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| Paul Brown Stadium - Home of the Cincinnati Bengals |
On the way there, we stopped off at McDonald's to get some dinner to eat in the car because we didn't want to waste time getting to our next game without a hassle.
The main reason for this getaway was to make a dream come true that our pal Mike Carroll had. He's been a Bengal fan since he was very young. He told me in the past that he always wanted to go to Cincinnati to see his Bengals play a home game. I told him I will make it happen someday. That special day was Sunday night at Paul Brown Stadium.
Upon arrival to the Queen city we parked the car on the streets of downtown. We did so around 6:45PM which gave us plenty of time to get to the game that started at 8:20PM.
We didn't have tickets for this game either. As we walked towards the Stadium, tickets were readily available. We decided to wait it out a little while. By doing so, we were able to save some money. Mike got the first ticket for $25. We told him to go ahead inside so he could enjoy the experience. This game was the main reason he came with us. I'm so glad he did. Shortly after he went in, the King and I were able to round up a few more tickets for $20 each. We were surprised how easy it was. Unlike the Colt game, lots of tickets were available. It should be noted there were a number of Steeler fans who came to see the black and gold play as well. Steeler fans have a reputation of traveling well to see their team play home or away.
As for the game we saw, the Steelers took the opening kickoff and they drove into Bengal territory. They wound up settling for a 42 yard field goal by Shaun Suisham which gave them an early 3-0 lead. Later in the first quarter, running back Cedric Peerman of the Bengals ran in from five yards out to give the Bengals a 7-3 lead that capped off a 15 play 80 yard drive that chewed up just over eight minutes.
In the second quarter, the Bengals got a break when they sacked Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethisberger and they forced him to fumble the ball. The Bengals recovered at the Steelers' 8 yard line. The very next play the Bengals extended their lead to 14-3 as quarterback Andy Dalton found wide receiver A.J. Green in the end zone for the touchdown. The Steelers came back as they added a 47 yard field goal to get within eight at 14-6 with 3:11 left in the half. The Bengals were driving to score again before the half came to a close but Andy Dalton made a costly mistake as he had a pass picked off by Steelers' linebacker LaMarr Woodley who returned it 11 yards to the Bengal 29 yard line with 1:23 left in the half. It turned out to be the turning point in the game. The Steelers capitalized on the opportunity as they got a 9 yard touchdown pass to their tight end Heath Miller to pull within two at 14-12. They decided to go for the two point conversion to try and tie up the game. They converted as Heath Miller caught another pass from Ben Roethisberger to even the score at 14 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Bengals got the ball first and they went down the field but their drive stalled. They managed to get a 48 yard field goal from kicker Mike Nugent who gave the Bengals a 17-14 lead. The Steelers answered right back as they got a 42 yard field goal from Shaun Suisham to even the score again at 17 with 8:17 left in the quarter.
The Steelers found the end zone early in the fourth quarter as running back Chris Rainey ran in from 11 yards out to give the Steelers a 24-17 lead with 14:16 left in the game. The drive covered 67 yards in eight plays that put the game away as the Bengals couldn't get any closer much to Mike Carroll's chagrin.
Despite the loss, Mike had a blast he said. With that being said, it was a thrill to show him the way to the 'Nati.
After the game, we went back to the car and we drove back to Columbus where we spent the night before we drove back home all day on Monday.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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