PITTSBURGH –– When Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow got the ball on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 7-yard line with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Bengals’ season was at a turning point.
Either Burrow would find a way to escape a relentless Steelers’ pass rush and put the Bengals up by two scores, or the Bengals would give the last-place Steelers a chance to beat the Bengals with a walk-off score for the second time this season.
Burrow was struggling to get passes over the Steelers’ defensive line. It was the coldest NFL game he had played in. The Bengals were missing two Pro Bowlers in wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (hip) and running back Joe Mixon (concussion).
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Burrow then calmly delivered the game-clinching touchdown drive that was classic Burrow and will keep this Bengals season on track. Following an eight-play, 93-yard touchdown drive, the Bengals took a two-score lead on their way to a 37-30 win at Acrisure Stadium over their biggest rival.
“That was awesome,” Burrow said. “One of my favorite wins since I’ve been here. A lot of adversity. An AFC North game. Cold, windy, a tough group. And we found a way to win.”
Joe Burrow comes through in the fourth quarter vs. Steelers
When Burrow got the ball in the middle of the fourth quarter, it was the most pressure he had faced all season. The Bengals were up 27-23, but the Steelers presented Burrow all sorts of adversity.
Without two stars in Chase and Mixon, Burrow had to get the best out of what the Bengals still had against a Steelers defense that knew the Bengals wanted to throw the ball. Burrow had to work around one of the toughest defensive lines in the NFL. He was playing on a brutally cold, windy day on a torn-up grass field where it was tough to find his footing.
Burrow delivered under pressure. Again.
“We got Joe Burrow on our team,” Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd said. “As long as Joe coordinates the offense and puts us in great situations, that’s the outcome you’re going to get every game.”
Without that drive, the Bengals would have fallen back to .500 on the season. They wouldn’t have been able to rationalize their season by saying “this is where we were last year.” They would have become 0-4 in the division, and their division title chances would have become extremely slim.
Burrow knew all of that as he took the field in the shadows of his goal post. Then, he delivered the type of drive that only a handful of NFL quarterbacks can make.
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“It’s still shocking how smart he is and how he makes checks and audibles,” Higgins said. “Hats off to him for being the quarterback he is… Even the looks he wasn’t expecting, he was prepared. He audibled as much as he needed to, and it was the right audible.”
First, it was a perfect deep throw to Tyler Boyd, who didn’t have a catch before that play. Burrow dropped a dime to Boyd, who made a leaping 27-yard catch over his shoulder. With the Steelers paying a ton of attention to Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who topped 100 yards, Burrow had to be more creative than he was in the first half, when the offense stayed afloat with quick passes, throws to the running backs and screens.
Boyd’s leaping play got the Bengals away from their own goal line with one of his most impressive plays of the year. He started the play in the slot, ran a fade down the left sideline and boxed out Steelers cornerback Arthur Maulet, catching the ball over his head.
Boyd didn’t let his quiet night so far impact the way he approached this drive, and Boyd’s leaping grab was his first of three on the touchdown drive.
“I know it was a frustrating night for him,” Higgins said. “For him to keep his head in the game, it’s amazing. It shows the leader that he is.”
“Sometimes the game don’t go my way,” Boyd said. “Like I always say, I let the game come to me. It might not have been my game. But I’ll always be ready when they find me.”
Trenton Irwin makes most of his opportunity vs. Steelers
On the following play, Burrow trusted practice squad receiver Trenton Irwin to win his one-on-one matchup on the right sideline. Burrow threw it to him on a short out route. If Irwin didn’t create enough separation, Burrow’s throw could have been picked off. But Irwin is one of the most technically sound route-runners on the team, and he made a toe tapping catch. Then, Irwin spun around the cornerback, raced down the field and picked up 32 yards.
“(Burrow) was really decisive,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “We didn’t see the easiest looks tonight. They had their defense back. They did a great job trying to put a lot of pressure on us, especially on second downs. Joe handled that really well. He found the guy that had the best matchup.”
Irwin entered Sunday’s game with six career catches in four years with the Bengals. Against the Steelers, Irwin had four receptions for 42 yards, including a touchdown.
“He hasn’t had a ton of opportunities,” Burrow said. “But when his opportunities come, he makes a play. I couldn’t be happier for him. He continues to show up when his opportunity presents itself. Those are the kind of guys that Bengals football and the Bengals organization is all about.”
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Following another first down throw to Boyd, the Bengals made it inside the red zone, Bengals third-string running back Trayveon Williams, filling in for Mixon, picked up 8 yards on a run. Then backup running back Samaje Perine rushed for five.
Then on second down from the Steelers’ 6-yard line, Burrow read the defense and threw a quick check down to Perine, who broke two tackles to reach the end-zone for his third touchdown of the day. Perine’s touchdown put the Bengals up 34-23 with 5:03 left in the game.
“(The drive) was easy to call,” Taylor said. “I just felt like it was going our way. There were a range of play calls we were able to do… They really changed up their fronts, coverages and personnel. Our guys did an awesome job managing it.”
It was an inconsistent game for the Bengals, and they could have folded and seen their season start a potential spiral. Instead, for the second consecutive season, Burrow bailed the Bengals out in their first game after the bye week with a season-changing touchdown drive.
The Steelers led 20-17 at halftime following the worst first half of the season from the Bengals defense. After halftime, the Bengals defense had four straight three-and-outs. The Bengals only allowed two first downs in the second half before they put the game away. The defense stopped blitzing, defensive end Trey Hendrickson took over the game and disguises in the Bengals secondary forced Pickett to make poor decisions.
The Bengals survived a poor stretch from the offense, a portion of the game where the Bengals offensive line couldn't block and a part of the game where it felt like the Steelers were batting down all of Burrow’s passes.
But then in the third quarter, Burrow made a 33-yard throw to Higgins and a touchdown throw to Irwin to take the lead. Then Burrow, the Bengals’ franchise player, gave the Steelers the knockout punch with the 93-yard drive to put the game away.
Burrow responded to the pressure of a season-changing road game versus a division rival. The Bengals improved to 6-4, remaining one game back of the first-placed Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
“We’re playing as good as anybody,” Burrow said. “We’re hitting our stride offensively. We still left some points out there, and there’s always room to improve. But the last couple of weeks, apart from the Monday night game, we’ve been pretty lights out.”
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