CHICAGO —In a battle of teams unexpectedly in first place in the AFC and NFC North divisions, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears played a dramatic back-and-forth affair on Sunday, with neither team wanting to let their hard-won early season gains backslide.
Four turnovers and big plays on special teams created a game with wild swings of momentum, but it was the Bears that got the last big break in a 31-28 victory at Soldier Field.
The Steelers got a stop on the final Chicago offensive drive of the game, with Caleb Williams throwing incomplete, setting up a punt and a chance for Mason Rudolph to lead the Steelers into Chris Boswell range for a game-tying field.
But James Pierre was injured on the third down play, costing the Steelers a crucial third down. The ensuing offensive drive ran out of steam at midfield, with Rudolph throwing a hurried fourth-down pass incomplete and securing the Chicago victory.
The Steelers' loss, combined with a Baltimore Ravens win over the New York Jets , dropped them into a first-place tie in the AFC North at 6-5.
The first big swing of the game went to the Bears, when cornerback Nashon Wright intercepted Rudolph on his first pass attempt of the game. The Bears took advantage of the short field and scored on a touchdown pass for Williams to D.J. Moore to take an early lead.
The Steelers answered right back, first with a long offensive drive that resulted in a DK Metcalf rushing touchdown, and then by a defensive score just a minute later, when T.J. Watt stripped Williams in the Chicago end zone and Nick Herbig recovered.
The Steelers then followed that with a defensive stop and a long offensive drive, and looked set to go up two scores. But then the pendulum swung quickly back the other way.
The Bears stopped Pittsburgh on a tush push on 4th and 1 at the Chicago 31. Then the Bears offense battled back with a long offensive drive of their own with Williams finding Colston Loveland for a 12-yard score to tie the game.
Pittsburgh roared back with a big trick play, with Kenneth Gainwell taking a fake tush push handoff from Connor Heyward 55 yards to set up a 1-yard Jaylen Warren score.
The Bears answered with a field goal, but then scored two more times in a row, with Williams finding Moore for 25 yards and Kyle Monangai running up the middle for a two-yard score. A big special teams penalty on Ben Skowronek gifted Chicago 30 yards of field position to set up the first score, while a Rudolph fumble set up the second.
The Steelers fought back with a Rudolph to Pat Freiermuth touchdown, but the comeback bid fell short in the end.
The Steelers will return home to take on the Buffalo Bills next Sunday at 4:25 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Bears Get Last Laugh in Back-and-Forth Battle, Beat Steelers 31-28
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