Plays of the Year: Bud Dupree seals win for Steelers with strip-sack and recovery

Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the tops runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between from the Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season.

5-5 and coming off of an ugly Thursday Night Football loss to the Cleveland Browns, it appeared as if the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to be the lone team to give up a win to their AFC North rivals, the 0-10 Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s was that kind of a season in 2019 for the Steelers. Thankfully, there were a few key players – especially Bud Dupree – that came up big and were able to rally Pittsburgh to a 16-10 win.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Steelers only ahead by two Chris Boswell field goals, Ryan Finley had the Bengals offense ready to make a move for the lead and potentially the win. Pinned fairly well inside their end of the field, Finley lined up in the shotgun formation on second-and-two with just 2:50 left on the game clock.

Dupree, however, wasn’t going to allow Finley the opportunity to get the Bengals any closer after the defense (and Pittsburgh offense) struggled off-and-on throughout the game. Beating his man off of the edge, Dupree flew into the Bengals’ offensive backfield where Finley had his back turned to him. Feeling the pressure, Finley tried to step up in the pocket but Dupree was able to smack the ball out of the quarterback’s hand.

After several players hit the turf to grab the loose ball, it was Dupree who exited the pile with the ball in his hands.

With the takeaway, the Steelers were able to pull off a close come-from-behind win in the second half and finish the game out on a positive note thanks to Dupree’s heads-up play.

Pittsburgh moved to 6-5 on the season and become relevant once again in the AFC playoff hunt.