PITTSBURGH (AP) – Antonio Brown returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown for Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton hit Giovanni Bernard for a 17-yard score as the Steelers and Bengals were tied at 7 after the first quarter of their AFC North showdown Sunday night.
Brown fielded the punt from Kevin Huber at the Pittsburgh 29 and raced to his right only to reverse back to his left, pushing teammate Shamarko Thomas into Huber’s way to clear a path to the end zone. His third career punt return for a score gave the Steelers early momentum as they tried to capture their first division title since 2010.
Cincinnati evened it later in the first. Dalton overcame a poorly overthrown interception on Cincinnati’s second possession by converting a fourth-and-3 with a 14-yard pass to Brandon Tate then following it up with a nifty flip to Bernard after escaping the pass rush. Bernard leapt over two Steelers before reaching over the goal line.
The winner will be the No. 3 seed in the AFC and will host Baltimore next weekend, while the loser will play at Indianapolis.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger skipped his usual pregame warmup, not coming on to the field until the defense was being introduced just minutes before the kickoff while dealing with flu-like symptoms. He did not miss a snap.