Pittsburgh — which bad He fixed his hair, then exhaled before beginning his postgame press conference. with the loud voice of Bengal’ As celebratory locker room music echoed behind him, the Bengals quarterback shared the significance of Sunday’s 37-30 win.
After an 0-2 start, the defending AFC champions are now 6-4 after defeating the Pittsburgh team that upset them 10 weeks ago in the season opener. That game now seems like a distant memory for Burrows and the Bengals, who clinched the seventh and final AFC playoff seed after Sunday’s win.
“It was awesome. One of my favorite wins since I’ve been here,” said Barrow, who improved his career record to 3-2. steelers, “A lot of adversity. AFC North game. Bad weather. Cold, windy. We fought, found a way to win.”
Four-point favorites, the Bengals found themselves trailing after half time. levi wallace Burrow’s selection set up Pittsburgh’s go-ahead field goal late in the half. The Bengals trailed at halftime despite two first-half touchdown passes from Burrows, who at one point in the first half completed 11 straight passes.
In the second half, Cincinnati showed their firepower. without playing Jamar Chase and lost the chase Joe Mixon During the game, the Bengals led for good when Burrows hit trenton irwin Midway through the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass. After a Steelers field goal narrowed the lead to one point, the Bengals essentially ended the game with an eight-play, 93-yard drive that ended with Burrow’s third touchdown of the game. samje perrinwho had an extended role with Mixon suffering a head injury.
Bengals coach Zach Taylor said of Perine after the game, “Every role you ask him to play, he’s going to do it.” “Whether it’s a second-half thing when Joe’s out, whether it’s playing his role on third down or some other package they put him in. He’s as reliable as they come. Very dependable. We look forward to seeing him.” We don’t take it for granted because we understand how valuable he is to our team.”
The big play on the drive was Burrow’s 33-yard completion to t higgins, whose 148 receiving yards are the second highest total of his career. Burrow also completed passes of 27 and 15 yards on the drive. Tyler BoydA Pittsburgh native who didn’t catch a pass until that drive.
Taylor said of the Steelers defense, “We didn’t have the easiest look tonight.” “They did a good job of packing their stuff. … They tried to put a lot of pressure on us, especially on second down. Which, I thought, did it really well and find the guy who had the best matchup.” was.”
All told, Burrow passed for 355 yards with four touchdowns. He threw two interceptions which included tj watt’s incredible snag This put the Steelers in position to take the lead late in the third quarter. But instead of taking the lead, the Bengals defense stiffened and the Steelers were forced to settle for a field goal.
“I’ve never seen plays like this before by a defensive lineman,” Barrow said of Watt, who returned to the field last Sunday after missing seven games with the injury. “He’s made two of those this year. I’d love to say I can do something about it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Burrows had something to say to his counterpart on Sunday, kenny pickett, Burrow had replaced Puckett two years earlier as a rookie quarterback going through the growing pains of being a first-year starter. In what was his sixth career start, Puckett threw for 265 yards (his second highest total of the season) with one touchdown and one interception.
“I thought he did pretty well today,” said Burrows about Puckett, who led the Steelers on a late scoring drive that briefly brought life to Pittsburgh. “He can build off of the pace he showed today. He’s got some young guys he can build some chemistry with. I think he did a great job today. I told him after the game to keep it up.” Keep. One.”
Eli AppleThe Bengals’ legendary quarterback also praised Puckett’s direction after the game. Specifically, Apple was asked to compare the offense he and his teammates faced on Sunday to the Puckett-led Steelers offense facing the Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers offense in recent years.
“He’s short. He’s got short legs. He’s capable of extension plays,” Apple told CBS Sports. “Some big time throws under some pressure. I thought he was gutsy there.”
Apple had even more to say about its own quarterback, who on Sunday night matched Kurt Warner as the third-fastest quarterback to reach 10,000 career passing yards.
“Whenever you have someone like Joe who is really cool and calm under pressure, it definitely makes it easier for everybody,” he added. “He was just flowing out there. Nothing was stopping him. He was getting that ball out. Linemen were blocking. Receivers were making tough catches. Overall a great team effort.”
How did the Bengals find so much success against the Steelers defense – including Watt and minka fitzpatrick On the field together for the first time after 1 week – despite not having Chase or Mixon? Pittsburgh’s plan, tight end hayden hurstPlayed into the hands of the visitor.
Hurst said, “He ran a lot of two-high stuff.” “He tried to hide a lot of things. He mixed some guys in there too. That’s what we do best as a team. We took advantage of that.”
Two years ago it would have been difficult to fathom the scene after Sunday’s game. Next, the Steelers won their 10th straight game over the Bengals, who were on their way to their fifth consecutive losing season. Things are definitely different now. At 3-7, the Steelers are on the verge of their first losing season in nearly 20 years. In contrast, the Bengals are hoping to parlay Sunday’s win into their second consecutive trip to the playoffs.
“We were able to do that last year,” Higgins told CBS Sports after the game. “We know how it feels. But it’s a new year. To win this road, the second half of the season, it feels good, and hopefully we can do it again next week.”
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