The , who had never completed a come-from-behind playoff victory in team history, somehow came from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to take a late one-point lead against the on a rainy, epic Saturday night in Cincinnati.Even better, they picked off 's backup to get the ball back with 1:36 to go. At that point, there was no thought could return to the game. The season looked all but over, as did the ' 25-year playoff drought. Here's how the managed to blow it, in five easy parts: 's fumble set up all of the drama to follow. All the had to
Bruce Bochy Jersey do was not fumble. A first down would have won the game. A few runs up the middle, forcing the to burn their timeouts, would have also set up a field goal attempt to give the a four-point lead with little time remaining. Compared to the immaturity to follow, Hill's fumble seems destined to be overshadowed. Yet it was the biggest play of them all. linebacker , who had a monster night with two forced fumbles and 13 tackles, got the ball out of Hill
Mel Ott Jersey 's hands. Hill was understandably devastated after the game. This ones on me... This city this organization deserves better only thing to do is continue to fight and come back stronger Jeremy Hill (@JeremyHill33) with 1:23 left and a bum shoulder. (It makes you wonder: why not try putting him in the game the drive before?) Roethlisberger said after the game that he told coach Mike Tomlin that he couldn't throw the ball deep. But the
Johnny Cueto Jersey did not send pre sure at Roethlisberger throughout the final drive, allowing him to dink and dunk his way up the field. The had fourth-and-3 on their own 41-yard line with just 28 seconds remaining. The just needed to make one defensive play to win the game. On the snap, the chose to rush only three defensive lineman. quickly beat on the play to pick up the first down before taking their third and final timeout. This continued a streak by the coaches. Given the chance, they often chose not to be aggre sive. Roethlisberger finally tested his arm with a pa s over the middle to Brown on the next play, overshooting him. But linebacker was called for a 15-yard penalty for unnece sary roughne s with 22 seconds left after taking a late shot at Brown that clearly hit him in the helmet. The ball was well past Brown before the hit, and Brown .If Burfict hadn't committed the penalty, the were in great shape to win the game. The were just past midfield with only 18 seconds left, trailing by one. Burfict played on the edge all night, and he went over it at the worst time imaginable. Even after Burfict's penalty, they were only in position for a 50-yard field goal try. They probably had time left for one more
Melvin Adon Jersey play. But ruined an otherwise incredible season with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he lost his cool on the field. On the next play, kicker connected on the game-winner.Apparently coach Joey Porter . "The (expletive) ref did a horrible (expletive) job," Jones said in an Instagram video he later deleted. "You got ( linebacker coach) Joey Porter in the
Trevor Gott Jersey middle of the (expletive) field talking (expletive) to everybody and then when somebody says something to him ... he isn't even supposed to be on the (expletive) field."And the weren't supposed to be in the Divisional Round. This should have been the ' night for a magical comeback, but they found the most painful way imaginable to blow it.
