The Cincinnati Bengals delivered quite the Thursday night showdown against the visiting Steelers. After losing four straight games since Joe Burrow went down in Week 2 against the Jaguars, Cinci showed they’re still in the hunt.
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Veteran Joe Flacco had stepped in as the starter for the second week running, handing Steel City their first road loss of the season. On the other sideline, Aaron Rodgers was calling the shots, and fun fact, both the QBs were over 40. That’s only the third time in NFL history that’s happened.
But clearly, the Bengals did a better job protecting their seasoned QB and opening lanes for him than their divisional rivals. TJ Watt and Cam Heyward shared a sack late in the game, but outside of that, Cincinnati’s O-line was rock-solid. Flacco threw no interceptions, while Rodgers ended up with two.
And, as expected, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson had to take a victory lap after this insane performance in his old stomping grounds. Especially following a long month of tough losses.
On an episode of Nightcap, Ocho gave credit where it’s due, to the men in the trenches … and also to head coach Zac Taylor, who stayed cool under outside pressure and guided the team to a hard-fought win over a tough opponent.
“First of all, we know what Flacco did. We know what [Ja’Marr] Chase did. We know what Tee Higgins did. But I wanna give credit to the offensive line. I wanna give credit to Zac Taylor,” Ocho said when asked what he liked about the TNF game.
“[Taylor wasn’t] worrying about all the noise outside. ‘Oh, he needs to be fired.’ ‘Oh, it’s the playcalling.’ It wasn’t none of that. That was never the problem. Winning games like these, against a divisional opponent, it starts up front. The offensive line played extremely well tonight. They kept Flacco clean for most of the game,” added the former wideout.
Ocho was especially impressed by how clever the Bengals’ playcalling was. Flacco even broke off a surprising 12-yard scramble on a read-option play, which was unexpected from a 40-year-old QB who’s not exactly a dual-threat. Perhaps that’s why it worked.
Flacco finished with 31-of-47 for 342 yards, tossing three touchdowns through the air. A deep 68-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth briefly put the Steelers up 31-30, but Evan McPherson’s fourth field goal of the game with just seven seconds left sealed a 33-31 win for Ocho’s Bengals.
The Bengals are now 3-4, and after a long weekend, they’ll host the winless Jets (the only team at 0-6) at Paycor Stadium. That one should be an easy win, and if they take the next game against the Bears, the Week 10 bye will give them some extra time to prep for the rematch against the Steelers on the road.
Cinci needs to keep the winning momentum going to avoid another season without a playoff berth.
