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Bengals vs. Steelers second half open thread

Steelers special teams and plain physical football launch Pittsburgh to 27-7 lead at halftime. The Steelers will kick off to start the second half.

Justin K. Aller

Wow.

One has to think back to a first half that was so one-sided in favor of the Steelers. The 2010 AFC Championship game, perhaps.

That makes an interesting comparison because if anything was obvious through the first quarter of play, the Bengals were flat, listless and cold. That was not their highest and best play.

The Steelers should expect that to end in the second half, and for this game to get more competitive.

At the same time, 27 first half points were the most the Steelers have scored in quite a while, and even if 20 of those points were actually scored by the offense (even including the seven points spotted on a Bengals flubbed punt attempt), it was still a dominant offensive outing.

Cincinnati is a better team than 27-7 at the half though. Pittsburgh will need to remain diligent on defense and find a way to stop running back Giovani Bernard on the edge.