Steelers Cleverly Played the Clock on Onside Kick Against Bengals to Seal Win

The Steelers were using their heads when they recovered a late onside kick against the Bengals.

The Steelers outlasted the Bengals on Sunday, grinding out a tough Week 12 win over their AFC North rivals to move to 7–4 on the season.

After a late field goal by Cincinnati pushed the score to 16–10, the Bengals opted to attempt an onside kick to keep the game alive, as there was just 2:04 left on the clock and they were out of timeouts.

Before the kick, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin took a timeout of his own and might have pulled a clever bit of clock management in the process.

As the Bengals attempted the onside kick, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens gathered the ball in. But rather than immediately fall to the ground as most players would on such a recovery, Pickens stayed upright, with some of his teammates helping him push forward a bit.

Steelers get the onside kick pic.twitter.com/ehY7oSnla5

— Matthew (@HildenbrandMa) November 26, 2023

While it was a small play in the course of the game, it went a long way in ensuring the Steelers held on for the win. Because Pickens was sure to stay upright until the play clock hit 2:00 flat, he was able to prevent the Bengals from getting a free stoppage at the two-minute warning.

Had Pickens gone down at 2:01, the Steelers still would have needed a first down to end the game, as one of their three subsequent kneel-downs would have been stopped by the two-minute warning.

Instead, the two-minute break took place before the Steelers’ offense took the field, and quarterback Kenny Pickett was able to kneel the game away.

Fans following the action praised Pittsburgh for the heads-up play.

Great job by George Pickens on the onside kick, and awareness by Patrick Peterson. #Steelers kept Pickens up and Peterson was pointing to the scoreboard because the stadium didn't start the clock.

On-field officials had it right though.

— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) November 26, 2023

The fact that Pickens stayed on his feet after catching that onside kick is huge for the Steelers.

Heads-up play, because it takes the game directly to the 2-minute warning.

No free timeouts for the Bengals.

— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 26, 2023

Look at the Steelers on that onside kick:

- Tomlin calls timeout to talk it over
- Steelers keep their player upright
- They run clock down to 2:00 to end the game

Ravens could NEVER do ANYTHING that intelligent

— Michael Remeikis (@reMIKEis) November 26, 2023

Great play to run the clock down to the 2 minute warning on an onside kick recovery #HereWeGo #Steelers

— Dominik R (@domination12) November 26, 2023

Again, it was a small play and without confirmation from someone within the locker room, it’s impossible to be sure if the move was a direct play against the clock or just a happy coincidence. Regardless, it worked out for the Steelers and helped them to their third win in four games.