Players win football games, and that fact was reinforced during the ' wild overtime win in Cincinnati in Week 1. The biggest star in Sunday's win, two-time All-Pro safety , started the game with a pick-six before blocking Boomer Esiason Jersey the ' point-after attempt to force overtime. Fitzpatrick also led both teams with 14 tackles while playing a huge role in the Steelers' 23-20 upset victory. , , Mitchell Trubisky and tight end also made key plays down the stretch to help the Steelers snap their three-game losing skid against the Bengals. And while the players deserve the lion's share of the credit, Mike Tomlin's work in preparing his team leading up to their game against the defending AFC champions also deserves mention.If nothing else, Sunday's game showed how well prepared Tomlin's Shawn Williams Jersey team was for the season opener compared to their opponent. The Bengals, who sat their starters for the entire preseason, clearly weren't ready for Week 1. Conversely, the Steelers, who played their starters in just about every , didn't need time to warm up to the competition. They instead achieved their goal of starting out fast, as Pittsburgh took a 17-3 lead midway through the third quarter.Schematically, Tomlin's use of his defensive line paid major dividends. The Steelers, in order to addre s their lack of depth on the D-line, brought in several new faces this offseason, including former Bengal and rookie . The result was an effective rotation that kept the pre sure on Burrow as the game went to overtime, even Kevin Minter Jersey as the Steelers' defense reached 100 snaps on the day."We rotated a lot of guys," defensive end told CBS Sports after the game. "When you're fresh as can be for an overtime game like that, when you throw a lot of guys at them, it allows you to get to the quarterback."PlayerSnapsPercentage of team defensive snapsCam Heyward5757%Larry Ogunjobi5353%Chris Wormley4141%3333%DeMarvin Leal1717%The Steelers' depth on the defensive line allowed them to provide consistent pre sure on Bengals quarterback , who committed four first half turnovers before recording his fifth during the second half. Pittsburgh's defense also held Bengals Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon to under 20 yards rushing during the second half."Going into the offseason, we knew we had to stop the run," Wormley said. "Thirty-two in the Germaine Pratt Jersey league last year was unacceptable. We got some additions additions like Larry and Myles Jack to help out with that. With a running back like , we bottled him as much as we could."Pittsburgh's rebuilt defensive line received kudos from Fitzpatrick and outside linebacker after the game."There's no one else I'd rather go to war with," said Highsmith, who recorded three of Pittsburgh's seven sacks of Burrow. "Just thankful for them. We've got a good group of guys and we're to continue to just get better.""They smashed the run for the most part," added Fitzpatrick. "They got after Joe. They put pre sure on him. Made him make hard throws. Made him run around in the backfield."Many have pointed to the fact that, had Bengals long snapper had been healthy for overtime, the Bengals would have left Sunday's game with the win. That may be true, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that Tomlin's team was able to take the Bengals' best punch during the fourth quarter and Damion Willis Jersey in overtime and was able to come out with a victory."I think we were just prepared for those moments," Highsmith said. "I think Coach Tomlin and the rest of the coaching staff did a great job of putting us in those moments in practice and getting us in shape. One thing he always preaches is physical condition proceeds all else. ... I think it just shows the resiliency of our team."
