NFL Recap (Pittsburgh-Cincinnati)
Posted: Sun October 11, 1998 at 9:15 p.m. EDT
CINCINNATI 25, PITTSBURGH 20
CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Neil O'Donnell fooled his
former team with a fake spike and lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to Carl Pickens with just 20
seconds left to lift the Cincinnati Bengals to a
25-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in
an AFC Central rivalry.
Two teams and three years removed from a Super Bowl appearance with
the Steelers, O'Donnell was magnificent in his first game against his
former team, completing 20-of-26 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns.
"It was a long week," said O'Donnell of the hoopla surrounding his
first game against the Steelers. "I knew I had to stay focused. We had a
lot of success on that team and I'll never forget that."
"You can't say enough about Neil and Pickens," said Bengals coach
Bruce Coslet. "They made the plays and kept their poise at the end of the
game."
Pickens, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of
the season, set a club record with 13 catches for a career-high 204 yards.
He has been a Steeler-killer with an astounding 64 catches for 882 yards in
his last eight games against Pittsburgh.
Darnay Scott
caught scoring passes of 44 and 30 yards and leads the Bengals with five
touchdowns this season. His 30-yard score 1:22 into the fourth quarter
gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game at 18-17.
The loss dropped the Steelers (3-2) 1 1/2 games behind Jacksonville,
which plays Miami Monday night, in the AFC Central.
The Steelers had taken a 20-18 lead on a 40-yard field goal by Norm Johnson with 1:56
remaining.
The Bengals (2-3) had no timeouts left and were backed up at their own
7-yard line after a penalty on the kickoff. Cincinnati then faced a
4th-and-12 at the 15, but O'Donnell threw a desperation deep pass down the
left sideline and Pickens outleaped Steelers cornerback Dewayne Washington for a
50-yard catch at the Pittsburgh 35 with under a minute left. Two runs by Corey Dillon produced 10
yards before the fake spike play. Dillon finished with 99 yards on 23
carries.
Convinced the Bengals were setting up for a potential game-winning
field goal, the Pittsburgh defenders froze as O'Donnell signaled for a
spike to stop the clock. But recognizing Washington was isolated against
Pickens on the left side, O'Donnell floated a pass Pickens easily caught
despite interference from the Steelers cornerback for the winning
touchdown.
"I just wanted to take a shot," said O'Donnell of the winning
touchdown. "When the ball is up in the air, Carl is a very talented
receiver. He has some hops. He's going to come down with it most of the
time."
"I just took off," said Pickens. "I feel that anytime the ball is up
in the air and I can get my feet under me, I have the advantage. The throw
was high and the defender was behind me."
The Steelers rushed for 257 yards on 39 carries, despite losing star
running back Jerome
Bettis with a twisted left knee. Quarterback Kordell Stewart, who had
just 64 yards on 22 carries in Pittsburgh's first four games, led the
Steelers with 103 yards on seven carries. He completed 13-of-22 passes for
151 yards.
"I was just trying to make things happen," said Stewart. "My
scrambling makes the linebackers have to cover everything and they can't do
that."
Bettis had 55 yards on 11 carries, including a 13-yard touchdown in
the first half, but twisted his knee in the second quarter and did not
return. Richard
Huntley replaced Bettis and rushed for 85 yards on 20 carries,
including a nine-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
"I thought our offense did a good job," said Steelers coach Bill
Cowher. "Kordell did a nice job. But we gave up too many big plays on
defense."
O'Donnell was 39-22 in six seasons with the Steelers (1990-95) and
ranks second on the team in passing yards (12,867) and TD passes (68). But
he is probably best known for throwing two costly interceptions in the
Steelers' 27-17 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX in January of 1996.
That would be his final game as a Steeler. O'Donnell signed a
five-year, $25 million free-agent deal with the New York Jets. After two
unproductive years with the Jets, O'Donnell was released and signed a
four-year, $17.25 million deal with Cincinnati in July.
Pittsburgh threw a number of blitzes at O'Donnell today and sacked him
three times, but was unable to rattle the veteran quarterback.
"The Pittsburgh defense threw a lot at me," said O'Donnell. "I don't
think they gave me the same look twice."
Johnson kicked a 40-yard field goal five seconds into the second
quarter to open the scoring.
The Steelers increased the lead to 10-0 when Bettis scored on a
13-yard run to cap a six-play, 85-yard drive. The biggest play in the
drive was an electrifying 56-yard run by Stewart to the Cincinnati 13.
A 47-yard pass from O'Donnell to Pickens to the Pittsburgh 25 set up a
44-yard field goal by Doug
Pelfrey with 4:42 left in the second quarter.
The Steelers then drove from their own 32 to the Cincinnati 23. But
Huntley fumbled after being hit by Sam Shade and safety Greg Myers recovered at
the Bengals' 13.
The Bengals then went 87 yards in eight plays. O'Donnell hit Pickens
with an 18-yard pass on a 3rd-and-7 play and Dillon ran for eight yards on
a 3rd-and-2 to keep the drive alive. Then O'Donnell reared back and
connected with Scott on a 44-yard touchdown with 52 seconds left in the
half. Scott completely turned around rookie Jason Simmons with a fake
and made an over-the-shoulder catch. But after an errant snap, the Bengals
failed on a two-point conversion.
The Steelers opened the second half with an eight-play, 81-yard
scoring drive. Stewart broke off two runs for 34 yards and Huntley capped
the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run to increase Pittsburgh's lead to
17-9.
Pelfrey kicked a 48-yard field goal with 5:39 left in the third
quarter to pull the Bengals within 17-12.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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