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Ben Baby, ESPN writer
CINCINNATI — Tee Higgins knew what Saturday night meant for him and the Cincinnati Bengals.
With his contract up after this season, the receiver realized that the matchup against the Denver Broncos could have been his last home game with the team that drafted him. He also knew Cincinnati needed to win to keep its playoff hopes alive.
On top of all that, Higgins was dealing with an ankle and knee injury. So earlier in the week, Higgins sent coach Zac Taylor a brief text message during a team meeting that set the tone for the rest of the week: “I’m playing.”
With the season on the line, Higgins turned in a professional performance. He had the winning touchdown that sealed a 30-24 overtime victory over the Broncos, keeping Cincinnati in playoff contention entering Week 18.
“I hope not, but that could have been my last game in the [Bengals] stripes here,” Higgins said afterward. “This game meant a lot more to me going into it. Definitely a surreal feeling.”
His line of the night: 11 receptions on 12 targets for 131 yards and three touchdowns, his most in his five NFL seasons.
It also ensured the Bengals (8-8) avoided a devastating loss.
Cincinnati had two chances to win. First, the Bengals allowed a tying score with 8 seconds left in regulation when Denver quarterback Bo Nix threw a 25-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 to Marvin Mims, who made the catch despite being trapped. between two defenders. Then, in overtime, kicker Cade York kicked a potential 33-yard game-winning field goal off the left upright, further extending the game.
After the Cincinnati defense forced a three-pointer, Higgins made sure the Bengals put the game away for good. With 1:14 left, he caught a 31-yard pass that put the Bengals within yards of the goal line. On the next play, he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Burrow that ended the game and sealed Cincinnati’s fourth consecutive victory.
When the Bengals began this streak with a win over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 9, Burrow said he was confident the team could re-sign Higgins, which seemed unlikely after two failed negotiations.
On Saturday night, Burrow was a little less emphatic about placing Higgins in the team’s long-term future. But he acknowledged how valuable Higgins is to the team’s offense.
“Everyone can see what kind of player he is,” said Burrow, who completed 39 of 49 passes for 412 yards and touchdowns for Higgins. “It takes us to a different level when he plays like that, and I’m lucky to be a part of what we’re going through here.”
Not everything was easy for Higgins. The 2020 second-round pick out of Clemson had a fourth-quarter fumble that converted a potential first down on the Broncos’ possession.
Higgins credited rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton for cheering him up when he returned to the sideline after the turnover.
“Don’t worry about it,” Burton told Higgins. “You’re going to come back and win the game for us.”
That’s exactly what happened. Taylor called Higgins “a warrior” repeatedly in his postgame press conference, which was where he released the text from earlier in the week.
The tilt of Week 17 was the type that took its toll on the players.
Offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. told reporters he dressed well despite breaking his fibula in two different places. Running back Chase Brown suffered a sprained ankle while sliding at the 1-yard line in regulation, which would have set up a potential game-winning field goal. Instead, the Bengals scored a touchdown, giving Denver a chance to tie the game and force overtime.
The severity of Brown’s injury was not clear immediately after the game.
“I’ll take it one day at a time and see how I feel from there,” Brown said when asked about his availability for the regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The same can be said for Higgins, who will have at least one more game with the Bengals, depending on whether Cincinnati can rebound from losses to the Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins and can beat Pittsburgh next week. His one-year franchise tag expires at the end of the season.
But if it’s the end for him in Cincinnati, he’ll know his last game at Paycor Stadium ended with a game-winning touchdown.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had,” Higgins said. “It couldn’t go any better.”
