### **O-Line Take A Bow**
The Bengals offensive line got a game ball, but not just because the lowest-ranked running team in the league broke out with a season-high 142 yards on 23 carries. They stoned the relentless Steeler pass rush as right tackle Amarius Mims allowed future Hall-of-Famer T.J. Watt one assisted tackle and half a sack. And that hit on Flacco came with four minutes left.
"Our tackles did a great job," said tight end Drew Sample on a night the big, bad Steelers hit Flacco just three times. "Yeah, we chipped and doubled him (at times). He's their best player. You have to account for him. We did some stuff formationally that even if we weren't chipping him, we had a presence so he was thinking about it. Just to slow him down. And when (Mims) didn't have help, (he) was on his butt."
### **Money Mac**
This is why they call McPherson "Money Mac." Besides walking off the first half and his eighth career winner, McPherson hit two others to go 4-for-4 for the first time since Sept. 15, 2024 in Kansas City and third time in his five seasons. His only misses this season have been from 67 and 56. Other than those, he's 10-for-10.
McPherson dedicated his offseason to wiping away the pain of last year, that included his career-low field goal percentage, and some big late misses, such as one in overtime against Baltimore here.
Thursday night helped put that deeper in the rear-view mirror.
"It definitely makes the work I put in this offseason and preseason show me I'm doing the right things," McPherson said.
"Just going back to last year, this one is so special. The struggles I had last year mentally and the battles I had with myself in my mind and just to go out there and execute in crunch time really feels good."
### **Slants and Screens**
The White Out crowd of 66,569 was the fourth most in Paycor history …
Flacco, who wasn't even fast when he was a 23-year-old rookie in his 2008 debut scoring on a 38-yard run off a busted play against the Bengals, turned another bad play into a gain at age 40 Thursday with the clock ticking under five minutes and the Bengals trying to extend a 30-24 lead
This one went for12 yards.
"It's been a long time," Flacco said.
How long? Not long. He had a 21-yarder on Oct. 6, 2024 against the Jags for the Colts …