The Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff hopes are alive and well despite a rough start to the season. After beating the Chicago Bears in their Monday Night Football clash, the Steelers are now 5-3 and hold the second spot in AFC North. But it didn’t come easy.
The Steelers cruised through the first three-quarters of the game with three touchdowns. Rookie sensation Najee Harris scored on a 10-yard run to wrap up Pittsburgh’s first possession before quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and tight end Pat Freiermuth connected for two more TDs. The Bears, meanwhile, had just two field goals to show for up to that point.
The fourth quarter, however, saw a completely different Chicago on the field. The Bears opened the period with Darnell Mooney’s 15-yard touchdown run before being brought back into the game by the Steelers themselves. Pittsburgh’s Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled the ball during a punt return, and Chicago’s DeAndre Houston-Carson managed to pick it up and return it for a TD.
The Steelers then kicked a field goal to give themselves a 26-20 lead, but the Bears didn’t want to give up. With less than three minutes left on the clock, Chicago’s rookie quarterback Justin Field orchestrated a 75-yard drive that he capped with a TD pass to Darnell Mooney.
Finding themselves behind for the first time in the game, Pittsburgh kept its cool. Roethlisberger took his team down the field and managed to set up a successful 40-yarder for kicker Chris Boswell while leaving the Bears just 26 seconds to work with.
Chicago managed to put together a nice comeback drive but ran out of time to get further down the field. Stuck at Pittsburgh’s 47 yards, the Bears opted to give their kicker Cairo Santos a chance to win the game. Unfortunately for them, Santos’ kick from 65 yards didn’t have enough power and fell short of the goal.
While the Steelers put themselves in a good position with this win, the Bears’ season seems over at this point. They have a 3-6 record and are only ahead of the winless Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
