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| Steelers quarterback Neil O' Donnell would throw complete 24 of 31 passes for 377 yards and throw three touchdowns in the Steelers' comeback win over the Bengals. |
That's exactly what happened in the 1995 Week 12 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, where the Steelers put together a dominating run in the second half.
Pittsburgh entered the game with a 6-4 record, but on a three-game winning streak, which began one week after an embarrassing 27-9 loss to the Bengals at home in Three Rivers Stadium.
The Steelers were led by head coach Bill Cowher and quarterback Neil O' Donnell, who along with the rest of the Steelers were on a mission to get to the Super Bowl after they had fallen three yards short of the game-winning touchdown in their heartbreaking 17-13 loss to the San Diego Chargers in the previous year's AFC Championship Game.
While the Steeelers were looking toward the Super Bowl, the Bengals were hoping just get into the playoffs as they entered the game with Pittsburgh with a 4-6 record.
Ever since their last playoff appearance in 1990, the Bengals' fortunes had turned for the worse as they had encountered three seasons where they went 3-13 and another where they went 5-11.
Cincinnati was under the direction of David Shula, son of the NFL's all-time winningest head coach Don, whose in his fourth season, but looked to have found his franchise quarterback in Jeff Blake, who had become the Bengals starter after an 0-7 start during the 1994 season, replacing former 1st round pick David Klinger.
With Blake at the helm, Cincinnati fans had a glimmer of hope of ending their playoff drought if they get on a winning streak to end the season.
What proceeded was a game of two halves as both teams held control for one half of play and combined for 80 points and 821 yards of total offense.
The fireworks began on the game's opening kickoff when the Bengals' return man David Dunn received the kickoff, ran seven yards, then threw a backwards lateral across the field to Jeff Hill, who proceeded to run 55 yards before being knocked out of bounds by Steelers kicker Norm Johnson, giving Cincinnati the ball at the Pittsburgh 35-yard-line.
Six plays later, the Bengals had the first touchdown of the game as Blake hit Darnay Scott from four yards out to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead just 1:39 into the game.
The Steelers would get good field position for their first drive of the game as Ernie Mills returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards to the Pittsburgh 40-yard-line.
But on 3rd & 2 from the Steelers' 48-yard-line, O' Donnell connected with Mills for an apparent 1st down, only to have Mills fumble the football, which was recovered by the Bengals' Todd Kelly at the Cincinnati 47-yard-line.
The Bengals could not take advantage of the turnover as they went three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their 42-yard-line after punter Lee Johnson shanked his kick, which went only 21 yards.
The Steelers would drive to the Bengals' 20-yard-line until a sack by Bengals linebacker Andre Collins forced the Steelers to attempt a 50-yard field goal which Johnson made, cutting the Bengals lead to 7-3 with 7:04 left in the first quarter.
The Bengals responded with an eight-play, 68-yard drive which saw running back Harold Green carry the ball four times for 26 yards and Blake hit Scott for a 23-yard gain, that ended with Blake running it in from one yard out to extend the Cincinnati lead to 14-3 with 2:40 to go in the first quarter.
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| Bengals quarterback Jeff Blake accounted for all four touchdowns(three passing, one rushing) that Cincinnati scored. |
On their next possession, the Steelers drove from their 30-yard-line to the Bengals' 38-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 1 situation.
Cowher decided to go for it but a false start penalty on right tackle Leon Searcy pushed the Steelers five yards back and force them to punt the ball back to the Bengals who took over at their nine-yard-line.
That is when the Blake-to-Pickens connection got going as Blake hit Pickens for 25 yards on the first play of the drive which was also the last play of the first quarter.
The two connected again on 2nd & 2 from the Cincinnati 42-yard-line for a 11-yard gain and another 1st down, which was followed by an offsides penalty on Steelers linebacker Greg Lloyd and then a 26-yard pass from Blake to Pickens to give the Bengals a 1st down at the Steelers' 16-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Bengals were faced with their own 4th & 1 situation when Shula decided to go for it.
Blake was able to drop back and lofted a pass for Pickens in the end zone which fell incomplete, only to have Steelers strong safety Carnell Lake get called for pass interference, to give the Bengals a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
On the very next play, Blake connected with Pickens for a one-yard touchdown to extend the Cincinnati lead to 21-3 with 11:28 left in the second quarter.
Down by the same margin as their prior defeat to the Bengals, things were not looking promising for the Steelers, especially when they had to start their next drive at their 12-yard-line, only for center Dermontti Dawson get called for illegal use of hands, pushing the Steelers offense back to their six-yard-line.
That is when O' Donnell got rolling as he completed four passes in a row for a total of 30 yards, which was followed by a 22-yard run by Bam Morris that put the Steelers in Bengals territory at the Cincinnati 42-yard-line.
Then on the next play from scrimmage, O' Donnell hit Mills for a 42-yard touchdown to make it a 21-10 game midway through the second quarter.
The Bengals responded with a pair of runs by Green totaling 15 yards, then followed by a 45-yard pass interference penalty on Lake to give the Bengals a 1st & 10 at the Steelers' 13-yard-line.
However, the Steelers defense would only allow three more yards, forcing the Bengals to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Doug Pelfrey to make it a two-touchdown game at 24-10 with 4:33 left in the first half.
Before the first half came to a close, O' Donnell would complete five of six passes for 61 yards, with the big play being a 33-yard completion to Charles Johnson, to set up a 26-yard field goal by Norm Johnson to make it 24-13 after 30 minutes of play.
The Steelers got the ball to start the second half but turned it over on the third play of the drive as running back Erric Pegram fumbled the ball after a pass, which was recovered by Bengals strong safety Bracy Walker, whose nine-yard return set up the Cincinnati offense with the ball at the Pittsburgh 33-yard-line.
This would lead to Blake throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, a 20-yarder to Tony McGee to push the Bengals' lead back to 18 points at 31-13 with 10:31 to go in the third quarter.
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| Steelers linebacker Greg Lloyd(95) would lead a Pittsburgh defense that limited the Bengals to just 84 yards of total offense and one touchdown in the second half. |
It seemed that the Bengals were on their a season sweep of the Steelers as the Pittsburgh defense could not stop the Cincinnati offense and the Steelers had been settling for field goals instead of touchdowns.
But like basketball, football could turn 180 degrees in a matter of minutes and that's exactly what would happen starting with the Steelers' ensuing possession.
After Mills returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards to the Pittsburgh 38-yard-line, the Steelers got into Bengals territory on the very next play as Bengals cornerback Roger Jones was called for pass interference, resulting in a Pittsburgh 1st down at the Bengals' 42-yard-line.
Then O' Donnell would hit Mills for 18 yards on 3rd & 7 for a 1st down at the Cincinnati 21-yard-line, which was followed by a nine-yard completion to Yancey Thigpen, and two runs by Pegram totaling 11 yards, all leading to an one-yard touchdown run by Morris, which cut the Bengals' lead to 31-20 with 6:46 left in the third quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Steelers got the ball at their 17-yard-line and drove 83 yards in nine plays, culminating with a 15-yard touchdown pass from O' Donnell to Andre Hastings.
Cowher decided to go for two and brought in backup quarterback Kordell Stewart, who had spent the season lining up at various times at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, earning him the nickname "Slash", to get the two points to make it a field goal game.
Stewart ran a quarterback option and pitched it out to Pegram who ran it in for the two-point conversion to bring Pittsburgh to within three points at 31-28 with 99 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Steelers' defense kept the momentum going as they forced another three-and-out and seemed to get the ball in Bengals territory when Hastings returned the ensuing punt 47 yards to the Bengals' 26-yard-line, only for an illegal block get called on Tim Lester, meaning the Steelers had to start from their 16-yard-line.
Morris would ran for five yards on the last play of the third quarter, which was followed by O' Donnell connecting with Mills for eight yards to give Pittsburgh a 1st down at their 29-yard-line.
That is when Stewart re-entered the game, lined up as wide receiver, and proceeded to run a seam pattern down the middle the field where he caught O' Donnell's pass for him at the Bengals' 40-yard-line.
Stewart would run into the end zone untouched for a 71-yard touchdown to give the Steelers their first lead of the game at 35-31 and third touchdown in a span of 7 minutes and 21 seconds.
But the Pittsburgh scoring barrage was not over.
The Steelers' defense would force the Bengals a third consecutive three-and-out, which included a 13-yard loss on a quarterback sack by linebacker Jason Gildeon, which lead to the Steelers getting the ball back at the Bengals' 39-yard-line after a 31-yard punt by Lee Johnson.
For this drive, the Steelers would go back to their traditional running game as Morris carried the ball five times for 23 yards, with the last one being a three-yard touchdown to extend the Pittsburgh lead to 42-31 with 9:33 left in the game.
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| Kordell Stewart, or Slash, would catch his first career touchdown, a 71-yard TD that gave the Steelers the lead for good. |
Needing to get their offense back on track, the Bengals decided to go for it on 4th & 4 at their own 31-yard-line when Blake hit Pickens for 22 yards for a Cincinnati 1st down at the Steelers' 47-yard-line.
Then after a seven-yard pass to running back Eric Bieniemy, Blake was sacked by Greg Lloyd, fumbling the football, which was recovered by Steelers defensive lineman Bill Johnson at the Pittsburgh 43-yard-line.
With a chance to put the nail in the coffin, the Steelers pulled out a gadget play as they called a reverse on 2nd & 7 from the 46-yard-line, where Mills ran for 20 yards and another Steelers 1st down at the Bengals 36-yard-line.
Then after a four-yard run by Morris and 10-yard holding penalty on left guard led to a 2nd & 16 at the 40-yard-line, O' Donnell would throw his final pass of the game, which turned out to be a 32-yard completion to tight end Jonathan Hayes setting up a 1st & goal at the Bengals eight-yard-line.
Morris would score his third touchdown of the game on the very next play to make it 49-31 with 4:09 to go as the Steelers had turned a 18-point deficit into a 18-point lead.
David Klinger would come in the game on the Bengals' next drive, replacing Blake, and hit his first two passes for 15 yards, until he was picked off by Steelers defensive end Ray Seals, allowing for the Steelers to run out the clock and leave Cincinnati with a 49-31 victory.
The Bengals would finish the season with a 7-9 record as Blake and Pickens would go to the Pro Bowl thanks to Blake's 3,822 passing yards and 28 touchdowns, 17 of those caught by Pickens on 99 catches for 1,234 yards.
With Blake and Pickens, Bengals fans had high hopes for the 1996 season, but a 1-6 start lead to Shula's firing, and being replaced by offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, who lead the Bengals to a 7-2 record for the rest of the season.
As for the Steelers, their win over the Bengals kept their winning streak alive which they would extend to eight games, earning them their their third AFC Central Division title and the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
The Steelers would knock off the Buffalo Bills 40-21 in their Divisional Playoff, then hold off the Indianapolis Colts 20-16 in the AFC Championship Game when Jim Harbaugh's Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game fell incomplete, earning the Steelers their first trip to the Super Bowl in 16 year.(To read more about the game, click on the link here: NFL Old School Game of the Week: Steelers Survive Colts Hail Mary Attempt To Win AFC Title).
However, the Steelers would fall to the Dallas Cowboys 27-17 as O' Donnell threw two costly 2nd half interceptions which set up two touchdown runs by Dallas running back Emmitt Smith.
O' Donnell would leave Pittsburgh in the offseason to sign a 5-year, $25 million contract with the New York Jets, but lasted only two years there before being released and leading him to sign with the Bengals for the 1998 season, where he played only one year, before ending up with the Tennessee Titans, backing up Steve McNair for five years until O' Donnell retired from the NFL after the 2003 season.
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