Bengals keep playoff hopes alive, Steelers lose fourth straight

PITTSBURGH — The Cincinnati Bengals did their part to stay in the playoff conversation. In a must-win game, Cincinnati held off a late rally to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-17 on a frigid Saturday night.

Despite being in control for most of the game, missed opportunities forced the Bengals to protect and preserve a narrow lead in the fourth quarter. But Cincinnati did enough to win its fifth straight game and close out the regular season.

If the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins lose on Sunday, Cincinnati (9-8) will have the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC.

The Steelers (10-7) are already in the playoffs. But their form heading into the postseason leaves a lot to be desired. Pittsburgh finished the regular season with four straight losses and will be the fifth or sixth seed in the AFC, depending on whether the Los Angeles Chargers win on Sunday.

It won’t be a fun 18 hours for the Bengals. They will have other results to worry about on Sunday as they reflect on missed opportunities to win early in the season. But it’s a situation that didn’t seem possible five weeks ago.

What we learned about the quarterback: With the season on the line, Joe Burrow made sure he was on the field when his team needed him most. After taking a tough sack in the third quarter, Burrow was briefly evaluated in the medical tent. But after an examination, he left the store, put a black glove on his throwing hand, and grabbed a tablet. On the next drive, he made key throws to receiver Ja’Marr Chase and tight end Tanner Hudson on a drive that increased Cincinnati’s lead to 19-7 with 11:02 left.

Biggest hole in the game plan: The Bengals had a chance to beat the Steelers early, but despite trips deep into Pittsburgh territory, Cincinnati didn’t take advantage. The Bengals scored in one of their first three appearances in the red zone. On the two drives that stalled and resulted in field goals, Cincinnati got to the Pittsburgh 10-yard line. That allowed the Steelers to hold on despite a lackluster offensive performance.

Most surprising performance: The last time the Bengals played the Steelers, Cincinnati’s defense was embarrassed. But a lot can change in five weeks. After allowing 520 yards in the first meeting, Cincinnati’s defense improved significantly on Saturday, allowing 193 total yards. During the first three quarters, Cincinnati gave up 91 yards, only 33 of which came through the air. It marked the Bengals’ defensive turnaround that allowed their late-season winning streak to keep Cincinnati’s playoff hopes alive. — ben baby

With the Steelers trailing by two points with two minutes left, more than 65,000 people dressed in black and gold at Acrisure Stadium sang “Don’t Stop Believin” in a fervent, stadium-wide prayer.

After three and a half boring quarters, the Steelers had finally shown signs of life against the motivated Bengals, who were fighting to avoid elimination in the playoffs. But that last gasp proved to be a death rattle as the Steelers lost the final game of the regular season, and Russell Wilson’s fourth-down pass attempt slipped past tight end Pat Freiermuth’s fingertips.

With the loss, the Steelers became the third team in NFL history to enter the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. The last team was the 1999 Detroit Lions. Despite their inconsistent offensive play, the Steelers produced a quick late touchdown to pull within five points. A defensive stand, followed by a botched punt recovery in the one-on-one by defensive tackle Connor Heyward, gave the Steelers a short field with a chance to take the lead.

But the offense couldn’t maintain the momentum of its previous drive, gaining just two yards in six plays before settling for a long-distance field goal by Chris Boswell.

Now, the Steelers have to wait until the outcome of Sunday’s games to find out their playoff fate.

Two words: Junior varsity team. Coach Mike Tomlin often describes his team’s poor performances as “junior varsity,” and Saturday night’s loss was the epitome of that. While the defense limited the Bengals to one touchdown in four trips to the red zone, they couldn’t get off the field. The Bengals nearly doubled the Steelers’ time of possession (37:49 to 22:00). When the offense got the ball, it struggled to keep going for the fourth consecutive week until the end.

Fundamental game: For an offense that wants to define itself by its physicality and by intimidating its opponents in the trenches, the Steelers’ inability to gain a yard on consecutive plays with less than a minute left in the first half was disastrous. Not only did Wilson come up short on a third-and-1 attempt, but running back Jaylen Warren fumbled on fourth down. The fumble gave the Bengals the ball on a short field, and Cade York kicked a field goal for a 13-7 halftime lead.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Despite a week of extra defensive runs and talks about fixing broken coverages that led to big games from the Kansas City and Baltimore tight ends, the Steelers still struggled to cover the Bengals’ tight ends, as they accounted for 102 of Burrow’s 277 passing yards. Burrow completed 8 of 10 targets to Mike Gesicki for 68 yards, all four targets to Drew Sample for 14, plus one each to Tanner Hudson and Cam Grandy.

Silver lining: At 35 years old and after a groin injury that significantly affected his 2023 season, Heyward finished his 14th regular season in the NFL with another solid performance. On Saturday, he had a season-high three pass slants, giving him 11 passes defended this season. That mark leads all defensive tackles and he also recorded eight sacks this season. –Brooke Pryor