Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase hooked up for a pair of touchdowns and the visiting Cincinnati Bengals knocked off the beat-up Pittsburgh Steelers 24-10 at Heinz Field on Sunday.
Burrow threw for 172 yards with just four incompletions and three touchdowns as Cincinnati (2-1) won at Pittsburgh for the first time since 2015. The Bengals, thanks to a win late last season, have now won consecutive games against their division rival for the first time since 2012-13. It was the Bengals’ first win by more than 10 points over Pittsburgh (1-2) since 1995.
Joe Mixon added 90 yards rushing on 18 carries for Cincinnati, and Chase finished with four catches for 65 yards. The rookie first-round draft pick has four touchdown catches in his first three NFL games.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger played despite a pectoral injury, but was knocked around for the second week in a row. Roethlisberger finished 38 of 58 passing for 318 yards, but was sacked four times and intercepted twice by Cincinnati LB Logan Wilson. The Steelers rushed for just 45 yards.
The Bengals built on a seven-point halftime lead with a dominant third quarter. Evan McPherson hit a 43-yard field goal to make it 17-7. After Wilson picked off Roethlisberger a second time, Burrow found Chase for their second TD connection of the day — this time for 9 yards — and Cincinnati led 24-7 with 6:18 left in the third.
Chris Boswell hit a 26-yard field goal to draw the Steelers to within 24-10 with 8:09 to go, but also missed from 42 yards out in the third quarter.
Pittsburgh played without defensive regulars T.J. Watt (groin), Alex Highsmith (groin) and Carlos Davis (knee).
Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (knee) was also out, and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (rib) left the game Sunday in the third quarter with a rib injury and did not return. Rookie center Kendrick Green left the game with a knee injury with four minutes remaining.
Cincinnati took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after Wilson picked off Roethlisberger while he was hit trying to throw. Six plays later, Burrow found Tyler Boyd with a 17-yard touchdown across the middle.
Pittsburgh evened it up after a 15-play, 86-yard scoring drive ate more than half of the second-quarter clock. Roethlisberger flipped a 4-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 7-7 tie.
The Bengals needed just seconds to grab the lead back before the half. Burrow dropped in a 34-yard touchdown pass to Chase with 37 seconds left for a 14-7 lead at the break.
–Field Level Media