A Look Back at Steelers-Bengals CRAZY 2015 Wild Card Game

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Jayson Erwin. Follow him on Twitter @JaysonErwin2002

The Steelers 2022 schedule was released last month, and the first game of the year will be September 11th in Cincinnati against the defending AFC champs, the Bengals. In celebration of the rivalry, let's take a look back at the most pivotal game between these two AFC North rivals.

Ah, 2015. It was an interesting year, to say the least. And the NFL world was no different. An example is the Bengals were actually one of the best teams in the league. They started 8-0 and ended 12-4. The Bengals made the playoffs every year since 2011, but there was always one silver lining --- zero playoff wins. But this year looked to be different for the city of Cincy. Going into the wild card, the Bengals had 8 pro bowlers and were the winners of the AFC North, aspiring to be more than just AFC North champs but the holders of the Lombardi trophy for the first time in franchise history. Their first hurdle would come in the shape of their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers-Bengals rivalry was already intense, but add the fact that in each of the last 2 games they played together, a star player from each side was out for the year. Star Steelers running back, Le'Veon Bell, had a knee injury in the Week 8 battle and was out for the year. In the Week 14 matchup, Bengals starting quarterback Andy Dalton suffered a broken thumb and was out for the season. Things were getting very tense between the two sides and things were looking to boil over in the wild-card game.

The game was in Cincinnati and it was a very rainy day. The Steelers dominated defensively as the offense picked up the pieces as they entered they ended the 3rd quarter up 15-0. There was a lot of animosity growing as most of the game was relatively tame until the 3rd quarter. Leading to the end of the 3rd quarter, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier would knock out Bengals running back Giovani Bernard prompting a scuffle between the two sides, and on the final play of the 3rd quarter, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict sacked QB Ben Roethlisberger and caused Big Ben to go out of the game with a shoulder injury. As Ben was carted off the field, the fans cheered the injury and even threw trash at the injured quarterback. The 3rd quarter would light the fuse for the rest of the game but eventually, all would explode in the 4th.

The Bengals would finally get a touchdown with a 1 yard run by running back Jeremy Hill, taking advantage of a 42-yard pass interference call earlier on the Steelers defense, making the score 15-7. With Ben down, the Steelers' offense wasn't able to get much done with Landry Jones, and this proved to be the difference-maker for the Bengals, as they scored a field goal later on making it a one-score game down 15-10. The Bengals got the ball back once again and the Bengals got a late go-ahead touchdown with receiver AJ Green with 1:50 left, giving them a 16-15 lead. This is when things got interesting.

The Steelers got the ball and there was still some time left to go downfield and score a field goal to take the lead. But on the first play of the drive, Landry Jones would throw an interception to Vontaze Burfict and this would seem to be the sealer for the Steelers, and the Bengals were going to finally win a playoff game. The Bengals offense took the field, and the Steelers had all 3 timeouts. All the Bengals needed was 1st down and they win the game. The first play was a run by Jeremy Hill, but WAIT, Ryan Shazier knocked the ball out and the Steelers recovered it giving the Steelers one last chance to take the game!

The Steelers took the field and Ben Roethlisberger came back, definitely not at 100%, but could still throw the football. The drive had everyone on their feet with the Steelers calling all of their timeouts throughout, meaning they had to get a score here or they're going home. It was a dramatic drive, filled with short passes and runs, even a 4th down conversion with star receiver Antonio Brown. With 22 seconds left in the game at the Bengals 47-yard line, Ben threw a pass toward Brown and it went incomplete -- but on the play, Vontaze Burfict ran shoulder first right into the head of Brown, and caused a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty, pitting the Steelers at the Bengals 32. This would put the Steelers in field goal range but still was a long kick. Then, unbelievably, the Bengals would get ANOTHER unsportsmanlike penalty for 15 yards pitting the Steelers at the Bengals 17, making the field goal much easier. With 18 seconds, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell delivers the strike and takes the lead. 18-16, and the Steelers would go on to win the game, in an impossible fashion.