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The second quarter was a true punt-fest, with both teams sharing nothing but punts the entire quarter, until Andy Dalton and company put together a 15-play drive, taking up more than six minutes off the clock, and ended with another touchdown pass to A.J. Green to extend their lead 17-0 before halftime.
The Steelers’ offense continued to be horrible on third downs, and key situations, but the team’s defense was even worse in the first half. After Shazier’s injury, the Steelers defense was a shell of its former self throughout the first half.
Pittsburgh moved the ball into Cincinnati territory with only 21-seconds left in the first half, and a Dre Kirkpatrick defensive pass interference call put Pittsburgh inside the red-zone for the first time. With only 5-seconds left in the half, Mike Tomlin elected to take the Chris Boswell field goal to put points on the board, making the score 17-3 heading into halftime.