Bengals vs. Steelers 2013, Week 15: Ben Roethlisberger leads Pittsburgh win

Riding a 21-0 first quarter, the Steelers went on to upset the Bengals, 30-20, on Sunday Night Football and throw a wrench into the postseason plans of their AFC North rivals.

The grit and determination Pittsburgh showed during the upset stems from its quarterback and captain, writes Neal Coolong of Behind the Steel Curtain.

Here’s the rest of the playoff picture after Sunday.

(X) - clinched playoff berth (Y) - clinched division

The Bengals started to fight back after halftime, but it was futile. With a dwindling crowd at Heinz Field, Dalton threw two touchdowns in the second half, but a few field goals from the Steelers kept the lead at a comfortable distance.

Instead of taking over the No. 2 seed in the AFC, Cincinnati stays right where it was to start the night. The AFC North division is still technically up for grabs, and Pittsburgh is still mathematically alive for the playoffs.

• NFL Week 15 updates, highlights and GIFs | Scoreboard

• Mike Shanahan walks out of press conference | Tom Brady, too

Nothing makes us cringe like specialists getting wrecked by big hits. Kickers and punters are incredible at their jobs, but they’re perennially out of place on a field with 4.4 40-runners, 300-pounders, and other superhumans. And when their (relatively) tiny bodies take massive hits, it reminds us why we’re glad we don’t play football.

We got a punter hit for the ages Sunday night on a 67-yard punt return touchdown by Antonio Brown, with Kevin Huber getting absolutely destroyed by Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin just ahead of the play.

It’s cold in Pittsburgh tonight, and Ben Roethlisberger is taking all precautions to make sure he stays warm during tonight’s divisional game against the Bengals.

Roethlisberger is no stranger to keeping things gray below the waist, so this shouldn’t surprise you. He wasn’t content with being the only Steeler in the pre-game warmups to keep his sweats on either; he went on to join honorary captains Franco Harris and Mel Blount for the coin toss still in his finest casual wear. They were dressed, well, a little bit nicer than Ben. I’ll let Dan Rooney’s granddaughter give you her perspective on the matter.

Sunday night fun!

Stephen White [11:39 PM]:

Game Date/Time and Location: Sunday, Dec. 15, 8:30 p.m. ET at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pa.

TV schedule and distribution map: NBC; The506.com

The Steelers are having an rough year. Pittsburgh started poorly, then rebounded, but have now come back to Earth once again. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been up and down in Todd Haley’s offense for the second straight season, and the running game has reacted similarly.

PaVaSteeler of Behind the Steel Curtain thinks the Haley-Roethlisberger dynamic is not working for Pittsburgh:

Heading into the primetime matchup, the Bengals are favored by 2.5 points over the Steelers, according to Oddsshark.com. The over/under is set at 40.5.

• NFL Week 15 updates, highlights and GIFs | Live Scores