Roethlisberger yesterday and he said on Wednesday he couldn't throw the ball 20 yards and then it improved by Friday to get it up there 40 yards it firts him to take a snap he was very open about that it hurts him to hand the ball off sometimes and it's it's so important that he's able to throw because the history of this series his bill powers team stuffs the ball down Cincinnati stroke earlier this year in the game they ran for 221 yards they need been to throw a little bit just to loosen things up front loss of the yard on the last play it's third and 10 out of the shotgun robbers pressure dumps it off incomplete and having to scamper a bit under pressure from Robert gatherers and not the same kind of throw and the drive will end right at the midfield stripe becomes veteran kicker Chris Carr ducky and deep on the return will be t1 Ratliff he with that long string a thousand and ninety career punts without a block although he's had some partially blocked as he did against Jacksonville here earlier this year [Applause] bouncers too reckless sixteen fumbles the ball they're rocking it down marking it down this will not be a recovery James Harrison picked it up and ran it in but the official marked him down by contact flirting with early danger here in Pittsburgh so we're underway in this battle for first place will it be the Steelers for the Bengals who prevail welcome back to Pittsburgh and if you're charting breaks the first one might have gone Cincinnati's way because this might very well be a fumble by Ratliff he's hit by Keisel in that ball you can see the ball is out before he hits the ground but he's ruled down by contact there's no review the whistle blew that's just the way it goes so Carson Palmer who is head at Billiam 2005 season number-one rated passer in the NFL and he comes out throwing high but well in the range of Chris Henry it was emerging as a rookie out of West Virginia as a top receiver [Music] Carson Palmer and he and his third year is emerged as a star leaps the NFL and completion percentage nearly 70 percent leaps and touchdowns 23 [Applause] this the no-huddle and palmer said if i knew this would work so well i wish we two tried it in training camp but each week they add more and more it's Rudy Johnson and he plows across the 30 to the 31 yard line in the first down Cincinnati up front Levi Jones at left tackle is allowed only one half of a sack all season protecting Palmers Blind Side and the theatrical Chad Johnson second in the league in yards receiving has seven touchdowns dig the vast majority of this no huddle cincinnati has run at home carson palmer told us i'm going to try it until it doesn't work he admits the crowd noise is a problem and you can lines chiming in they're savvy they know down the middle is Chris Henry again so they're going to Henry and another first down if the Bengals are able to run the left of block Casey Hamptons 325 pounds of nose tackle Clark Hagen six sacks three forced fumbles same as Pro Bowler Joey Porter on the other side and in a key matchup Mike Taylor will be manned up against Chad Johnson Taylor's also the number two tackler for the Steelers on the season big hole he's all the way to the Pittsburgh 38 yard line before Chris hull pit safety can bring him down and all the talk about this spectacular passing game of Cincinnati what they can do that makes them a complete offense is pound the football between the tackles with Rudy Johnson look at that beautiful opening by Steinbach and Bram and Williams and Anderson and Jones outstanding line blocking miss Palmer again with a no huddle he sets up under center allah peyton manning then he pulls back shouting out the plays he'll use hand signals and verbally will communicate with his running backs first down as well covered triple covered Chad Johnson surrounded by black and gold Ike Taylor will be on them all day that isn't Taylor that's hope but 24 Taylor will go wherever chad johnson chooses to travel and conversely the Shea Townsend will end up trailing TJ wish manzara around the field today and eight seasons and then this year moving the Bengal is a very young team to the top of the AFC North the quick throw to the outside the Chris Henry again and three catches for the rookie Henry they're number three draft pick in this opening drive to Shea Townsend with a hip dick for those of us who have been around the national football league for a long long time I find Marvin Lewis's success in Cincinnati to be one of the least surprising i've ever seen i think everyone had marvin earmarks for a guy that when he got his shot he was the real deal started his coaching career here in pittsburgh there's a thirty-four snaps big production on third down Palmer has to throw it away too for Chris Henry he unloaded Bryant McFadden the rookie cornerback coming in off the edge he did not see McFadden coming watch this the top left to your screen there comes from McFadden number 20 he's totally unblocked and just at the last second I big Carson air you can see right there he caught a glimpse tried to make the completion and took the shot I think the Steelers blitz off the edge better than any team in the NFL listen of this crowd now see Cincinnati go for it fourth and four three wives incomplete broken up a fine play by McFadden the rookie back to [Applause] the NFL on CBS is sponsored by IBM become an on-demand business IBM can help a diamond is forever what would you do for love this Christmas and by MasterCard there are some things money can't buy for everything else there's MasterCard [Music] [Applause] welcome back to Heinz Field some of you may be wondering well why didn't a marvelous go for the field goal there would have been about a 49 50 yard field goal that's respect to how tough it is here especially in the direction Cincinnati was moving the 50-yard field goal here at this football palace reminder you can visit CBS Sportsline tonight for a complete wrap-up all today's action watch a web exclusive postgame show get in-depth analysis from NFL experts Clark judge and Pete Frisco only on CBS Sportsline comm Navy Yard second and nine [Applause] Crider the full-back in front of Willie Parker [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the 39 will be third and three and we go to New York and Greg Gumbel all right dick and Indianapolis the unbeaten Colts on the board first against Tennessee Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison seventh straight season Marvin Harrison with 10 or more touchdowns receiving he's also over the 12,000 yard mark for his career setting up a boat dick and Dan back to you Gregg what a surprise Manning to Harrison what a shock Indianapolis cruising or that possible unbe be season but some good roadblocks ahead for them who's stealing in on third and three [Applause] and a purse down at midfield no score here in Pittsburgh but there's action elsewhere great dick Buffalo down in Miami the Bills named JP lost him and their starter for the rest of the season he's on fire today this is a second touchdown pass to Lee Evans the first one for 46 yards this one 56 yards 14 luffing bills that can bend all right Gregg the bills are only four and seven as are the Dolphins but no England in the lake that has produced the least number of victories has only a 65 mark and precarious at best laughter so very quick and klonopin he hits his tight end journey to Minh down inside the Cincinnati 30-yard [Music] Roethlisberger did to warm up that thumb he has come up with some very accurate throws and he moved really well in the pocket to buy himself a little extra time but look how beautifully he dropped that right over the shoulder Jeremy Tumen see right here senses a little rush coming from his right buys himself another second but that was a beautiful touch pass right over the shoulder right onto the hands of two men who's caught only two passes all year that was for 26 yards and it's Willie Parker for a couple into the arms of Brian Simmons take a look at Ben Roethlisberger over the last couple of years his importance to this team yeah that's quite a difference 18 and to women he's playing for and three without him they're forced to throw the ball more without Ben and and the fact the matter is while he does not throw it a lot he's extremely efficient with the and Bill Cowher has rolled out the bus he sees his first appearance to Rome Venice now a tailback fake to Venice he's no [Applause] I don't think there's any question that's so far in this game the splint and the gloves are agreeing with Ben Roethlisberger and point pass to heat Miller and this rookie owns the middle of the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensively what a luxury for a quarterback to have a tight end the caliber of Miller owning the middle of the field 31 catches for Miller that's more than all the tight ends for Pittsburgh last year and now fenneis and he's close to the Noland giving away some 60 pounds can knife in with the tackle [Applause] and the steelers in the red zone five touchdowns in the last trips and a side the 20-yard line Bettis escorts 16 touchdowns in his career against the Bengals alone that says favorite team in which to score second and goal [Applause] that'ss offensive line they played a terrible football game I would say that they had responded to some of the criticism you can't play offensive line much better than the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing here in the early stages of this ball game as you can see they he raced everybody in a Bengals uniform as the bus just goes into the end zone in Reverse he was on Idol and still made it into the enzone and the extra point by Jeff Reed makes it 7 nothing Roethlisberger 3 4 3 4 54 yards on the drive and then ya hand it off to Rome Venice 68 yards and eight plays that was magic for Pittsburgh and Jerome Bettis with his 85th career rushing touchdown number five runner and NFL history Bettis out of Notre Dame 13 seasons ago and dick outstanding balance on that drive as well Roethlisberger three for three a great mix up a play calling Reed to kick it off to Tabb Harry and the rookie from UCLA will gather it in at the 12 yard line and falls at the 25 Shawn Mori there the ground in well it's been a long time love affair these Pittsburgh fans with their bus the NFL on CBS is sponsored by Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar eaten good in the neighborhood Applebee's and by Circuit City for the hottest new technology thinks Circuit City just what I needed [Music] welcome back you know Shannon Sharpe always has something to say tune in tomorrow get his reaction to the weekend's play it's all on nfl.com or NFL on E 26 Carson Palmer [Applause] on the right side to say Townsend on him delay handoff to Willie town today law stick they got flagged it's going to be delay a game JC Hampton was there to no play delay of game and that's the risk of the no-huddle if you have to change plays a lot of times look at the play clock on the left you get a lot of times about a second grace period because the field judge has to look up and look at the clock and sometimes you can get away with it with a second but that time it was called and snack on and now first and long for the for the Bengals and if you think the crowd was liable for Carson wait till you get a load of this [Applause] and signals out to the wide receivers and gives to play Jeremy Johnson the full-back will hands it off to his tailback throw is complete and Chad Johnson has his first reception of the game and a first down out at the 40 yard line then it starts with great pass protection the stealers not able to get any pressure on Palmer at all and he delivers a ball it's a little back where it's a little behind Chad he can't take it in stride but again working against his Steelers own a good Carson Palmer just way too much time to find a receiver and that big line has done a great job of protecting Palmer and giving him that extra second or two to find again as chad johnson and a first down at the Steeler 45 before Clark Aikens can make the tackle this offense of the Bengals when it comes to passing is a wide receiver offense again we got Johnson working against Taylor and it just a quick break to the inside a timing pattern all the way he makes his break tough to defend offside for the Steelers but that declined of course on a 16 yard play but again a perfectly time throw from Carson Palmer and the one thing about Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson that you got a love from a wide receiver standpoint both of these guys dick not afraid to go into the middle of the field and get a big hit after a catch and now complemented by Chris Henry the rookie as well who has three catches already Rudy Johnson you say Johnson you're right a third of the time Jeremy Jones from the full-back Rudy Johnson the tailback Chad Johnson the wide receiver first Harrison Palmer with a very quick more than he he's got her touchdown oh my Cokely on the coverage and who swims on Oh complements chat Johnson they were teammates at Oregon State has his fourth touchdown reception and seldom will you ever see a touchdown pass against better coverage than you saw right there Coakley is all over TJ Houshmandzadeh talk about willing yourself to catch the football Coakley's fingers right here come up about two inches short look at this you've got four hands they're going for the football and only Houshmandzadeh came down with it what a tremendous piece of concentration by TJ Houshmandzadeh Shayne Graham for the extra point to tie it up at seven all and what a beautiful throw in slow motion by Carson Palmer remindful Steeler fans to those tight spirals that Terry Bradshaw used to throw in those four Super Bowl years it's tied at seven and welcome back and that testimony to the long ball power of the Cincinnati Bengals 83 points on drives of four plays or less some of that factored in because Cincinnati also leads the NFL with a +20 turnover differential they've had some short fields [Music] man up front and it's Brett Keisel defensive lineman across the 25 yard line well tonight man CBS presents the powerful true story of one of the most admired men of our time Pope John Paul the second critics say it instills joy in human fights an epic television event filmed in his homeland and at the Vatican Pope John Paul the second tonight CBS America's number one Network Carson Palmer now on the road this year 12 touchdowns and one interception he is a big man close to 250 pounds David falling close to getting to the turf but just could not twist him down dick let's go back and look at that touchdown pass you can't double everybody here's the guy it's going to get doubled here's a double but here's a single coverage with Houshmandzadeh and it doesn't take carson palmer very long to find out they're doubled everywhere else he's got the single coverage and even though it's good coverage he has such confidence in his receiver that he lets him and gives him an opportunity to make the play in Houshmandzadeh did [Applause] in the back but it's [Applause] in Tennessee the fastest of Pittsburgh's whiteouts wrapped up after short gain Robert gathers the defensive end over there in a hurry to help out on the tackle yeah you don't expect the defensive end to be out there in the flat making a play on a short pass like that the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals long the great football family is longtime coach in the NFL with Buffalo for many years [Applause] third and nine with Dew Staley in the backfield with Roethlisberger steps up [Applause] the all-time stealer receiver [Applause] was he open - Ward was sitting all by himself back there in the Cincinnati secondary well take a look at this good pass blocking Ben's got all the time in the world to step up and take and even though the ball was look like partially tipped Ben had enough on it right there it gets grazed just a bit but it looks like Brian Simmons hit it but just enough it had enough mustard on it then it's able to go on through to Ward the ward left alone by the Bengals first down at the 41 yard line on the 31 yard play now it's Parker finding room outside him he has 13 yards and another and let's check on an NFL update with Greg Gumbel in New York all right dick at Miami JP Lossman has found the defense that he likes and it belongs to Miami for the third time today lost Mendeley Evans for a touchdown and a 21 nothing villains lead to 14 to play in the first quarter guys not even out of the first quarter JBL Osmond with an emergence Buffalo fans have been hungry for that 21 0 early the department stays in first down at the 29 the throw is short close as he was being driven back and every time Roethlisberger is hit fans have their hearts and their throats hoping that he comes up with a thumb that hasn't been reinjure that was Landon Johnson applying the pressure on that most quarterbacks lose velocity when they are being drilled in the chest and falling backwards as we're trying to throw and that's what happened to Ben Roethlisberger right there he had a blocker the blocker just didn't do it five times but he's been quick with his feet he maneuvers well within the pocket and has eluded most of the push of this phone he says he'd rather run tackle the tackle than go outside his speed seemed the contradict that philosophy because he can really burn on the corners round he showed right there he's not very willing to go down with the first dead about six or seven Cincinnati Bengals had a shot at Willie Parker he kept grinding away didn't get much in the way yards but he kept fighting four yards on the play it'll be third and six three wives do Staley with Roethlisberger and Antoine Randall L makes it a triple right formation now they bring times Ward emotion to the other side and then the throw [Applause] Morgan's first touchdown cats as a stealer can you throw the ball any better than Ben Roethlisberger is throwing the football here in the first quarter of this football game out of the shotgun excellent protection but look at the pass this is a guy that's supposed to have a bad job now Quincy Morgan finishes it breaking tackles but a perfect strike from Roethlisberger extra point from Jeff Reed and the steelers back in front 14 to 7 quincy Morgan 25 yard touchdown reception and Ben Roethlisberger bad thumb at all 8 for 11 and a touchdown pass Ben Roethlisberger he said the quarterback has to be the Rockets December we're aiming for the playoffs and the last thing I can do is take the option the medical people offered me and that is to have this thing put in the cast and that be able to play the rest of the year Tabb Perry brings it back from Cincinnati has [Applause] the 48 yard line good field position for the Bengals near midfield Coakley made the tackle and we remind you tomorrow on the Late Show Dave's welcoming Billy Crystal and Tuesday met Madonna's on with Dave all on CBS no wonder he smiler what a guest list this week on America's number one network but he's always smiling [Music] so the Bengals have burned on that pass play [Applause] even by Quincy Morgan continues for Cincinnati Kelly and motion quit flow to the outside the chad johnson and johnson bulldog 49 of the Steelers and that's how the opening quarter ends with Pittsburgh leading 14 to 7 the big battle on the ASC noise [Applause] [Music] this should be fun [Applause] you're watching the NFL on CBS America's number one network and we go to the second quarter the Kinberg Dan Dierdorf Armen Kitaen our producer Bob Fishman back from that here at the garmi Navy game what gives you chills us to see the opening of those games and the director's chair 14 to 7 Cincinnati Bowl at the 48 of the Steelers second and five for Palmer under pressure steps away now throws over the middle and it's by TJ Bushman's on again and in traffic he gets enough for a Cincinnati first time what a good job by Palmer sensing joy Porter coming in right behind him stepped up just at the last minute excellent awareness first down at the 42 yard line what a season almost 70% completions best in the NFL he now has 24 touchdowns better than Peyton Manning and all the rest of the quarterback stars in the lead now it's Rudy Johnson burning up the middle and down to the 33 for a gain of almost nine I mean take a look at his accomplishments on the road this this is just extraordinary 12 touchdown passes only one interception on the road [Applause] easily Rudy Johnson picks up the first down inside the 30 of the Steelers Johnson who played at Auburn how many great running backs that universities produce grew up a big Cowboy fan Emmett Smith fan and 868 the defensive coordinator the genius of all that zone blitz tactics time's going to be called here by Pittsburgh the events did not like the defensive alignment Steelers had on the field 14-7 its Burghley not only a comparison but look how close the numbers Carson Palmer the number one player picked three years ago to Southern California fan number eleven player pick two years ago from Miami of Ohio to well not just budding stars there [Applause] go to the sidelines to Chad Johnson if ruled out of Jewish juggling as he fell off the field of play let's go down to Armen Kitaen well Chad Johnson good to his word before we went to commercial deck he looked right at me pointed to his eyes like that to me keep an eye on me we'll see if we're gonna get one of those Chad Johnson touchdown celebrations you know he told Arvid before the game he said well it's a steel city we got to iron things out so he's throwing out some hints we started the week with a Terrible Towel in his in Cincinnati that one somewhere on goody Johnson have to suffer a loss outside the 30 as Clark Higgins and James Farrior from that talented Steeler line back in for elaborate on the stuff [Applause] well the Pittsburgh Steelers are the king of this division the Cincinnati Bengals are in the lead right now but there's no question that the Pittsburgh Steelers think they own Cincinnati until Cincinnati is big enough bad enough to step up and do the Steelers will continue to think that Chris Perry the second-year runner from Michigan is in the back Yadav good receiver Carrie throws on the middle is Chris Henry four catches for the lanky six for Chris Henry and again take a look at the Blitz but the pickup is the key Pittsburgh comes with the double blitz up the middle Polamalu but they are handled by this Cincinnati front wall giving Palmer plenty of time and an opening to go downfield to Henry Henry with four catches and 46 yards for the rookie this entire defense of the Steelers is predicated on pressuring the quarterback and so far they have not gotten to Palmer consistently first down inside the 15 and Palmer looks to the end zone then throws underneath at least those Tony Stewart the tight end from Penn State he has his second catch of the entire season Joey Porter with the hit Bengals inside the 20 and they've been productive heavenly that's a percentage that every other team in the league can only dream about 10 TDs and 12 trips ball spotted at the nine for luis grew up in suburban Pittsburgh played high school ball against Bill Cowher [Applause] Rudy Johnson drives close to the five-yard line that'll be him about two shy of a first down these franchises are really marvin lewis his first job in the national football league was on the staff of Bill Cowher here in Pittsburgh as linebackers coach so there's if you take a look at all the connections between players and coaches it takes about a page and a half luis and cower all the way to the high school days and now third and two back to Johnson squeezes through a hole to the one-yard line where it will be first and goal in this front line of the Cincinnati Bengals not only can pass protect they can open some running holes well let's get in behind 71 Willie Anderson and a good lead block there by Jeremy Johnson but look at the power by Rudy Johnson and look at Willie Anderson number 71 keep digging digging digging and moving the pile forward Mountain Willie Anderson at six five and three fortieth probe over the last two years of right tackle four shots for the Bengals from just outside the one and Palmer we'll throw for it and it's a touchdown to Kelly Kelly's first touchdown of the season no wonder he's happy only is ninth reception Carson Palmer doesn't go to the tight end very often what a call by Bob Brad Kowski the offensive coordinator because Reggie Kelly is lined up in the backfield that's how he gets lost and then he's able to come across and take a look at that that is a great call by Bob Brad Cosby especially after that power run before by Rudy Johnson and now to tie it up again it's Shane Graham [Applause] 14 all and so far this when moving up to all the advance publicity Carson Fulmer take some 53 yards and ties it up the NFL on CBS is sponsored by Capital One what's in your wallet Garmin will take you there and by Miller there's good enough and there's better than it has to be Miller good call and welcome back to Heinz Field Pittsburgh where the game early in the second quarter tied at 14 53 yard drive set up by that 46 yard kickoff return by Tabb Perry and Palmer with his second touchdown throw but the quality of the quarterbacking we've seen so far in us game between these two two teams defensive battle but it's been Quincy MA pixee pickoff and carries it out across the 35 yard line Ben Roethlisberger with all the question marks about that thumb has stepped up big-time reminder after the second game of our doubleheader tonight on 60 minutes Howard Stern talks with Ed Bradley you'll be surprised to what you hear then it's cold case and then john-boy SARS in the powerful true story of Pope John Paul the second tonight on CBS America's number one Network the Pope in the same sentence I didn't think I'd lived so long and into the backfield Jonathan fan Nene the rookie from Utah to make a big play on Parker los 4 on the play sober some of the Steeler faithful Ward and Randall L to the right of the formation with brighter and Parker Roethlisberger throw this one away a note says he got hit there he comes back holding his right hand jon-fen an a again was applying the pressure for Cincinnati well the day started with so many questions around that thumb been out here during warm-ups flexing that thing around and here as he goes down he's got to break his fall by throwing his right arm and right hand to the ground that's an instinctive move and you can tell that hurt you can tell that really hurt Ben Roethlisberger there's no way you cannot throw your hand out there that's I think that's an instinct that's uncontrollable what a brave effort by this twenty three-year-old third down along pumps and wants to go deep and that was almost any intercepted by Brian Simmons and Simmons on the return down the sidelines finally Simmons wrapped up at the 27-yard line with the 24th interception of the season for the Bengals far and away the lead in the NFL well I'm not sure that after been hurting his hand like that that I would have come right back attempting a long pass down the field and the mistake by Ben was throwing into coverage he threw into coverage there's a double cover on his receiver and Simmons did a good job of staying with the football that got batted around the linebacker he had drifted back of almost 30 yards it's his second interception and they're discussing the penalty on the return of the interception [Music] I realized there was third in 14 and you got to try to get the ball downfield but clearly Ben Roethlisberger after hurting his hand before this so is just in the coverage and what a job by Simmons of floating all the way back underneath he took away the underneath lane and the ball hangs up in the air you can see wobbling like a duck and Simmons just able to float back there and stay with it but that throw from Big Ben had absolutely nothing on it and then Antwaan Randle Ellen trying to take out some of the blockers on the Simmons return hit with a 15-yard penalty for the low block and that will go both for the return team and the tackling team and we're seeing that [Applause] so the turnover and that has been part of the bengal game all season long leading the NFL megive Joe Rudi Johnson and he's finding room off that right side following the big tackle Willie Anderson well Big Bend as you see him warming up again this is a play right before the interception as he's knocked to the ground he threw that right hand out there to break this wall and that is an owie that really hurt and then the very next play he attempts to go downfield with a ball and it initially right out of his hand he said you'll see some tail wobbles I've noticed that he said in trying to throw can't quite put the full pressure on the ball Palmer down the middle wide open wears boots Manzana and no Steeler near him and he couldn't pull it in on the low throw from Palmer Palmer mad at himself and goose Masada hurt himself on that as well trying to come back for that he heads to the Cincinnati bench wide open he landed on his elbow and he really had a heat took off and headed for the Cincinnati sideline he has a bad right hand remember as he tried to shake hands with him Knight set for nine weeks it's been hurting him he thinks that there might be something seriously wrong with that wearing a just a glove today escapes would appear to be a short touchdown the throw underneath goes to Kelly again in the tight end mostly used as a blocker all seen run out of bounds by James Farrior Bushman sod is clearly in distress here's Ben on the Pittsburgh sideline trying to warm up again he goes throws and goes down and hits that Sun with his left hand to try to rub it a little bit we enter again and they haven't said it's a fracture but sending the speculation that it might be is in the D between the thumb the index finger first down outside the town [Applause] this time behind Levi Jones and Chris Hope and James Farrior make the stop harmon what do you have for us well guys just watching Ben very closely he wasn't even able to catch the ball with his right hand it was coming back to him to throw it he had taken as you we know some pain medication for that thumb but obviously Dan as you noted there's a lot of pain there well and it's he threw the ball so well certainly no factor at all in the first quarter of this and no factor whatsoever until that play where he had to catch himself approaching the 7-minute mark 2nd quarter Bengals look for the lead the throw to the end zone [Applause] and man Shobha Shobha lovely fruit items used by Marvin Lewis has the most catches of lemon coming in familiar name you buffalo fans Aaron sho bull his brother a defensive end for the bills in his fifth year again that time Pittsburgh came with a blitz up the middle and Cincinnati did a very effective job and see Marvin Lewis he wants to take a time and Cincinnati will spend their first time out of this opening half driving toward the Li the Bengals in a 1414 time the NFL on CBS is sponsored by the Home Depot you can do it we can help and buy Subway restaurants try the fresh toasted chicken and bacon ranch sandwich subway eat fresh [Music] welcome back now enter that bus at your own risk we got some fine faithful will be in full throat here yard set sound for Venice earlier it's 14 all third down and five Cincinnati after the interception by Simmons trying to capitalize the Blitz Palmer using that no-huddle changes the play into the endzone touchdown he goes to push Manzana who just came back in after the injury in the endzone when Palmer missed him wide open and Houshmandzadeh has a couple of scores in this opening half but this is a protection touchdown because I am so impressed with Cincinnati inside receiver is Roush Manzano but they identified the Pittsburgh blitz you saw before the snap take a look to the right side of your screen the overload that side everybody picked up Carson Palmer has all the time in the world but you saw them six or seven seconds before the snap taking the time to identify the overload and they picked it up excellent football 21 14 on the extra point by Graham and Bill power knew that going in Cincinnati when they turn it over they score a hundred and twenty two points this year welcome back Ben Roth says Roethlisberger with one of the physicians for the Steelers with him throughout there's two of them actually and they're going to examine the hand and give him some evaluation on every trip to the sidelines and Houshmandzadeh he said throw it to me long throw it to me short well he had to leave dick in a pretty timely return that was his first play back six yards officially on the touchdown from Palmer who has three touchdown throws in this opening half and Quincy Morgan asked to backpedal into the end zone and take the touch bet this is part of their winning success for the Bengals this year look at the turnover differential now 21 by far and away the best in the league 34 takeaways the most interceptions most points off turnovers look at the production a hundred and twenty two points just off turnovers well that's why they're eight and three opportunistic and when you're n/a when you have a turnover differential in xx that they've got the extraordinary number hard to do burgers back under center he said even the snaps here give him pain Venice's with him the throw to the sideline is catch for Iams ward but doesn't he make a living doing just that well that's the way that Ben started to game during the pregame again he's you know flexing that thumb but he starts off throwing the ball all over the place and that's the Quincy Morgan who shreds a Cincinnati defense here's where he hurt himself and this was the last series and right after falling he threw this interception to Brian Simmons just a bad throw and a bad choice but a good pass right there at a Hines Ward on the last play for seven second and three it's been effective in their match at Cincinnati when they rolled out to a 27-6 lead until Chad Johnson scored very very late in the game well they they pounded Cincinnati for 221 big but you know some question marks goes to the last couple of weeks Pittsburgh has struggled to run the ball they only ran 470 yards against Baltimore 86 Monday night it gets Indianapolis it's so unusual to see Pittsburgh less than 125 yards of game Russia ashay more than any team in the NFL back to fetes short yardage on first down only a yard maybe two Brian Simmons the Dean of the Cincinnati defense in his eighth year out of North Carolina made the stop Marvin Lewis yesterday he's said it three or four times I have a young team Simmons not being one waiting for them to mature they're moving slowly but I'm pleased with the results he sounds like a father when you talk doesn't he sure don't and in many ways in that with the head coaches of these to the 35 where it will be third and five Thornton and Sean the two defensive tackles make the stock for the Bengals especially dick I think he was talking about his defensive team with you know people like Odell Thurman at middle linebacker because Marvin Lewis when he was at Baltimore had such an old experienced grizzled defense led by Ray Lewis and people like that and it's so different here these kids are just they're glad to be here they're just having fun met Thurman was their number two draft pick David Pollock their first clicks list out of Georgia both have played a lot of linebacker this year makes the catch but more importantly back on his backside is Roethlisberger's Odell Thurman hit him late and the flag is down now it's hitting him low he and the knees okay take a look at the right there comes sermon 51 now he's untouched the pastor shot at the quarterback and hit him in the knees at 15 yards to the end of the run well Bernie chukar called that exactly right and you saw the right knee of Ben Roethlisberger get caught awkwardly and buckled underneath Roethlisberger missed a game because he got his left knee hyper-extended against San Diego he then missed three games because his right knee was injured he had arthroscopic surgery his first game back was just Monday night how many more things can go wrong for Ben bad some bad knees and look at it still under Center and a remarkable throw to get it award under that pressure 18 yard pass plus the 15 yard penalty gives the Steelers the ball at the 32 and the hand and the wide receiver down to then fumbled the ball hit the 24 Cincinnati says they haven't no official word yes the Bengals another take away Kevin case muharram the safety man fell on the ball and the Bengals have two takeaways in this opening half and a good gain by Ward ends on a big hit and he coughs it up and he doesn't do that often and Hines Ward coming off the field limping a little awkwardly yes the ball is clearly out you can see Hinds is still standing up he turned backwards to try to fight for more yardage and the ball gets stripped Tory James and Robert gathers were both there if the ball is free and again this opportunistic bengal defense gashed free yards but still somehow comes away with the ball and some disbelief here the bangles oh that's been their entire season pattern taking it away and they try the reverse to himself and he bolts his way to the 32 yard line in a gain of seven who shman sada is a very effective runner in the open field we talked to him about it and he said I guess it's because I used to return kickoffs I'm very comfortable being in the open field with the ball under my arm this is not a receiver that goes to ground [Applause] an excellent job of covering on the play and that's a ball that Carson Palmer threw so far neither one of these guys realistically had a chance at coming anywhere near this football it was still another four or five yards downfield they're both playing it but Chad Johnson did get his left arm around and kind of snagged the left arm of Ike Taylor pulling down that's that could have been offensive interference Chris Perry who has 46 catches the halfback comes in for Rhodey Johnson and he's into the pattern the throw batted down at the line of scrimmage in theory was wide open Darren Smith the Pro Bowler northern Colorado what a break for the Steelers cuz again they come on the Blitz again Cincinnati picks it up and Aaron Smith saved a big play there Perry kept right on running about 40 yards as if to say I think I could have gotten this far downfield at that ball gotten to Moo Antwaan Randle the AFC returner with a punt return touchdown this season that was against Jacksonville and the bunt by Kyle Larson inside the 20 Flagstaff and so is Randall way back to the 13 12 yard line tab Perry who is the return man for the Bengals down on the coverage [Applause] Vernie who car collegian at st. john's in new york one of the top referees during all sides of this penalty story [Applause] twenty-second year in the league is the referee and Lewis and cowers they come on what's the call obviously the Steelers on the return have moved all the way to the end zone so they feel that's against them [Applause] still no signal [Applause] vans becoming impatient understandably [Applause] yeah well they apparently they're gonna move the ball back the other end tomorrow begins with TV's best line-up of comedies on CBS King of Queens How I Met Your Mother two and a Half Men out of practice followed by Mondays number-one show CSI Miami and then The Late Show with Dave tomorrow on CBS America's number one network a penalty on both teams believe we're going to kick it off again [Applause] and so that becomes a break for the Steelers Antwon Randall L ever dangerous I said a ball being down inside the 10-yard line with the Steelers in possession they get another shot at a return as the penalties negated one another a good break there for the Steelers [Applause] tipped by Kyle Larson who played his college ball at Nebraska this one's a short kill maril it sits on side amounts at the 30 that's about a 20-yard game almost the 20 yard gain for the Steelers so big been banged up several times this year the Chargers Louis Castilla with that ugly hit back in week 5 and then the Ravens got to him a couple of times in week 8 causing him to miss three weeks another knee injury and now the painful injury to his right thumb aggravated here in the first half [Music] staying with it [Applause] at the 31-yard line approaching the two-minute timeout here in the first half [Applause] [Music] Bengal team there to welcome him Foreman and Smith the two tackles starting the charge 2114 a couple of turnovers key to the game Cincinnati taking it away on an interception and a fumble denying Hines Ward who was driving deep into Cincinnati territory at the thing will 25 there's an Audi and he fights the Bengals - speech sir the ball is up Wilson and Wilson won the draw and somehow Tory James number 20 he can't believe he didn't come away with the football he's all over it he sees it he makes a play on it but he can't get it Wilson out jumps in for the ball two-minute warning we remind you the Sprint halftime report Greg Dan Shannon boomer all the latest early NFL scores and highlights coming up on this sprint halftime report stay with us at halftime stay with us most of you will see Denver Kansas City in Game two of our CBS doubleheader first down Steelers at the Cincinnati 27 trailing 21 14 Roethlisberger to the 20 yard Johnson good check down by ban looking downfield and found the bus underneath couldn't got good job of going through your reads both teams stand with a pair of timeouts to use clock ticks down to 135 Roethlisberger with that painfully bad right thumb is thrown for 205 yards in this opening half watching him hormone [Applause] back to the air [Applause] Landen Johnson another tack good work by Alan fanuc out front this is how you go to Pro Bowls year after year bit number 66 and how comfort him for Jerome to find out he's got Alan Faneca in front of him that's it tuck in on the hip and let's just follow the big guy downfield 50 seconds left in the half that is to the ten will spend one of those two remaining timeouts Shawn Smith with the last tackle and the Steelers tied up before the intermission Himes Field capacity 64,000 450 on this great cold a temperature right around freezing it might be gray and it might be cold thick but it's perfect I couldn't agree more I know you love it colder the better pets hey it's December it's got to be in it's Pittsburgh yet it's a 21-14 bengals leading the steelers with a ball at the 10 Willie Parker back in at running the [Applause] to ward at the 2-yard line twisting the reach of the ball Delphi O'Neal and Kevin case fahan making it tough on Hinds boy you could see the frustration on Heinz Heinz face when he got up right there look at him he's coming right in breaking off he's wide open and boy Ben again delivers a nice pass right into the chest Hines Ward now rarity that he doesn't handle them that is unusual group Hines Ward who was passed John Stallworth is the old-time Steeler receiver in a great history third and eight spread from waysand Roethlisberger plenty of time to in steely fighting the whole crowd of Bengals and can't get the first down stopped at the five chronic ticks - 27 26 seconds good job by the backfield of the Bengals they took away all of Ben's receivers who were in the end zone obviously he wanted to get into the end zone for six he had no choice but to dump it short here's the Steelers will let it run down to a couple of seconds and then bring out the field goal unit [Applause] and there's the whistle clock stopped with two seconds left last timeout for the Steelers and out comes Jeff Reed and the field goal unit now we know that Bill Cowher has a little gambling blood in them we saw that on Monday night at Indianapolis with the onside kick to open the second half so it's an apparent field goal attempt well I think maybe you gamble if the game is in progress where you know if you don't make it at least you're forcing the other team to go 95 yards for a score on the last play of the first half to risk a guaranteed three points that would be that'd be gambling with a capital G shutout now we saw a Dick Vermeil gamble and one yard line last play of the game and ran it in against the Oakland Raiders this year maybe if something happened to these coaching I think you take your three points you make it 21 17 and you gallop into the locker and here is the apparent attempt they scarred a key beholder the hunters raid who has ticket to work 31 consecutive field goals from inside the 40 31 in a row and now make it 32 and they take the three and warmth of the locker room standing first half and the turnover is the key to Cincinnati's 2117 lead Armand Kochi told you team they got to be willing to go into the big dogs backyard and get into a fight so far they really responded yeah we got to play a little better a lot better on third down on defense make some plays offensively keep taking care of the football we'll be fine all right coach Thank You dick all right Marvin Lewis who has done such a superb job in his third year has his team won went away from the first winning citizen in Cincinnati 15 years of a sprint America's number-one that much to peruse in the halftime statistics and I'll just start with the top line Dan the fact that Pittsburgh out rushed by Cincinnati and only 44 yards for the Steelers but look at the passing yardage liquid Ben Roethlisberger was able to do Pittsburgh on their way to over 500 yards in total offense if they have a second half comparable to the first but yet the two turnovers a problem and you know that Bill Cowher talked to his team about that but again Cincinnati we talked early in this thing dick about hopping the fence and coming into the big dogs backyard Marvin Lewis has to be really pleased they're leading at Napoli it's not about this team but touring and as you have hinted at this adolescence is one thing if you really want to think about playoffs and be the big dog you've got to knock off the team that everyone's trying to beat and that of course is this you have to start in your own division and that's exactly what's it's and again this game is so big for Cincinnati or both of these teams Cincinnati would have a commanding lead a two-game lead Pittsburgh if they could win they'll be tied but because they'll have beaten Cincinnati twice they'll have that huge tiebreaker so much at stake for both of these teams that's why this is such a fun game to watch and the production 2117 in that first half we're chatting at the intermission you know that half was as good as a lot of Holgate yes sir and Hines Ward how often will he drop a ball that's right in his chest that would have been a touchdown to tie it at the end of the first half Cincinnati will get the first chance here in the second half to have Perry a typical build for a kick returner e63 215 rookie UCLA [Music] Jeff Reid has a Twp and on this cold low 30-degree gray day in Pittsburgh we're underway in the second half breeds kick spins down to the 13 long-legged Terry puts on the skids at the 37 and Ricardo hopefully applies the finish Carson Palmer what a first half yeah I would say so dick not too bad for the NFL's leading passer starts it off take a look at this [Applause] tremendous effort by TJ Houshmandzadeh out fighting the defense for the ball then a short little zipper approximate up to Reggie Kelly and then TJ gets his second touchdown [Applause] and it has been quite a show by Carson Palmer the kid big stat looked to the right no interception and three touchdown passes the quick throw is complete to the outside the Chad Johnson and that's close to a first town Marmon while talking to Bill Cowher it not crazy Dan as you said about the turnovers more concerned about third down not being able to convert and not being able to get Cincinnati off the field as for Ben Roethlisberger he looked at me smiled he goes he's doing fine isn't it is back to you dick Thank You Armen Chad Johnson limping as he moved into position and like flies well chat it when he caught that pass dick he was going out of bounds and you could see him start to relax he thought the play was over and he gets tackled from behind right at the sideline he gets hit by Clark Hagen's and look at that one of his ankles it looks like it's caught underneath and he's been off the field yeah it's a but it's outside the nose tackle of the defense let's apply of the yard penalty results in the first dog Chad almost looked like he wasn't expecting that hit like he was just you know scooting out of bounds and and the play was over casey Hampton with a offside on the Play gives Cincinnati a first down at the 49 and all eyes on that Bengal bench on their brilliant wide receiver Chad Johnson hears that no [Applause] the Colts have really started something Tom Brady uses it no Carson Palmer with that no huddle wide open who spends on ax first down at the 35 yard line and TJ Cushman Zhanna from Oregon State what a seventh round steal he was because he's such a complete receiver dick the guy is just you know he's not afraid to go in the middle he's not afraid to go deep he fights for every football that's anywhere near him there's a lot to like about TJ who's inside fourteen on that play now it's Rudy Johnson's turn and he runs right into the file rejected after maybe a yard Aaron Smith led the charge this going back to Carson Palmer we mentioned at the start of our telecast to show you how effective he's been in the last 14 games 13 times his rating has been a hundred or better the only time it wasn't was that game against Pittsburgh yes but today that first half plenty of time eight seconds seven seconds on the play turn off fighting to the 29-yard line work it'll be third and four is rating in road games look at the company Palmers in and and those two guys through the higher rating very veteran quarterbacks when they spun in those numbers keep in mind this is Carson Palmer's third year and he didn't take a single snap his working only his second year playing and that's a good fun and he admitted he wouldn't have helped the team his first year you know young guys who have an ego [Applause] now Johnson on Thursday for the Steeler defense to the 16 yard line before Joey Porter and Chris Oakland can make the tackle well one of the things that Marvin Lewis has quietly crafted here in Cincinnati is a pretty strong offensive line and there's a good look at that unit Levi Jones Steinbach Bram Williams that is just wow that's good blocking Willie Anderson of course the leader and right tackle but that time right over Steinbach gram and Jones on the left side good work look who's back in Dan out wide to the left Chad Johnson [Applause] Rudy Johnson was 72 yards rushing Palmer plenty of time and throws it away good coverage down field as the Steelers head all the white jerseys covered back to Rudi Johnson and his good blocking and hard running 72 yards the Steelers had the longest defensive run in the league 24 straight games without allowing a hundred yard rusher until Monday night detron James and here's Rudy Johnson trying to get on there too yeah and Edgar James ran for over 100 Monday night but keep in mind the Steelers played a lot of nickel in that game against the passing game of Indianapolis two out of two in the red zone today two touchdowns and two trips [Applause] second and ten and then tackled at the 12-yard Travis Kirstie trailing the play oh what a shame they're the pinnacle set two blockers out his run they both ran right by the shady towns and didn't let him go he slowed up Johnson and then number 90 Kirksey finish the job down and five power sends in big Casey Hampton to plug up the middle Chris Perry a Johnson the better pass receiver five four seven on third down the Bengal so far very wide open and the ball fell short again I don't know if it was deflected but Gary that's twice no one has covered him coming out of the backfield but the pass didn't get to him but Chris Perry has got to be wondering did I do something wrong let's take a look at this case Oh get it yes sir he certainly does that is another good job by Brett Keisel of getting up and look how he disrupts some pattern the flight of that football and Chris Perry he might have scored a touchdown yeah I agree it would have been a first down for sir to try a 30 yard field goal and he hits it down the middle start the second half with a three-pointer and extend their lead to six seven welcome back to Pittsburgh TV's number one comedy TVs number one reality show TVs number one news magazine the number one network for the NFL and the number one show on television at CBS America's number one Happy Holidays to all of you Heinz Field in Pittsburgh rivers and the kick comes down to Quincy Morgan for the 40 and the kicker has to bring him down Shayne Graham and the 42 yard line [Applause] 35 yards on the return pittsburgh and happy marvin lewis when we come back the NFL on CBS is sponsored by Dell it's much more than technology it's Adele FedEx Forum or football fun go to Fed Ex football calm and by the all-new Civic from Honda it'll reverse your thinking [Music] downtown Pittsburgh in the near distance as we return to action 24:17 Cincinnati leads it let's see what the thinking of Bill Cowher is at halftime with only 44 yards rushing in the first half and Roethlisberger's on iron among the key to their offense and he play-action off the bat and throws complete hines ward that was a pretty good guess wasn't annoying wards competitiveness and dropping the ball at the end of the first half he must have said get me the ball early and very effective ball work here by Ben Roethlisberger take a look at that selling of the play-action but again look at the quality of the throw just a simple out pattern here by Hines Ward against Tory James but a really really good throw from Ben so again fighting through an injured knee and the bandsaw first down play to Willie [Music] first down and we go back to New York and Greg Gumbel for this update hey Vic in Indianapolis guess who's thrown a touchdown pass Peyton Manning 27 yards out for Reggie Wayne 36 time in his career Manning has thrown for three or more TDs in a game 21 3 Colts 5 and a half to play in the third 20 1 2 3 and you talk about Most Valuable Player and of course Manning having another great year but - Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals doesn't he deserve some consideration [Applause] and now those Terrible Towels are out well again this Pittsburgh offensive line and to take a verbal browbeating this week from their head coach and they have responded pretty well this is again just look at that crease between right guard and right tackle for Willie Parkman but look at the fight look at the fight after contact Willie Parker gets a good 5 yards after a pretty solid hit by Cincinnati that's that's tremendous effort averaging 4.6 today 46 yards in 10 carries and now Roethlisberger to the end zone touchdown times ward sliding and scooping the score Birger get that ball in what kind of a throw is this from bed Ward came in motion across the formation again working on Tory James look at that throw from Ben Roethlisberger bad some get out of here [Applause] who gave us the Nikki shuffle down there Lord what a player is eighth touchdown catch of the year to lead the Steelers read ties it up 24 all remain full of glory days of the the icky shuffle ha hi Ames Lord of Pittsburgh as the Towson Pittsburgh wave in the background the Bengals unite and come back on the field tied at 24 Hines Ward 8 touchdown catches this year six receptions on the day in 104 yards for war the four-time Pro Bowler the rookie Tabb Perry ready to return again he's had a couple of excellent kickoff returns Jeff Reed [Applause] [Music] then he finds an opening for 50 down the sidelines [Applause] Mike Taylor saved the touchdown but it took him 25 yards to ride Terry oh my what a game you like white open well tune in to the right spot we have seen some poor kick coverage by both teams but this effort by Perry on the sidelines because there's a moment here where it looks like he's going on about in Pittsburgh acted like he was going out of bounds you could see Ike Taylor actually eased up because he thought Perry was going out of bounds and then Taylor can't bring him down first contact right there there's 10 yards there's 15 yards anyway five or six 93 yards and Tampines Johnson forging in behind those big linemen and trying to get an extra push and pull' omalo and one of the big Bengal blockers little extracurricular Marvin Lewis Marvin Lewis told us a story about the first Pittsburgh game when one of the Pittsburgh running backs was stood up at the goal line and their offensive lineman pushed him into the end zone and Marvin said you know what our team grew up a little bit that day because they saw what a champion does in terms of extra effort well how about what we just saw right there is that is that a lesson learned the good students these young bangles are second and goal inside the line [Applause] Rudy Johnson he's in the endzone for the touchdown Johnson that's the first rushing score of the day for Cincinnati he's over the 1000 yard mark on the season and that's his eighth touchdown rush and right now there's got to be a lot of guys in Steeler uniform sticking to themselves are these the Bengals because these aren't the Bengals that were used to playing we own this franchise we own this franchise as much as Mike Brown owns this franchise and yet right now Bill cowers team is finding themselves in a real fight for ownership of this division these two teams with quick answers to their opponents scores Rad's the extra point 3124 you come to Pittsburgh in December it's cold it snowed last night yes expect that defensive struggle don't you the NFL on CBS is sponsored by the Acura MDX with electronic four-wheel drive and by McDonald's [Music] for the moment this partisan Steeler crowd enthusiasm is tempered as Marvin Lewis as Bengals have to say you can do one thing I can do it better 31 24 now as the Bengal lead shootout at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh analysis Steelers hopefully by the return and it's out across the 35 yard line first half of our doubleheader here on CBS and this has been a terrific start if these two teams battle for the lead in the AFC North and then we ought to Kansas City for most of you the first place Franco's and the seven and four teeth and some of you will see the Jets at New England so stay tuned big day of football on CBS bengals leading the north by one over the steelers but lost to pittsburgh earlier in the year 27:13 if cincinnati wins they have the two-game lead with an easy schedule ahead [Applause] six cats will over 100 yards first down at the 43 so since an ending with a one game lead but should they win a two-game advantage and pretty much a coaster ride coming home to the playoffs in Pittsburgh that they win they tie for first but it's better than that with two wins over the Bengals they would have head-to-head advantage and what in essence be the leader in the AFC North 44 where's the defense [Applause] teams moving the ball these well both of these teams their offensive lines have really asserted themselves both in run blocking and pass blocking now this is nothing new for Pittsburgh to do against Cincinnati but Willie Parker untouched look at the size of that hole you don't see a Cincinnati guy coming into your picture from either side 58 yards now for Parker rushing to lead the Steelers [Music] lateral that was a forecast ruled incomplete those of you who are just joining us for this scrap for the lead in the north of the AFC Ben Roethlisberger after the game on Monday night Tuesday he found his right thumb discolored great pain had it x-rayed there's no admission of a fracture but he's wearing a splint underneath the gloves he said he needs the gloves just so he can hold the ball well and get a better grip and a better spin on his passes he wouldn't know it by his statistics that it's bothering him 17 for 24 and 271 yards a couple of touchdowns screen at the park he runs into a tip hit and a flag down as Justin Smith the top pick out of Missouri in 2000 one of the Bengals there to make a solid tackle well they might get Allen Faneca for hitting Carl Powell on the back illegal block in the back number 66 of the offense eagle-eye of a Hall of Fame lineman then Deardorff well Faneca got caught in this in a bad spot there because that such a short screen Powell and the only way to get him is to hit him from behind and the umpire caught it as he should panic a great player four times to the Pro Bowl [Music] there's your total yards today it's hardly been a defensive strong struggle back there been few punts in the game second and 20 big them he skipped that one incomplete double pompton hines ward and you got expect with not able to really use that right them fully without a lot of pain that they're going to be times where his pass isn't on target although most of the day he's surprised to soul well you'll see quarterbacks double pump that set up a double move by receiver i don't think that was the case they're been really meant to throw that the first time and for some reason he pulled up at the last second and fortunately he was able to hold onto the football a lot of times you see a quarterback heat the ball just skitters out of his hand after a pulled up like that do steely into the backfield with Roethlisberger on third and 20 Bailey 37 yard line and let's see what Bill powers choice will be now Odell Thurman the brilliant rookie out of Georgia the number two graphic made that tackle and it may well be judged out of Jeff Reid's range read and no other NFL kicker in this ballpark in Heinz Field has been able to kick 150 yards so Gardocki the punter comes in 31 24 and those of you have not been with us throughout Cincinnati with both an interception and a fumble recovery two more takeaways by the team's best and the turnover differential now at plus 22 Gardocki floats one high fair catch by let's it bounced surprisingly it stays in the field of play Marvin Lewis's team will have it in the seventh yard line when we return here in the Steel City for this crucial early December battle between division rival Steelers and Bengals battling for first place in outcome the Bengals at the 7 yard line touchdown is used a lot of no-huddle course with the timeout into the changing his play here this has been a pattern throughout and it's increasing as the season has the this bangle team Johnson and the defense stout they're very little game team Obama often the veteran defensive end led the charge Rudi Johnson has had a busy day today you can see a couple rushes to the left not a whole lot going on there but look at the way he's working it between the tackles nearly 70 yard a good job hammering the at this Pittsburgh defense I think little surprised absolutely success under center that this five seconds just us get it off second and nine out of bounds by Polamalu and that might be the first time you said Troy poll is same it is all game hard to imagine we've done a Steelers game where Polamalu has been as removed from the action as he has been here today that is his first official tackle of the game the guy who is everywhere somehow Cincinnati has been able to go away so far this entire game former college roommate he mates for two years the Trojans of USC here comes the Blitz Palmer [Applause] Hagen's and that's a classic coverage set because of this the Blitz was initially picked up by Cincinnati Pittsburgh came with a blitz Cincinnati picked it up but Palmer couldn't find anybody and there's a sign of maturity don't make a fool sure look at the pickup he has nowhere to go with a football go make put it away only the second punt of the game for Kyle Larson Antwaan Randle at mckeil Larson drives it hi Randall L drifts under at the 47 [Music] at the 45 of the Bengals well into December in the NFL there are a lot of racist some amazing and we have see number one amazing race just two episodes to go before the finish line and Tuesday the competition heats up intense three times Amazing Race Tuesday on CBS terms of amazing how about the way this game is playing out as it as a shooter who would have a mad before the visiting Bengals in the lead [Applause] get at this time it's Alan Faneca number 66 the word leave jumps on that free ball luckily for Willie Parker that ball bounced directly backwards where there were more black shirts if that thing bounces the other direction Cincinnati almost surely would have gotten it now Willie Parker makes his cut up feel you see the balls getting away from his body and the Hat right there's the helmet right on the football right on the football by Odell Thurman but fortunately it bounces right back to Faneca lines up a one-yard game [Applause] the 43 maybe the 40 to bring up third and long Parker well know the story around the country extremely fast at 4-3 not drafted out of North Carolina didn't start a game as a senior at Carolina was overlooked at only 48 carries in his college career but Dan Rooney jr. as a high school coach and scout saw him and liked him and said to him someday we're going to make you a Steeler and he honored that as a free agent and Parker said even though other teams were interested in me I'd like the way the Steelers kept their promise so I said yes I'm coming here [Applause] intercepted by Delco eighth of the year [Applause] it returns to the 43 yard line another takeaway by Cincinnati well that time Ben Roethlisberger that is the intentional double pump trying to get Delta O'Neill peeking into the backfield but watch what O'Neill does there's some outside move he doesn't bite on and at all he has none of it he doesn't take one step toward Hines Ward who gives the move to the outside but Roethlisberger he decides to throw it anyway and that's a mistake by Ben you get the double pump when you try to set it up but if the quarter doesn't bite you got to go someplace else with the football an O'Neill eight interceptions in an all-pro season 25 now Cincinnati is a team on the year to lead the NFL farmer back and he lays it up for Janet Johnson no and as the devil coverage pays off Mike Taylor and Troy Polamalu quickly now we go to New York and Greg Gumbel all right dick at Indianapolis Edgerrin James as usual providing a nice little balance for Peyton Manning's throwing James two yards for the touchdown 23 carries 97 yards on the day Indianapolis for the 28 to 3 lead back to you thanks Greg and Edgerrin James is there any back to get some more yards after contact is complete to Johnson and he's bumped out at the 49 on the Cincinnati half of the field the gain of about five that Greg Gumbel he's gonna need some lozenges let's go right back to him right dick thank you at Cleveland Jacksonville has trailed the Browns all day long until this David Gerard 12 yards to Jimmy Smith 17 unanswered points for the Jaguars 20 it's a 14 early in the port thickened down all right thank you Greg goodbye left foot enter david garage showing you why Jacksonville has found him to be such a terrific player waiting for his turn entertaining the Colts next week third and five complete under pressure Palmer unable to find Lucien Masada well that's because toy Polamalu was all over TJ Houshmandzadeh in a legal sense but no chance of a completion there because of the coverage by 43 in outcomes Kyle Larson the bengals save the lead with the interception by dealt O'Neil but unable to move the ball forward so they'll cut it back to Antwon Randall L [Applause] roaming spiral that's going to go through the end zone touch back to the Steelers and the 20 so here in the third period with just seconds remaining Steelers back on the field with Ben Roethlisberger trailing 3124 you saw Marvin Lewis here being positive with his punter but you know that's not a positive outcome when you kick it into the end zone and give the ball up to 20 yard line that's not much of an exchange of wheel position but today they're plus three they've taken it away on two interceptions and a fumble recovery but not giving it up to the Steelers plus 23 that's just extraordinary there's that Roethlisberger under pressure the rookie tight-end on the first down at the 31 yard line Brian Simmons the tech ler looks like Ben was initially trying to find Jeremy toomin to the outside and when he saw coverage there he came back to Miller who and Ben look at Ben Ben shaking his hand again you gotta give this guy a lot of credit he is playing with a badly injured right thumb and yet somehow is playing pretty well Rudi Johnson he's in the endzone for the touchdown watching the NFL on CBS Palmer helping us out as we welcome you to the fourth quarter here at Heinz Field Pittsburgh Steelers trailing the Bengals 3124 crucial game in the AFC North with first place at state Parker [Applause] as it goes out-of-bounds I believe and that would keep it in Steelers hands and yes the signal is Pittsburgh will maintain possession big John Thornton number 97 can't believe it he can't believe it he had the football and let it get away let's listen to this hit on Parker [Applause] right there 97 oh he had it in his hands and what a fortunate break for Willie Parker and the Steelers he saw the jet of the jaw from coward to fumbles now for Willie Parker and he comes out of the game well he's fumbled twice at what the last four carries I think Jerome Bettis the sure-handed veteran now in the backfield a fortunate first down for Pittsburgh at the 48 Roethlisberger looking deep downfield good coverage to Venice and Venice staggers to the 39 a nine-yard gain more accent to New York as you know dick defense a big part of the cult story this year McNair back to throw quite free nice accent Larry Triplett picks off the fumble and returns 60 yards for the touchdown 35 to 3 the Colts on their way to win number 12 back to you Larry trippin he looked like a drum major at the University of Michigan going down appeal second and 1 and he doesn't get back to the line of scrimmage good defense from Kevin case Behar and the safety from August Annis Dakota to make the stop and here comes two Staley into the lineup and Willie Parker was going to have to do some serious lobbying to get back in his football game two fumbles and critical situations fortunately for him and his club both recovered by the Steelers but he is in the doghouse folks he can't see it around him but trust me it's there you can hear the impetus third and three Roethlisberger would do Staley and the shotgun and it's Staley on the raphe fumbles oh my what's happening says power in these stands in Pittsburgh as Justin Smith secures the tackle and the boos rain at Heinz Field Bill's going we work on it and practice all week and we don't drop the ball why can't we execute this during the game perfect perfect lateral there from Ben Roethlisberger right onto the hands of du Staley Staley not looking at the ball looking downfield and doesn't handle it that's all on 22 and the Steelers power course has to rule the fumbles at least they maintain possession whereas Bengals were all around a couple of those I kick by the veteran Gardocki Ratliff fair catch at the 23 22 yard line we're in the fourth quarter 12 tens ago Bengals back with the ball in the lead we're back in Pittsburgh a reminder Thursday America's number one reality show Survivor well it's too intense challenges find out who makes the final four one week from tonight it'll be the million dollar prize to the Live season finale winner on CBS America's Network boomer - Chris Kerry in the flat down as Perry tackle at the 27 by Troy Polamalu that's a play that's been open all day but they've not been able to get the ball with Perry roughing the passer roughing the passer number 53 you see Clark Hagen's comes in and smacks Carson Palmer right in the face mask so this is not in a good sequence for the Steelers at all has it now they're making it easy with mistakes like fumbles and now 15-yard penalty you can't do it Bernie kook are the referee looking right at it I know it was hardly a lethal blow but above the shoulders on a quarterback not acceptable first down at the 42 changing his call and the Steeler fans so now let's go density of their voices calmer on the run throws incomplete well covered was Richie Kelly as the shade Townsend was right there again though I have to compliment Cincinnati and the way they are picking up and blocking the pittsburgh blitz pittsburgh is bringing pressure and cincinnati is picking it up take a look over on the right there comes hope and he is picked up by Rudy Johnson lookout rudi stays with him he finally gets a hit on Palmer but not till after he throws the ball job in the Pittsburgh secondary that nobody eight seconds on the play clock again moves his fullback now he's going to run out of time and they use one of those precious timeouts and he barely got it in the NFL on CBS is sponsored by Sonic it's not just good it's sonic good sony transform the way you watch football with sony the world's greatest high-definition television and by Volkswagen on the road of life there are passengers and there are drivers [Music] [Applause] and welcome back to the home of the Steelers and some concern faces as Cincinnati leading 31 24 with 11 40 remaining this ball 2nd down and 10 at their own 42 Carson Palmer continuing on is MVP consideration rampage [Applause] highest rated passer in the league gives it off however to Rudi Johnson he was stacked up after a short game Casey Hampton led the charge to the big nose tackle that they call big snack or snacks as his teammate Aaron Smith says of Casey Hampton he's like a vending machine he's it's always he was always feeding puck watching Carson Palmer though isn't he like morphing into Peyton Manning how long he keeps his team at the line of scrimmage and ghosts are different you know calling the play setting protections these quarterbacks are like opera singers lots of gesticulation this time out of the shotgun less action under pressure rosanoff underneath the umpire makes the play if his Bridget Kelly comes up for the ball no incomplete a good job that time by Pittsburgh of only bringing a four-man rush and they got pressure bill Shuster on the defense the umpire only a four-man rush this time by Cincinnati and they get pressure on Carson Palmer Clark Hagen's is able to peel off the right tackle and come inside and that is when you're a successful defense when you can force the quarterback into a bad throw with only your front four Larson to punt beautiful high spiral let's go into the end zone oh the Steelers and Roethlisberger come on the field I landed at the 20-yard line trailing Cincinnati by seven we're back to Ken Berg Dan Dierdorf I'm Akutan the Steelers and the Bengals and it's Pittsburgh's fall at the 20 trailing by seven plenty of time left 10:41 in the four Roethlisberger looking for Hines Ward step goes underneath to the tight end Miller with the first town the 11-yard gain will the Steelers just trying to improve on their last possession there's the very end of the third quarter Barker fumbles Allen Faneca Ricker beginning of the fourth Parker fumbles again again Allen Faneca comes up with the recovery Parker gets yanked in comes deuce he fumbles an easy pitch from Roethlisberger and that was a miserable possession so already they're off to a better start with that completion to Heath Miller Miller the tight end the number one pick out of Virginia continues to produce some wonderful catches and you stay Lea they love to crow his first name and Justin Smith with the tackle gain of Bobby do stay lead former eagle and it injured Landon Johnson for Cincinnati on the play Johnson sharing duty at outside linebacker with a rookie David Pollock [Music] the NFL on CBS is sponsored by the United States Army an army of one and by Bud Light smooth and refreshing Bud Light great tastes great times [Music] as the day wears longer we remind you second half of our doubleheader coming up on CBS most of you will see Denver Kansas City Steelers in Cincinnati a seven-point game Pittsburgh second and short at their 39 a right to the six before case four horn from safety makes the tackle and it's enough for a first down this is remarkable dammit with the injury and very painful it is and the quarterback Ben Roethlisberger admits he's had some medicine for the pain some speculation that might even be fractured and yet this is the second time in his career he's thrown for over 300 yards go figure I didn't see it coming I don't think Ben saw it come he's very sincere [Applause] lucky and this boy little linebacker has his gift interception of the season a linebacker a middle linebacker on top of it and he was all over Hines Ward the receiver that Ben was trying to throw the football to and Ben just can't believe he let it go Justin Smith applying the pressure and Roethlisberger a classic zone defense you can see right there that oh Dale Thurman is looking at Ben all the way playing the underneath and the ball comes up a little bit short on its way to Hines Ward and Bend knew it he knew it you don't make that throw against his own defense with the middle linebacker working his underneath zone Modell Thurman the gregarious sort a big smile on his face we talked to him yesterday five interceptions and the NFL is a rookie that only two is whole college [Applause] it's my chair chances [Applause] Katzie didn't maintain control as he hit the turf once upon a time that might have been a catch but not in today's NFL what an effort by Chad Johnson going up he's got it but when he hits the ground the balls loose you must hit the ground in today's National Football League and maintain possession of the football that's a good call by the official that's a non cat Chad Johnson who promised Dharma Kitaen he had something special cooked up should he score a touchdown the Steel City like the iron out some things picking his way they forty-five and drives to the 43 Christmas Hope up to make the sound Rudi Johnson complimenting the passing game of Carson Palmer and dick this is such a stage of the game or Cincinnati tries to exorcise the demons all the years of futility playing the Pittsburgh Steelers never good enough not the Med not in the last 15 years up to Pittsburgh there on [Applause] the winning team in Cincinnati 5th [Applause] here's the third down and out-of-bounds goes Chris Henry the rookie from West Virginia with a first down excellent route and excellent throw from Carson Palmer again working Rizla's rookie against rookie Henry against McMahon but been playing a little deep giving way too much Brown underneath and working the sticks very effectively Chris Henry five catches for Henry today three in the first possession by Cincinnati and what a bullet thrown by Carson Palmer right the hands of man Rihanna [Applause] [Music] moosh Manzano who had two touchdown empties in the opening half a warm ball and then a short one over the middle comes up with another first down play and again I'm so impressed with hoosh Manzano's ability to catch balls in the middle of the field he knows her Safety's in there he knows he's in the midst of a lot of traffic to Shay Townsend just a step behind but this guy has a lot of confidence in the middle of the field the guy is not afraid of taking a hit played high school football in Barstow California those of you have made that trip through the Mojave practice [Applause] Judy Johnson is straightened and still able to surge forward on second effort inside the 15 what a hit Rudi goes backwards initially I think Casey Hampton stands him up but then again look at the way Rudi Johnson finishes runs Vic how many times you see him driven back never the guy ends up going forward he's looking for a possible hundred yard game as we see the 13 of 16 touchdowns for Cincinnati in the red zone their last 16 trips that is most impressive three of four today Rudi Johnson 13 yards away from the century mark rare to do again spit the outside of the ten the five in the end zone another touchdown for Rudy Johnson and the Bengals they ran right and the Steeler bliss Cris hope comes on the Blitz right at the play and Johnson ducks right inside of him Dick LeBeau must be thinking what do I have to do look on the left there comes home and he's untouched and Rudy Johnson gets right inside of him and ends up getting past the tackle of Polamalu into the end zone for a touchdown and you'd think that's a perfect call by Dick LeBeau and yet Cincinnati beats it for a score now to try for a point Shayne Graham and it's 38 to 24 as Rudy Jensen goes over the 100-yard mark with that 14 yard touchdown run let's look at the right side of the line but watch hope coming off the corner there he's untouched but he goes so wide that he's not able to fall back in onside on on on Rudy now how many times downfield do you see a block what's TJ who spend on Guzman sada doing he takes the shade Townsend out of the play and how about Johnson warding off the hit by pull Apollo to dive into the end zone oh my gosh Nick let's look at that right now here comes Polamalu from the right instead of wrapping up he tries to take Rooney's legs out from under him he's unsuccessful wow that was a lot of good things by the Cincinnati offense and you would think a touchdown against the defensive call by Dick LeBeau that shouldn't work like that that could have been a run for a loss Louis's young team maybe maturing into a very serious playoff threat in front of our very eyes as Ben Roethlisberger looks on you know I mean Marvin Lewis said learning from Bill Cowher his first head coach when he came here is a 33 year old assistant linebacker he said bill had a sign on his wall that said they don't care that you know until they know that you care and he he said that's what I'm trying to use with my young players let them know how much I do care about [Applause] and he's back to the 28 yard line Harmon dick just to follow up on what you said Marvin went about the building went about building relationships with veterans like John kitten his quarterback and Brian Simmons his linebacker it's grown into this new sense of trust and Brotherhood team and the other thing he did he cleaned house there's only 13 players remaining on this roster of that 53 when he took over in 2003 sick with point arm and it goes 8 and 8 his first year again 8 and 8 last season and it's been a long hard time for the fans of the Bengals 15 years since a playoff or even a winning team but I guarantee you that Pittsburgh fix-it could still win Bengals were offside Justin Smith on the left side the pass complete to Randall L and a Bernie coup car with a call offside 90 defense at the PI the other penalty first element the Justin Smith trying to get the early chump will mark it out to the 33 yard line first and five the clock becomes an issue Steelers have all three timeouts looking ahead and less than six minutes to go we welcome those of you joining us here at Heinz Field Pittsburgh were the Cincinnati Bengals leading by a game in the AFC North have a two touchdown lead we're in the finals five and a half minutes as Cedric Wilson for the Cavs Ben Roethlisberger in a first down at the Steeler 45 yard line but Pittsburgh needs two touchdowns to tie and we're working against the clock and a bengal defense that has forced four turnovers as Marvin Lewis's team now is a plus 24 on the season in that turnover differential and in the history of this series it's been Pittsburgh running the ball today they have moved the ball primarily with Ben Roethlisberger's basket and he's doing it with a wounded thumb wearing a splint under those gloves another solid throw Wilson and a first and others make the tackle at the 49 and here go the Steelers with a no huddle they try to hurry things up and justifiably so at the 48 the first now clock runs you see their Steelers have all three timeouts to use another short pass underneath the Randall but he has another first down the twenty-nine before Brian Simmons can chase him down Carson Palmer coolly watching the accent look at his 103 point nine this young guy only three years out of the University of Southern California has had a hundred grading passing in 14 of the past 15 games for another interception as Wilson hasn't popped free the clock for 17 to go well looking at the way this drive got started Carson Palmer and his offensive teammates this game's not over for them they're not going to be in a position I think where next time they get the ball they could afford a three and out and give the ball back to Pittsburgh this has been a very efficient drive so far by Pittsburgh of course they don't have any margin for error left not down to playing admittedly with a very very sore thumb that's an understatement he's 24 for 35 Roethlisberger 345 yards and two scores throws this one complaint for and alone leads to the 20 that'll be close to a first down I believe a half yards short Robert gathers the defensive end makes the tackle and the clock ticks down to the four-minute mark and Rudi Johnson a hundred yards tough to do against the Steeler defensive gone 24 games in a row without allowing a 100 yard rusher until bedroom James on Monday night he's got 100 today he's ready to ride all the way back to the Queen City still gonna use a timeout 340 left first now Roethlisberger stranded throwing complete and he'll get out of bounds to stop the clock 328 to go that was good work clear by Ben Roethlisberger first of all it started upfront his line gives him really good protection but Ben looks at every eligible receiver playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers only a three-man rush by Cincinnati they don't get much of it going and been surveys everybody on that field before he finally dumps it off to Randle oh that was nice it's its brow raising here's Ben Roethlisberger for Cour playing with a wounded thumb and he's just set a career-high passing 363 yards but that's really marked by those three interceptions first down almost through - delt O'Neill who has his eighth pick of the season might well be the leader in interceptions in the league when they're posted tomorrow or Monday morning they're down one just inside at the 10 it's shucked Bresnahan there on the left the defensive coordinator for Cincinnati trying to get his guys to make a stand triple right and the handoff inside 22 Parker and Parker's down to the six yard line Parker was benched briefly by cour after fumbles in the same possession and the crowd urging the Steelers their hurry up as the clock ticks close to the 3-minute mark and again they have all their timeouts remaining but their wives who saved the 1st and goal Roethlisberger to the endzone [Applause] here's his second of the day razorsharp pass ben roethlisberger that left a paper trail on its way into the end zone to hide ward [Music] and the Steelers right back in to see inside in the slot is Hines Ward he just makes the cut to the inside Cincinnati slow to react but look at the quality attempt throw loop right in there to Hines Ward the only time Roethlisberger in trouble when he's tried to air it out throw the long ball and then the passes have died but those 15 yards or less have been bullets now bill cowards got to go onside kick or with all three of my timeouts left and the two-minute warning do I kick it away an interesting decision as we review this high-scoring battle for first place in Pittsburgh Jerome Bettis the bus got the Steelers on the board early 7-nothing when you push bums out of fighting off the defense along bomb quincy morgan answers with a physical catch and run but right that comes carson palmer and brett see Kelly with a touchdown here the three interceptions by Brian Simmons at led the Horseman's out his second touchdown a short play 2114 hines ward skidding in to tie the game at 24 this is tab perry the rookie from UCLA a 94 yard kickoff return that set up Rudi Johnson one of his two touchdowns huh final breath here's more another interception by Thurman and Johnson with this quick move and a score to be answered by Hinds Wofford on the touch of you just saw it's been a scoring fest here in Louisville if you could see me I am applauding that effort what a game and here's the onside kick and of course power and his team are well trained for this they tried it at the start of the first half Monday night it didn't work now they back off you know every instinct Bill Cowher has is to kick it deep and rely on his defense to get the ball back but you know that that confidence in your defense is shaken by the 38 points scored by Cincinnati I even stopped at Barry who's had one good return after another here he comes finally in shy of the 25-yard three timeouts left for the Steelers and state with us second half of our CBS doubleheader and a good one in Kansas City in the AFC West it'll be the Broncos at 7:00 and for her up in Dinah two against Kansas City seven and for the Jets in New England and New England go six and five with a two-game lead in the AFC East and now the Terrible Towels the yellows are flying here at Heinz Field well as the defense must hold to give Pittsburgh hope if you want to be king you have to depose the king that's what Cincinnati is facing right now 2:23 for Carson Palmer [Applause] - hand signals maybe changing the play [Applause] the face mask of Chad Johnson as Troy Polamalu close to picking that one off real quiet first three quarters of this game for this all throw safety of the Steeler but boy does he pick his time to get his fingernails on that pass and how about the confidence by Cincinnati dick the clock would go into the air dangerous past double coverage on Johnson now Rudy Johnson hid in the back Larry foot the middle backer from Michigan makes the stop [Applause] well this clay had no place to go we disrupted at the line of scrimmage you can see the Steelers all the way up field Larry Foote took the way gap nobody there to pick him up and Rudy Johnson had no chance whatsoever and the Steelers used the first of their three timeouts here in the second half with third and long now facing Cincinnati at their own 20-yard line [Music] Brad Kowski the offensive coordinator for Cincinnati and on first down is going to the air now of course when you have the NFL's leading passer you know you have the liberty of making calls like that but certainly flies in the face of conventional football wisdom they don't get the national publicity the Bengals but Carson Palmer you as you said it the leading passer in the league the country don't realize the numbers this young man seventy percent completion he leads the league in touchdowns three today he has 26 touchdown throws on the season [Applause] and we welcome fans to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh where their Terrible Towels are for Pittsburgh traveling by seven with two forty-three seconds to go Carson Palmer in the bangle [Applause] goes underneath complete the chris-marianne a flag is down down where calmer through the ball [Applause] it may be for holding in the backfield however as it was tossed at one of the big linemen this is a big penalty call well Pittsburgh's acting like this is going against Cincinnati yeah it is well bill cowers decision to kick off instead of the onside kick was the right one [Applause] we're going to decline the penalty apparently as the gesture from qu car with the little testy there maybe not maybe they'll push him back holding 76 often seventy-six is Levi Jones the big left tackle yep Levi Jones watch her or he's at the top of your screen working on the left-hand side against evil mono Lofton he gets trampled by a pod call for pulling him down that's a doubly embarrassing play there ever dangerous in the open field Antoine he has a punt return for a touchdown earlier this year and Kyle Larson to kick it you know how about Bill Cowher though he only had to use [Applause] and a false start who just Cincinnati back farther [Applause] here in Pittsburgh lists Cincinnati Bengals in first place by a game over the Steelers trying to take that top spot and go home two games in front had a 14-point lead but the Steelers have driven down for a quick touchdown on Bravo's burger to Hines Ward touchdown pass they've held the Bengals that push them back on a couple of penalties in Kyle Larson has to punt it [Applause] Cincinnati had a position ran three plays they burned 22 seconds and Pittsburgh only had to use one timeout Bill Cowher has to be pitching himself that he still has two of his timeouts remaining plus the two-minute warning [Applause] the line of scrimmage Marcin gets a good kick away [Applause] flag as he's back up at the 47-yard lord to have him tap Harry and other special teams play for the Bengals [Applause] couple of fellas wanted to chat about the playoffs after the whistle and they are separating number 23 on the receiving team during the kick professor James vineyard that amounts to about a 20 yard penalty because it denies the return by Randall L as Tyrone Carter whistled for the foul male Ben Roethlisberger those of you were repeating ourselves for you fans have been with us from the start but Roethlisberger came home from the game on Monday night with a badly injured thumb x-rayed he's wearing a splint under the gloves the gloves to give him more grip he's under admittedly high pain he's taken some medicine for it and yet he stone for a record 369 yards today three touchdowns but three interceptions they start from the 23 trailing by seven to take to the 30 or the ever dependable receiver although he did rough a possible touchdown at the end of the first half Nick it's remarkable the Pittsburgh is even in this situation with an attempt to tie the game given the fact they're getting killed turnover back for 2-0 the Bengals even be competitive as a false start against the Steelers tackle how can you be -4 and the turnover differential in a game and still have a chance to tie it this penalty so one second away from the two-minute timeout is Big Mac Starks the second-year tackle from Florida as dad was a Cincinnati Bengal for some nine years remember Ross browner all-america player out of Southern California he was a number one pick in fact by the Vegas from the 25 Roethlisberger was three wide receivers right and one split left steps away from [Music] it's a first down a flag is down back up the 20 centric Wilson the catch and let's check the penalty bring it back Vernie kook are not looking for a lift home the indicating with a thumb that's against Bill Cowher Steelers how many mistakes could his teammate seventy-nine office 10-yard penalty [Music] pray Essex the rookie left tackle bill against the barbell Smith seven points to a tie for the Steelers and to December and the frosty Pittsburgh Pennsylvania the push toward the playoffs and these two teams both with eyes on postseason play and the surprising Cincinnati Bengals have a seven-point advantage with 154 left Roethlisberger faces second and 19 from his own 15 at 85 yards to go for a touchdown and two timeouts left for the Steelers Roethlisberger recheck now scrambling [Applause] line couldn't get it away David Pollock the number one track pick out of Georgia know these young Cincinnati Bengals able to make the play and again Ben just could not find anybody open downfield this Cincinnati defense picked a pretty good time to throw a blanket over every Steeler receiver third down and what we've seen a lot during this game is Roethlisberger moving around and finding somebody opens but today he wasn't able to there's Hines Ward as he's trying to find an opening look how he's covered here's Quincey Morgan on the other side he's trying to get away from dealt O'Neil then can't find him but today Ben has moved around a lot he's done this repeatedly and dumped it off very effectively but that time able to reverse himself make a pretty athletic move and dragging Big Bend down with the loss back to the 10-yard line third and 24 plus they had to eat another timeout one remaining for Pittsburgh against the team the Bengals trying to shake the ghosts of past their three and 23 in December since the 90c zijn the last time they had a winning record Roethlisberger looking deep then has to dump underneath to Willie Parker with the speed for the Steelers but he's hit at the 20 yard line by Landon Johnson and that brings up a fourth down for cour and Pittsburgh and the time call we presume the final timeout by the Steelers that's correct and so much riding on this for Pittsburgh the loss here will drop them to 7 and 5 and dick the playoffs a real a real struggle from 7 & 5 not an impossibility by a stretch of the imagination but a real uphill climb for the Pittsburgh Steelers see if Cincinnati should when they go 9 and 3 a two-game advantage and the last four on the schedule that probably be favored in all four games most of those teams with losing records so 7 and 5 for the Steelers would be a mountain decline they just would be in a position where they'd really have just no margin for error left all right here on fourth down Roethlisberger needs a play that will get Pittsburgh beyond the 35 yard line and a first down there you see Bengals Cleveland Detroit Buffalo half Kansas City remaining Steelers a bit tougher including the Bears here at home next week and and that game at the beginning of the year looked like pretty much of a breather 35 yard line 2 line 2 tip from behind by the jersey throws it away intercept another gonna roll the ball dead Bernie rules him down he ruled him in the grass and it would have been a score and another turnover as Landon Johnson takes it into the end zone but it matters not the Marvin Lewis led been Cincinnati Bengals had the ball with 123 left Steelers no timeouts academic now a couple of nail downs and Cincinnati will go home well in charge of the AFC North and the Pittsburgh Steelers with three consecutive losses now really have to do some soul-searching as to what has gone wrong after a seven and to starting to the season losses to Baltimore in overtime 1613 than the Monday night defeat by the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts and now the Cincinnati Bengals as this young team perhaps finding maturation before our eyes your favorite Bootsy Collins the funk legend Dan Dierdorf Ezard written that song feared to Tiger they couldn't be singing enough feared to Tiger way back to Bengal country am I really hearing this [Music] absolutely great to have you back dad Thank You dick and what a well just congratulations it's it's fun to see every now and then somebody come up and and that is what the Cincinnati Bengals have done right now that last year with a 15 in one regular season what a gallon you can't go anywhere until you can compete with them and that's what Cincinnati did here today and we saw a shot of Roethlisberger what a gallant effort by this young man his toughness to even play a lot of quarterbacks would have said my season's over with that injury to the thumb he passes for 386 yards today but it'll be in defeat and Cincinnati guaranteed of that first winning season since 1990 that's a bit of a dry spell 15 years they've waited and marvin lewis takes home a winner from pittsburgh the ninth win of the year and a two-game lead in the AFC North with a outstanding game 3831 all offense in Pittsburgh today coming up next it'll be the Broncos and the Chiefs are the Jets and Patriots check your local listings you've been watching the NFL on CBS you

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Id: 6_8PVoDvM1M

Length: 140min 41sec (8441 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 28 2018