Oh boy. Oh my. Or dear. Stats of the weird.
– Where to begin. Lets’ start with some records. Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase finished Thursday night with 16 receptions. Not only did that set a Bengals record, his 16 grabs are the most of any player against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ever. The previous record was held by RB/FB William Andrews, who hauled in 15 in a 1981 game against the Steelers.
After more than 40 years, that record has fallen.
– Not a record but matching a career mark, Joe Flacco’s three passing touchdowns tie for the most he’s ever had against the Steelers. It matches the trio of scores he threw for in a 2011 35-7 Ravens victory.
– Putting some trust in Pro Football Reference/Stathead to correctly designate “tight end” but per the outlet, this is the first time three Steelers tight ends have caught a touchdown pass in the same game. Per the AP’s Josh Dubow, the last team to have tight ends score four times in one game were the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022. Travis Kelce had four touchdowns himself that day.
Teams with 4 TD catches from TEs in same game in last 10 seasons:
Steelers vs Bengals tonight (Freiermuth 2, Smith 1, Washington 1)
Chiefs vs #Raiders 10/10/2022 (all from Travis Kelce)
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) October 17, 2025
The record for an individual Steelers tight end with touchdowns is three, set by Eric Green in 1990. I haven’t found any previous example of Pittsburgh’s tight ends totaling four touchdowns in one game.
– Pat Freiermuth continues to own the Bengals. In nine games against them, he’s recorded 48 receptions, 600 yards, and seven touchdowns. That’s 5.3 receptions, 66.7 yards, and 0.8 touchdowns per game.
– Freiermuth is just the third Steelers tight end and first since Elbie Nickel in 1953 to have a 100-yard, 2-touchdown game. Nickel did it twice while Dick Hensley achieved the same in 1952, a 63-7 win over the New York Giants that still stands as the most lopsided victory in Pittsburgh history. Unfortunately, Freiermuth couldn’t have the same outcome.
– The Bengals came into the game rushing for less than 57 yards per game, putting them on pace for a historic low. Cincinnati exited with 142 rushing yards, its first 100-yard rushing game against Pittsburgh since the 2022 season opener. It’s their most rushing yards in a game since 2021, a 41-10 Bengals win.
– Top RB Chase Brown led the way with 11 carries for 108 yards, a whopping 9.8 YPC. He is the first back to have double-digit carries and a 9.5 YPC against the Steelers since 1988 when Ickey Woods rushed 10 times for 110 yards in a Week 10 win. Woods, of course, also played for the Bengals.
– On the other end, RB Jaylen Warren rushed 16 times for 127 yards and 7.9 YPC. It’s the highest average of any Steelers running back with at least 15 attempts since Le’Veon Bell in 2016, who averaged 8 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs. In the Mike Tomlin era, only Warren, Bell, and Rashard Mendenhall in 2010 have done so.
– Warren fell 2 yards shy of tying his single-game career mark but his 158 yards of total offense set a career best.
– Aaron Rodgers recorded his 36th career 4-TD passing game. That breaks a tie with Peyton Manning for sole possession of third place in NFL history, now only trailing Tom Brady (39) and Drew Brees (37). This was Rodgers’ second such game this season, doing the same against the New York Jets.
– Rodgers is up to 14 touchdowns passes in the Steelers’ first six games. That’s the second-most touchdown passes in Pittsburgh’s first six in franchise history, only trailing Ben Roethlisberger’s 16 to begin the 2016 season. Rodgers jumped ahead of Roethlisberger’s two 13-touchdown outings in 2007 and 2020 and Terry Bradshaw’s 13 in 1980.
Rodgers is on pace to throw for 39 touchdowns. Roethlisberger holds the Steelers’ single-season record with 34.
– In his 20th career Thursday game, this was the first two-interception outing of Rodgers’ career.
– For the third time this season, Rodgers wasn’t sacked. In the three previous years post-Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh had gone an entire game without being sacked just four times.
– Roman Wilson doubled his career output Thursday night, his two receptions matching his career mark.
– NT Keeanu Benton has 2.5 sacks this season. That’s more than he had his first two years combined when he had just a pair.
– Ke’Shawn Williams’ 37-yard kick return is Pittsburgh’s longest since RB Anthony McFarland’s 37-yard return in Week 10 of the 2023 season against the Green Bay Packers.
– The Steelers have been out-snapped in all six games this season. Cincinnati out-snapped them 72-54. Pittsburgh has lost the time-of-possession battle in five of six games with only Cleveland the exception. Bengals had the ball for 34:32 Thursday night.
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