CINCINNATI — So much for hope.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth had a career day, catching nine passes for 120 yards and Najee Harris ran for a touchdown to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4) to a key 16-10 win over the Bengals (5-6).
Playing with a new offensive coordinator and play-caller following the firing of Matt Canada, the Steelers didn’t need to produce much to beat a feeble Cincinnati offense.
Kenny Pickett completed 24-of-33 passes for 278 yards with Eddie Faulkner serving as the offensive coordinator and Mike Sullivan as the play-caller.
Chris Boswell added three field goals for the Steelers, who won for the third time in four games and held the Bengals to 25 yards on 11 carries. The Steelers had 424 yards of total offense, the best day of the year for the NFL’s 28th rated offense.
Jake Browning, in his first NFL start, completed 19-of-26 passes for 227 yards, with a touchdown and an interception in place of Joe Burrow, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Saturday with a right wrist injury.
The Bengals got nearly nothing done on the ground, gaining 25 yards on 11 carries. Joe Mixon finished with 16 yards on eight carries.
Burrow is expected to have surgery on Monday for the torn ligament in his wrist.
The Steelers had the game’s first quality scoring chance when Kenny Pickett found Pat Freiermuth over the middle for 29 yards as part of a drive that had Pittsburgh march down to Cincinnati 13, where Zach Carter punched the ball free from Jaylen Warren. The fumble was picked up by DJ Turner.
Kenny Pickett had completions of 24 and 29 yards to Freiermuth on Pittsburgh’s first two drives but had nothing to show for it.
The Steelers finally converted an explosive play into points on their third drive. Pickett lofted a perfect pass over Bengals corner DJ Turner and into the arms of Diontae Johnson down the right sideline for 39 yards down to the Cincinnati 23.
The Bengals regrouped quickly on defense to hold the Steelers to a Chris Boswell 41-yard field goal and a 3-0 Steelers lead two minutes into the second quarter.
Cincinnati answered on the next drive with a bit of good fortune. Jake Browning, who opened the game 6-for-7 for 90 yards and a 143.7 rating, threw pass over the middle that was tipped by linebacker Mykal Walker and into the hands of Ja’Marr Chase. The Bengals receiver outran the Steeler defense for a 31-yard gain.
Two plays later, Browning hit a wide-open Drew Sample, who rambled 11 yards and bowled over teammate Mitchell Wilcox to get into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. Browning and Sample played together at the University of Washington.
6 + 89 = TUDDY!#PITvsCIN | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/FwCLN3sJ7g
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 26, 2023
The Bengals appeared poised to add to their halftime 7-3 lead when Browning connected with Chase on a go-ball down the right sideline for 25 yards to the Steelers 21. But three plays later, safety Trenton Thompson, filling in for the injured Minkah Fitzpatrick, stepped in front of Chase and picked off Browning at the Steelers 15.
The Steelers took advantage of the turnover, marching 79 yards in 14 plays and consuming nearly eight minutes of the third quarter clock. The drive ended when Najee Harris ran it off the left end for a five-yard touchdown run. A holding flag on tight end Darnell Washington for grabbing Germaine Pratt was picked up and the touchdown stood, giving the Steelers a 10-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
.@ohthatsNajee22 in for 6️⃣
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/44juSuVSWF
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 26, 2023
It was Washington’s block that sealed the left side on the scoring run.
