Dec 14, 2015 3 min read

Another game and another strong game in the red zone for an otherwise shaky Steelers defense.

Pittsburgh came out of its 33-20 victory Sunday at Cincinnati again having allowed nearly 400 yards, giving up 385 to the Bengals.

The yardage, however, didn’t add up to a bunch of points allowed. The Steelers came up with another big red zone turnover as defensive end Stephon Tuitt intercepted an Andy Dalton pass inside the Pittsburgh 5-yard line early in the game.

It was the fifth interception the Steelers have made this season inside their own 5 – plays that can be huge momentum shifts in a game.

“I don’t subscribe to the numbers and some of the things that are talked about,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “The bottom line is, we’ve got to score one more point than our opponent each and every Sunday or whenever we play. That’s our mentality.”

The win improved the Steelers to 8-5 and kept them in the thick of the AFC playoff race while handing the Bengals a loss on a couple of fronts. Cincinnati (10-3) missed an opportunity to clinch the AFC North title and also lost quarterback Andy Dalton to a fractured thumb on his throwing hand while tackling Tuitt after the interception.

“I did two things at one time,” said Tuitt of his first career interception.

Actually, three.

The takeaway, one of three by the Steelers, not only gave Pittsburgh the ball and knocked Cincinnati’s starting quarterback out of the games, it also was a huge momentum swing.

Going into last weekend, NFL teams were scoring touchdowns after they reached the red zone – inside the opponent’s 20-yard line – at a 56 percent rate. Cincinnati was scoring a touchdown an average of two out of every three times in the red zone.

The Steelers, despite ranking 23rd in the NFL in total defense, have the second-best red zone defense in part because of the turnovers it has forced.

The defense credits its work in a drill Tomlin calls “Seven Shots” for its solid play in those situations.

Pittsburgh added the session in practice late last season when its offense was struggling to score touchdowns inside the opponent’s 10. Tomlin places the ball at the 2-yard line and the offense gets seven opportunities to score while the defense attempts to come up with stops.

“I think we work so much in the red zone in practice, it prepares us, especially working against our good offense,” said defensive end Cam Heyward. “We just relish those moments. We don’t look at it as just a giveaway where we’re ready to concede. We think we can get stops.”

That confidence continued to build despite the yardage totals the defense allowed.

Pittsburgh has permitted only four rushing touchdowns all season – second fewest in the league – and is 11th in scoring defense despite being in the bottom third of the league in total defense.

“We expect to stop the team when we get down there,” said Tuitt. “That’s just our mentality. We practice it every week. We have an explosive offense. To be able to go up against them just builds our confidence.”

The NFL is reportedly unhappy with the number of scuffles – including one during pregame warmups – between the Steelers and Bengals and multiple fines are expected. … Antonio Brown has 1,397 receiving yards, one behind Yancey Thigpen for the third most in a season in team history. … Tomlin has 90 career wins and is the ninth coach in NFL history to win 90 games in his first nine seasons.