The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Bengals thanks to a walk-off field goal (and maybe little luck).

It was a defensive masterclass from Pittsburgh as their defense finished with seven sacks, two forced fumbles, four interceptions, and to cap it all off, a touchdown. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was outstanding as he finished with a team leading ten tackles while also beginning the game with a pick-six that put the Steelers on the board first.

Though Pittsburgh dominated defensively, it was clear their offense still had some key issues. The running game was almost non-existent as the Steelers only ran for 75 yards. 

In his first start as a Steeler, Mitch Trubisky stepped up when he needed to. He helped lead Pittsburgh down the field late in overtime to set up the game winning field goal. It was clear Trubisky wasn’t great, he did what he needed to do to get the win.

Despite all of the positive takeaways from week one, the Steelers shouldn’t have won. The Bengals had a couple chances where they should’ve won the game. The Bengals found the endzone with just two seconds left when Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for the touchdown. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson then came out to kick the extra point to win the game for Cincinnati. It was almost a guarantee that the Bengals were going to survive.

On the extra point attempt, Minkah Fitzpatrick bolted through the blockers and blocked the kick to send the game to overtime. For the second time of the game Fitzpatrick had played the hero for Pittsburgh. 

After the Steelers were forced to punt, The Bengals drove all the way upfield to set themselves up with yet another chance to win the game. McPherson once again came out to attempt another simple kick. McPherson then proceeded to miss a 29-yard field goal. 

Yes, the Steelers won but they shouldn’t have. McPherson was one of the best kickers in all of football last year, yet he couldn’t convert either of his potentially game-winning chip shots. I’m not sure what kind of witchery the Steelers used but whatever it was, I hope to see it again.

A week one victory, no doubt, will give the Steelers plenty of confidence, though it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Pittsburgh suffered a big blow when star linebacker T.J. Watt left the game with what the Steelers think is a torn pectoral. If that is the case, Watt would miss considerable time, if not the whole season.

The Steelers will travel back to Pittsburgh to host the New England Patriots in what will most likely be a much less exciting game. In their first game of the season, the Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins 20-7. The Patriots offense and defense both looked much worse than the Steelers’ so if Pittsburgh can play anywhere near how well they played today, expect another win for the Steelers.