With their record at 0-3, the Steelers went back to school. College to be exact.
Both James Conner and Jaylen Samuels, the Steelers' top two running backs, had played for Matt Canada in college, Conner in his final year at Pitt and Samuels in his first two seasons at N.C. State. Canada's offense featured Wildcat sets, where the running backs take direct snaps, and plenty of jet sweeps.
So when the Steelers' offensive coordinator, Randy Fichtner, showed the offense the team's game plan for Monday night's game against the Bengals, neither running back was upset. Just the opposite. They knew they were going to get the ball. A lot.
What better way to take pressure off young quarterback Mason Rudolph?
They did just that, as the duo combined for 208 yards of offense and touched the ball on 39 of 56 offensive touches in a dominating 27-3 win by the Steelers over the Bengals.
"We knew coming into this game we were a big part of the game plan," Samuels said. "Me and James knew we had to do the job with the Wildcat formation and then with the running back stuff, running downhill. We knew we had to make guys miss in open space. We were just feeding off each other."
There was a lot of meat on the bone. Conner had 10 carries for 42 yards, while Samuels had 10 for 26 and a score. They were an even bigger part of the passing game, with each back hauling in eight passes, Conner for 83 yards and a touchdown and Samuels 57. Running as the Wildcat quarterback, Samuels also completed three "passes," all to Conner on jet motion for 31 yards.
It marked the first time in an NFL game that two running backs from the same team had at least eight rushes and eight catches in the same game since the Chargers' Gary Anderson and Lionel James did it in 1985.
For a team that had been struggling on offense without Ben Roethlisberger -- who was on the sideline for this game -- it was a needed boost.
"It was a great package that helped us out," said Rudolph, who completed 24 of 28 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns, posting a passer rating of 124.6. "I was just excited overall, to have one more week with Randy molding a game plan to me and what I like. It's a big switch when you have a guy (Roethlisberger) who has been here for 16 years and likes what he likes and kind of coaches one way. And then he has the younger guy come in."
They made it work well in this game. So much so, in fact, Rudolph, who got a game ball for his first NFL win, and Samuels set a team record for completion percentage in a game at 87.1 percent, topping an 85.7 percent completion percentage Roethlisberger had in 2007 against the Dolphins.
The Steelers got off to a slow start, as rookie Diontae Johnson fumbled on the Steelers' second offensive snap after a short gain. The Bengals recovered the loose ball at the Pittsburgh 15, but picked up just five yards before kicking a field goal.
"The sudden change early in the game was huge for us, only giving up three points," defensive end Cameron Heyward said. "Those were things we talked about. Last week, we gave up two touchdowns off turnovers. To give up only three points, and then not let them score from there on out was nice."
It was even more nice when the offense got rolling.
All told, the team ran the Wildcat seven times, with Samuels keeping the ball four times for 15 yards and giving a shovel pass to Conner three times for 31 yards.
They weren't massive gains, but they served their purpose.
"I think we had a good plan, giving them the side stuff, which was good, and then running some downhill," guard David DeCastro said. "Honestly, it was just good to be in a rhythm. It didn’t start great, but the defense was playing really well and we were able to complement it."
The Steelers finally took the lead on their fourth possession, scoring on a 21-yard pass from Rudolph to Conner on a rollout.
Then, on their next possession, they got a field goal to take a 10-3 lead into the half. On the opening possession of the second half, they ran the ball right down the Bengals' throats, with Conner taking a shovel pass from Samuels in the Wildcat for 21 yards:
"I tried to tell him he’s gotta get in. He didn’t get in," Samuels said with a laugh. "Yeah, if he doesn’t want to score, I’ll keep it."
He did just that on the next play:
With the Bengals now thinking about how to stop that from happening, the time came for Rudolph to go deep. And he did that after the defense forced a three-and-out and a short punt to the Cincinnati 43. Rudolph connected with Johnson, who had six receptions for 77 yards, for a 43-yard bomb that made it 24-3.
"The safety took a step to Diontae and then saw JuJu (Smith-Schuster) coming and that distracted his attention," Rudolph said.
That's all it took for Johnson to run wide open.
The win moves the Steelers to 1-3 and just one game out of first place in the AFC North. More importantly, it's a win the team needed.
"It needs to be a springboard for us as we move forward," Mike Tomlin said. "It was significant tonight on a lot of fronts, particularly because it was AFC North football."
• As much as the Steelers' offense had struggled this season, so had their defense, averaging 71 plays per game on the field. But the defense did its job in this game, sacking Andy Dalton a career-high eight times and limiting him to 171 yards passing as the Bengals had just 175 total yards.
No sack was bigger, however, than Bud Dupree's strip-sack in the second quarter after the Steelers had taken a 7-3 lead.
Cincinnati finally put together a drive and Dalton had the Bengals at the Pittsburgh 18 when Dupree beat left tackle Andre Smith for a sack, chopping down on Dalton's right arm and knocking the ball free. T.J. Watt fell on it to end the threat:
"That was a big play. They were driving down the field," Stephon Tuitt said. "You know Bud has tremendous speed on the outside. That was a huge play."
• Heyward also had several huge plays. He had been shut out in sacks the first three weeks, but had 2.5 in this game, making life miserable for Dalton.
"He can stop pouting now," Tuitt joked.
Heyward disagreed.
"I’m going to keep pouting. I don’t give a damn," he said. "I’m going to keep being hard on myself. I’ve got to keep getting better. It’s a long season and things are going to happen, but I’ve got to make sure I keep doing my job."
And everyone else around him, as well. As the Steelers' defensive captain, he takes it seriously when his unit isn't performing well. If not for the offense turning the ball over in the first quarter and giving the Bengals field position, the Steelers might have had a shutout. But Heyward will take it. The Steelers held the Bengals out of the end zone, with Mark Barron also picking off a pass in the end zone in the second half.
• New tight end Nick Vannett, acquired at the start of the week from the Seahawks for a fifth-round draft pick, had two catches for 28 yards. Hunter Homistek will have more on his night in a Tuesday afternoon file.
• Barron led the Steelers with 11 tackles.
• Mike Hilton split time as the nickel cornerback with Cam Sutton. Hilton had two pass breakups, Sutton had one.
• The Steelers had four penalties in the game, three of which were pass interference calls. Two were on defense and one was on offense.
• Last time for eight sacks in a game: 2016 against the Browns.
• The Steelers have won their past 17 Monday night home games.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Vance McDonald (shoulder, DNP)
• Anthony Chickillo (foot, DNP)
• Roosevelt Nix (knee, DNP)
• Vince Williams (hamstring, DNP)
• Cam Heyward (thigh, returned)
• James Conner (ankle, returned)
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers (1-3) host the Ravens (2-2) next Sunday at Heinz Field in an early-season battle for first place in the AFC North. Tomlin will have his press conference at noon Tuesday.
THE COVERAGE
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MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Bengals, Heinz Field, Sept. 30, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS