CINCINNATI — The ball headed straight for Jordan Shipley. So did James Harrison.
Care to guess which one won? The often-fined Harrison lowered his shoulder and helped knock the ball loose from Shipley near the 5-yard line on Cincinnati’s final play, preserving the Steelers’ 27-21 victory over the Bengals on Monday night.
“The defense held strong,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was 17-of-27 for 163 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
At the end of a night full of foibles, tricks and missed chances, the Steelers’ defense came through again.
“This is how the Steelers play ball,” defensive back Ike Taylor said. “We might get a blowout here and there. But we’re always in tough, close ballgames.”
Pittsburgh seemed to be in control when Antwaan Randle El threw a 39-yard touchdown pass off a trick play to open the fourth quarter, building a 27-7 lead made possible by the Bengals’ many mistakes. Pittsburgh also had points set up by a fumbled kickoff, a blocked punt and a missed field goal.
Then, the Steelers (6-2) turned sloppy as well. Roethlisberger threw an interception that set up Terrell Owens’ second touchdown catch of the game, and Jeff Reed missed a 46-yard field-goal try that would have clinched it with 3:59 to go.
Carson Palmer led the Bengals downfield with the help of a wacky play. His pass to Cedric Benson was tipped, but the running back made a juggling catch for a 16-yard gain on third-and-long. Chad Ochocinco’s only catch of the game moved it to the 12-yard line. On fourth-and-5, Palmer found Shipley open over the middle in first-down range, but the Steelers converged and squeezed the ball out to end it.
“I ran in the middle of two guys,” Shipley said. “I felt like I had it, and they knocked it out of there.”
