CINCINNATI -- For the third consecutive week, the Steelers' best player made the biggest play of the game, and that was Antonio Brown when he made a 6-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter that tied the game at 20-20.
We break down his insane play, which was part of his huge day of eight catches for 101 yards:
It was first and goal on the Bengals' 6-yard line with less than four minutes to go in the game. The Steelers were down by a touchdown and one play away from erasing a 14-point deficit for the second time this season.
They spread the Bengals' defense out with Martavis Bryant lined up as the split-end receiver to Ben Roethlisberger's left. Bryant was accompanied by JuJu Smith-Schuster in the slot and Jesse James positioned off the line of scrimmage. The right side of the formation had Le'Veon Bell as Roethlisberger's sidecar, and Brown lined up all alone on the outside against Dre Kirkpatrick.
The Bengals showed one high safety, signifying either a Cover 1 man defense or a Cover 3 zone defense to Roethlisberger. Either way, Roethlisberger knew that he had a chance with Brown's designed slant route to attack the seam, the space between Kirkpatrick and the middle safety, George Iloka.
At the snap of the ball, Roethlisberger saw cornerback Josh Shaw sitting in an intermediate zone right in the seam where Brown's slant was designed to go.
But instead of dropping back to protect that seam, watch how Shaw crept closer to the line of scrimmage, looking to be ready for a chance that Bell might come out of the backfield on a delayed release. That opened up an extremely tiny passing window for Roethlisberger to hit Brown, and he took it:
It was the perfect read by the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. Roethlisberger had his fourth consecutive game throwing for multiple touchdowns as he finished the night with 24 completions on 40 attempts for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
It was an even more perfect throw at the exact right time into the exact right place.
But what's more is how Brown held on to the ball despite taking a brutal head shot from Iloka on the play. Not only was it an amazing play that tied the game, it set up the Steelers' defense with a great opportunity to help seal the comeback win.
Brown also set up Kirkpatrick with a beautiful setup in his slant route that froze the cornerback enough that he was helpless against Brown's move into the seam. Iloka's hit drew the penalty, but because Brown held onto the ball for the score, the Steelers could accept the penalty and enforce it on the ensuing kickoff.
That allowed Chris Boswell to kick the ball from the 50, which he used to put a whole lot of hang time on the ball and perfectly place it short of the end zone at the 2. This forced the Bengals to return the kick when Steelers would be swarming all over, using the short field and the hang time to get in position.
The result was the Bengals only getting a 10-yard return and starting that possession on their own 12 yard line. That would lead to a 3-and-out stop by the defense to set the Steelers up with great field position for the winning field goal at the end of the game.
So, like I said, that amazing play between Roethlisberger and Brown had more implications than just a tying score. The leading concern for the Steelers coming into this game was Brown's availability because he missed the last two practices of the week due to a toe injury. But believing in Brown to come up in those moments has its benefits, as Mike Tomlin elaborated in his postgame press conference.
"He's easy to believe in," Tomlin said of his all-pro receiver Brown. "You leave a light on for Antonio Brown. I can't say enough about his effort and detail. A lack of physical preparation, and that's a guy who's confidence is steeped in physical preparation, and for him to perform the way he did, we don't take it for granted and we appreciate it. A big-time squeeze down there in that end zone and absorbing that hit. Quintessential Antonio."
While the rest of us, as we watch Brown work, may be astonished by the things he continues to do, Tomlin and Brown's teammates look at it from the perspective of Brown living up to expectations, as Roethlisberger mentioned after the game.
"Never a doubt, right?" Roethlisberger said after the game of how the Steelers depend on Brown even with the speculation that he might not play. "That's A.B., a special football player. He made a lot of great plays for us. His touchdown catch after getting hit really hard was just pretty special. To go out there and play through an injury, a guy that's so good with his feet to have a toe issue, I'm just happy to have him out there, obviously."
Speaking of that toe issue, Brown addressed it after the game and how tough it was for him to go into this game without the usual preparation of being able to practice with the team.
"I couldn't practice all week," Brown said of how the injury impacted him. "I have to always tell myself I'm one hundred percent, because you know, it's all mental. But, you know, the big toe impacts everything as a wideout; your push-offs, your movement, everything. But I knew I had to take care of it and do the right things. The guys were great with encouragement and a lot of positivity and keeping me in tune with what was going on. I was just grateful that I was able to come out and help the team today and that we could get the win."
While Brown wouldn't give us the exact details of his toe injury, the Steelers' head trainer, John Norwig, spoke emphatically about Brown's toughness in the locker room.
"That's one tough hombre," Norwig said of Brown. "He did all that without taking the needle," said Norwig, implying that Brown played without any shots or medical assistance to his toe.
But what amazed me beyond Brown's performance with an injury was how composed the Steelers' offense remained throughout the game despite everything the Bengals threw at them. I watched time after time how the Bengals would show one-high safety looks and then switch which safety had the deep coverage responsibility or switch to a two-high safety defense.
They also did the complete opposite in switching two-high safety looks into one-high safety defensive schemes in order to try and trick Roethlisberger and confuse him throughout the game.
So even in the pre-snap adjustments before Brown's six-yard touchdown, the Bengals lined up in that one-high safety look and could have been disguising what they were doing. Roethlisberger knew what defense they were in, stuck to his guns and fired a perfect laser-strike to Brown.
It was into an extremely tight end zone against a Bengals' defense that ranked as the top red zone defense in the NFL coming into this week, allowing red zone touchdowns on only 39.47% of their opponents' possessions.
It should also be noted that the two defensive backs closest to Brown are both 5-year veterans in Kirkpatrick and Iloka, who are both athletic defensive backs in their prime.
Wondering how the Steelers planned to deal with all those adjustments in tight spaces, I asked Brown if most of his routes were by design, or if he was given the option to change his route based on what he saw:
It was clear that throughout the game, Brown had a precise understanding of what the Bengals were trying to do defensively as they dropped back into their various coverage schemes. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley had his own scheme prepared for how to attack the various coverage packages and it obviously paid off.
What should also be noted is the protection for Roethlisberger on the play. Yes, it was a quick throw, but the Bengals' defensive front swatted two passes earlier in the game, one by Carlos Dunlap and the other by Chris Smith, yet the Steelers' offensive line stymied their rush and kept them far back enough that any leaping lineman wouldn't obstruct Roethlisberger's passing window.
Watch from this angle as you can see Dunlap jumping up to try and swat the pass that would end up being the touchdown to Brown:
The Steelers knew their offensive line had to come up big in this game, and it did so in such a big moment by not giving ground on Roethlisberger's pocket. That was a big matchup, as they had allowed the third fewest sacks in the NFL this season, and allowed only one sack to a Bengals' defense that ranked sixth in the NFL with 33 sacks coming into the game.
When I asked Pouncey about how the Steelers' offensive line persevered against such a tough group in a harsh environment like a wound-up Bengals' crowd at Paul Brown Stadium, he had this to say:
What should ring out about these moments is how the Steelers continue to come up big in the most vital moments to keep their hold on the top of the AFC standings. Despite losing Ryan Shazier in a terrifying way, despite being down by 14 points in the second half, and despite being on the road against a team playing for its last playoff hopes, they delivered.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
