second touchdown on a jet-sweep enabled by a pancake block on Pratt by Warren.
With a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, the Steelers defense had the luxury of playing against a Bengals offense needing to take some chances to get back into the game. A T.J. Watt sack on third down created a three-and-out; the second takeaway came when Highsmith pressured Browning on a throw for Tyler Boyd that was intercepted by Rowe and returned to the Cincinnati 14-yard line. One play after Rudolph used his legs to get 7 yards to convert a third-and-6, Harris blasted over from the 3-yard line.
It was 21-0 midway through the second quarter; Rudolph had a perfect passer rating of 158.3; and they were plus-2 in turnover ratio. The rock was rolling down the hill, and the Steelers were riding it instead of being run over by it.
When Cincinnati’s offense started stringing chunk plays on the possession following Harris’ touchdown, the Steelers defense dropped anchor at its 14-yard line. An incomplete fourth-down pass to Tee Higgins in the end zone protected the shutout and turned the ball over to Rudolph and the offense at the 5-yard line with 2:14 left in the first half. Since the Bengals were down to one timeout, it seemed to be time to ram Harris at the Bengals defense a few times and head to the locker room for halftime.
