2001 Week 16 · Sun, Dec 30, 2001 · Paul Brown Stadium
Pittsburgh Steelers
23
at
Cincinnati BengalsWinner
26
PIT -8 upsetO 33.5 ✓20°F
Cincinnati Bengals 26–23 — decided on the final possessions.
Pre-2018 game — box score & context only; play-by-play visuals start in 2018
Who moved the needle
Top performers
Receiving · CIN
10/20 for 109 yds, 0 TD
30% of team targets · 2.4 expected points added
Full stat lines
Box score
Pittsburgh Steelers
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kordell Stewart | 19/35 | 251 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1.4 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala | 25 | 55 | 2.2 | 0 | -7.3 |
| Hines Ward | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 0.7 |
| Jon Witman | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | -0.1 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaxico Burress | 6 | 10 | 102 | 2 | 30% | 5.0 |
| Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala | 5 | 5 | 50 | 1 | 15% | 3.2 |
| Hines Ward | 3 | 7 | 42 | 0 | 21% | -0.9 |
| Troy Edwards | 2 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 9% | 0.8 |
| Bobby Shaw | 2 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 9% | 1.7 |
| Jon Witman | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 3% | 0.9 |
| Jerame Tuman | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12% | -2.6 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dewayne Washington | 13 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Earl Holmes | 8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad Scott | 9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lee Flowers | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Brent Alexander | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Jason Gildon | 5 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kendrell Bell | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike A. Jones | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Porter | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Cincinnati Bengals
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Kitna | 35/68 | 411 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.5 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Dillon | 21 | 91 | 4.3 | 0 | -9.4 |
| Brandon Bennett | 6 | 44 | 7.3 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Jon Kitna | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 0.4 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darnay Scott | 7 | 12 | 113 | 0 | 18% | 2.9 |
| Peter Warrick | 10 | 20 | 109 | 0 | 30% | 2.4 |
| T.J. Houshmandzadeh | 9 | 15 | 98 | 0 | 23% | 4.9 |
| Danny Farmer | 2 | 4 | 33 | 1 | 6% | 2.2 |
| Chad Johnson | 2 | 7 | 25 | 0 | 11% | -3.5 |
| Lorenzo Neal | 2 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 5% | -0.3 |
| Brandon Bennett | 2 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 5% | -0.4 |
| Ron Dugans | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2% | 3.4 |
| Kirk McMullen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2% | -0.9 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canute Curtis | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Artrell Hawkins | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kevin Kaesviharn | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 |
| Vaughn Booker | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oliver Gibson | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Takeo Spikes | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Williams | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cory Hall | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Simmons | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Williams | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
Closing number vs result
Betting context
- Closing spread
- PIT -8
- Closing total
- 33.5
- PIT moneyline
- —
- CIN moneyline
- —
Steelers closed -8 and lost outright — an upset against the closing number.
Total closed 33.5; the game landed 49 — over by 15.5.
Conditions and crew
Game environment
- Venue
- Paul Brown Stadium
- Roof / surface
- outdoors · grass
- Kickoff weather
- 20°F, wind 10 mph
- Referee
- Jeff Triplette
- Rest
- PIT 7 days · CIN 7 days
- Coaches
- Bill Cowher vs Dick LeBeau
Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.