Wilson completed 29 of 38 passes, throwing three touchdown passes and posting a passer rating of 126.4. Wilson averaged 10.9 yards per pass attempt.
“I thought we had a tremendous day,” said Wilson. “It all starts with the offensive line. I thought they did a tremendous job. The multiple things they do up front and different looks they give, I thought the o-line handled it in a great way. I got to a lot of checks, a lot of audibles in the run game and the pass game, getting to stuff that was favorable for us. I just think guys did a great job making plays.”
While no Steelers player topped 100 receiving yards in the game, 10 different players caught passes.
The Steelers made life miserable for Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow, sacking him four times, including two by T.J. Watt, intercepting him once and forcing him to fumble twice, both of which were recovered by the Steelers.
The win improves the Steelers’ record to 9-3, tying them with Dallas for the most consecutive non-losing seasons in NFL history with 21. It also keeps them in sole possession of first place in the AFC North.
“It’s good to go on the road and get an AFC North victory,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “It wasn’t easy, particularly when you spot a group like that seven (points). It had big-time urgency for a lot of reasons. To come in here, in their place, against the quality of team that they have, smile in the face of (adversity), I can’t say enough about the efforts of the guys.”
The game see-sawed back and forth throughout the first half after the Steelers forced the Bengals off the field on a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession.
Cincinnati (4-8) scored a defensive touchdown when cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt intercepted Wilson at midfield and returned the ball 51 yards for a score.
Taylor-Britt appeared to throw Wilson’s intended target, George Pickens, to the ground by his helmet as Wilson released the ball, knocking him to the ground before easily picking off the ball.
Needing an answer, the Steelers went to Pickens in the red zone on their ensuing possession as he scored on a 17-yard screen pass after Najee had three big catches to get them into scoring range and tie the score at 7-7.
“We wanted to come out and attack because we knew what they would give us,” Tomlin said of the Cincinnati offense. “These divisional matchups, it’s not checkers, it’s chess.”
The Bengals used their running game to score on their next possession, as Chase Brown broke free for a 40-yard run to the 1, where he was tackled by Joey Porter Jr. But he scored on the next play to put the Bengals back on top, 14-7.
The Steelers tied it at 14-14 on their next possession, as Wilson connected with Calvin Austin III for a 23-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.
The Bengals again answered, this time with Burrow throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase after escaping Watt in the pocket and with Keeanu Benton wrapped around his waist as he released the ball.
Down 21-14, the Steelers again needed an answer and got it quickly in five plays as they used two defensive penalties by the Bengals to help set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Harris to tie the game at 21.
Watt sacked Burrow on Cincinnati’s next possession with the Bengals already in Pittsburgh territory, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Preston Smith. It was Watt’s league-leading fifth forced fumble of the season.
The Steelers gained 29 yards on a screen to Jaylen Warren on their first play from scrimmage, but stalled at the Cincinnati 32, settling for a 50-yard Chris Boswell field goal and a 24-21 lead with 3:31 remaining in the half.
The Steelers forced the Bengals to punt after another three-and-out and Wilson got them to the 16, where Boswell added a 34-yard field goal and a 27-21 halftime lead.
The Steelers took the opening possession of the second half and looked to be in position to score again, but Boswell’s 42-yard field goal attempt was deflected by Joseph Ossai, who came up the middle, ending the threat.
The Bengals drove to the Pittsburgh 11, but Watt sacked Burrow on third down, forcing a 38-yard Evan McPherson field goal that cut the Steelers’ lead to 27-24 with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Watt’s sack moved him past Jared Allen into third place for the player with the most sacks in the first eight seasons of his career with 106. Only Reggie White and DeMarcus Ware have more in their first eight seasons.
The Steelers, however, answered quickly again, with Wilson directing an 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth that put them ahead 34-24 just before the end of the third quarter.
Burrow again had the Bengals on the move when disaster struck. Heyward tipped his pass, which then tipped off the hands of wide receiver Tee Higgins and into the waiting arms of cornerback Donte Jackson, who returned the ball 11 yards to the Pittsburgh 47. It was Jackson’s team-high and career-best fifth interception of the season.
The Steelers failed to turn the turnover into points and were forced to punt for the first time in the game, giving the ball back to Cincinnati with just under 13 minutes remaining at their own 11.
On third down, Nick Herbig got to Burrow from behind as he was winding up to throw, forcing a fumble that was scooped by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and returned 21 yards for his first career touchdown and a 41-24 Pittsburgh lead.
Burrow threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Higgins with 8:34 remaining in the game to cut the lead to 41-31.
But on third-and-9 at the Pittsburgh 42, Wilson hit Van Jefferson on a slant for a 41-yard gain to the Cincinnati 15. That set up another Boswell field goal while also forcing the Bengals to use all of their timeouts, as the Steelers took a 44-31 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game.
The Bengals added a Burrow touchdown pass to Andre Iosivas with 2:39 remaining in the game to cut the score to 44-38, but Connor Heyward recovered an onside kick and the Steelers ran out the clock.
Harris finished with over 100 yards of total offense, catching six passes for 68 yards and rushing 15 times for 72 yards.
“We needed all 44 of those points, didn’t we?” Tomlin said. “When you’re playing against Joe Burrow, chances are that you’re going to have to score some points.
