For much of the first half of Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati’s offense was unstoppable.
But then there was a hiccup, as quarterback Joe Burrow threw his 12th interception of the season to give the Steelers an extra possession and perhaps a little hope before halftime.
But Ben Roethlisberger put an end to that thought, tossing a pick six to his former teammate, cornerback Mike Hilton.
That gave the Bengals a 31-3 lead, a score that held thorough the last 30 seconds and into halftime.
The Bengals have dominated, running their scoring streak to nine consecutive possessions until Burrow’s interception. That was one of two incompletions the young quarterback had in the first half, as he’s 14-of-16 passing for 154 yards with a touchdown and a pick. He also opened the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run.
Running back Joe Mixon already has 100 yards rushing, as the Bengals have muscled their way past Pittsburgh’s defense. He ripped off a 25-yard run on the second play from scrimmage and has 117 yards and a touchdown. He’s scored a TD in eight consecutive games.
Via Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Mixon is the first running back in over 20 seasons to rush for 100 yards against the Steelers in the first half of a game. The last to do it was Eddie George back in 1998 with 101.
Cincinnati has 18 first downs, is 4-of-5 on third down, and has 261 yards.
Roethlisberger is 7-of-15 for 83 yards with a pair of interceptions. His first pick was to Eli Apple and led to an Evan McPherson 31-yard field goal.
Najee Harris has just 16 yards on five carries. With Pittsburgh down by so much, he’s unlikely to get many more in the second half.
The Steelers get the ball to start the third quarter and they have a lot of work to do to make this game interesting.
Bengals mauling Steelers, lead 31-3 at halftime originally appeared on Pro Football Talk