CINCINNATI -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will head into Cincinnati on a short week in a critical divisional matchup as they try to improve to 5-1 and create more distance between themselves and the pack in the AFC North.
Pittsburgh played well a week ago, taking care of business against a Cleveland Browns team at home that was struggling. They improved to 4-1 with a 23-9 win they glided to after a strong performance.
Joe Flacco might be the story of the game for the Steelers. Traded by the Browns to the Bengals a week ago, Flacco threw for two touchdowns and zero interceptions in his first start against the Green Bay Packers. With two quarterbacks 40 years or older, the game has been dubbed ‘the Icy Hot Bowl.’
The Steelers have not won a road divisional Thursday Night Football game under Tomlin, going 0-6 over his tenure with the team. On top of that, they are 2-9 in road Thursday Night Football games period under Tomlin. The last time the Steelers won a Thursday Night Football game on the road under Tomlin was in 2016 when they beat the Indianapolis Colts.
On Thursday, they hope to change their fortunes.
UPDATE: 11:25 p.m.
BENGALS 33, STEELERS 31: The Steelers’ euphoria didn’t last long, as Evan McPherson kicked a 36-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Bengals a dramatic win, their third in seven games. Passes of 15 and 18 yards from Joe Flacco to Ja’Marr Chase got the Bengals across midfield, and a Flacco to Tee Higgins completion of 28 yards got the Bengals to the Steelers’ 7 with 1:47 left. The teams traded timeouts, but by the time McPherson lined up to deliver his game-winning kick, only 11 seconds remained. Pittsburgh took the kickoff, but there was too much field and too little time to change the outcome.
UPDATE: 11:14 p.m.
STEELERS 31, BENGALS 30: And just like that, Pittsburgh has its first lead since the second quarter, as Aaron Rodgers connected again with Pat Freiermuth for a 68-yard TD pass with 2:31 left in the game. Chris Boswell hammered through the extra point to put Pittsburgh back in the lead. The Steelers got the ball at their 42-yard line after the first punt of the second half and took a step backward with a 10-yard holding penalty. But from the Pittsburgh 32, Rodgers found Freiermuth for their second scoring connection of the game. Rodgers has thrown for 244 yards, including four TDs, and Freiermuth has been on the receiving end of four of those passes for 106 yards.
UPDATE: 10:57 p.m.
BENGALS 30, STEELERS 24: Cincinnati did enough to extend its lead to six points, driving 53 yards to get kicker Evan McPherson close enough to convert a 45-yard field goal with 7:03 left. The big plays in the 10-play drive were a 25-yard completion from Joe Flacco to Noah Fant and a Flacco to Ja’Marr Chase pass for 14 yards. The Steelers finally got some defensive traction after that, helped by a 10-yard penalty against the Bengals for holding.
UPDATE: 10:48 p.m.
BENGALS 27, STEELERS 24: Bang. Bang. Bang. There have been four second-half possessions, two by each team, and all four have resulted in scores. Pittsburgh covered 73 yards in seven plays, capping the drive on an Aaron Rodgers to Darnell Washington two-yard TD pass for a touchdown. Jaylen Warren was huge in the drive, with his two carries covering 39 yards, and Rodgers was 5 for 5 passing for 34 yards, including an 18-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth. There is 11:03 left in the game, and you gotta figure more points are coming the way the offenses have taken over.
UPDATE: 10:41 p.m.
BENGALS 27, STEELERS 17: The Bengals have had two possessions in the second half and scored on both of them. Countering a Steelers TD, the Bengals drove 67 yards in eight plays, including six Joe Flacco completions, to build their lead back to 10 points. Flacco passed five yards to tight end Noah Fant for the score on the first play of the fourth quarter. Flacco’s six completions covered 64 yards. The Steelers look clueless about how to stop him.
UPDATE: 10:28 p.m.
BENGALS 20, STEELERS 17: What started slow offensively is beginning to show signs of a shootout, as Pittsburgh quickly narrowed the gap to three points with an impressive (and much-needed) nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 19-yard TD pass from Aaron Rodgers to Pat Freiermuth. Chris Boswell kicked the conversion. The drive was set up by a Kenneth Gainwell 36-yard kickoff return, followed by four Jaylen Warren carries that netted 37 yards. Rodgers did the rest, throwing 13 yards to Roman Wilson and 8 yards to Darnell Washington before capping the drive with the scoring pass to Freiermuth on a third-and-18 play.
UPDATE: 10:17 p.m.
BENGALS 20, STEELERS 10: The good news is that the Steelers’ defense kept the Bengals out of the end zone after they opened the second half with a 14-play drive that covered 63 yards over a period of seven minutes and reached the Steelers’ 5. The bad news is that the Cincinnati lead is now 10 points as Evan McPherson kicked a 23-yard field goal on the 15th play of the drive. Joe Flacco was 5 of 7 passing for 44 yards, and the Bengals added 19 yards on five carries, continuing their surprising success on the ground.
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