Joe Flacco handed for 342 yards and three touchdowns, Evan McPherson made a 36-yard area objective with seven seconds remaining and the Cincinnati Bengals snapped a four-game shedding streak with a 33-31 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday evening.
Acquired from the Cleveland Browns on October 7, the 40-year-old Flacco accomplished 31 of 47 passes in his second Cincinnati begin, and outduelled 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers in solely the third regular-season sport between beginning quarterbacks of their 40s.
It additionally marked the twenty third fourth-quarter comeback of Flacco’s 18-year profession.
“This is a huge win. We needed it,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor mentioned.
Rodgers went 22 of 32 for 244 yards with 4 touchdowns and two interceptions. He gave Pittsburgh (4-2) a 31-30 benefit with 2:31 remaining on a 68-yard landing to Pat Freiermuth. On second-and-20, Rodgers rolled left and located Freiermuth open downfield. The fifth-year tight finish caught the ball on the Bengals 36 after getting separation from security Geno Stone and scored his second landing.
Flacco led the Bengals (3-4) 52 yards in eight performs, together with completions of 15 and 18 yards to Ja’Marr Chase to get Cincinnati into Pittsburgh territory. The 18-year veteran then discovered Tee Higgins for a 28-yard acquire to the Steelers 5 with 1:39 remaining to place the Bengals effectively inside McPherson’s vary.
Chase had a franchise-record 16 receptions for 161 yards and a TD, making him the fourth receiver in NFL historical past with two video games of at the very least 14 catches in a single season. Higgins completed with six catches for 96 yards and a rating. Noah Fant additionally had a TD reception.
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Aaron Rodgers fumed at his teammate after he hit the deck because the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrated a landing
The Bengals scored on seven of their final eight possessions and gained for the primary time since Joe Burrow went down with a toe harm September 14. Jake Browning struggled in his three begins after Burrow’s harm, prompting the Bengals to amass Flacco from their AFC North rival.
Chase Brown had 108 dashing yards on 11 carries, the second 100-yard sport of his profession.
Freiermuth had 4 catches for 106 yards for the Steelers. Jaylen Warren ran for 127 yards on 16 carries.
The Steelers are up subsequent on October 26 as they host the Inexperienced Bay Packers, whereas the Bengals host the New York Jets on the identical day.
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