CINCINNATI — Russell Wilson completed 29 of 38 passes for 414 yards and three touchdowns to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers to a 44-38 shootout win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The 414 passing yards were the second-most in Wilson’s career. Wilson completed passes to 10 different receivers for the Steelers (9-3), who bounced back from a loss 10 days earlier in Cleveland and ensured a non-losing season for the 21st consecutive year.
The two teams combined for 82 points, the most in any NFL game this season and breaking the previous mark between the two AFC North rivals of 80 in a 49-31 Pittsburgh win in Cincinnati in 1995. Pittsburgh outgained Cincinnati 520-375 on Sunday.
After the Bengals cut their deficit to six on a 3-yard TD catch by Andrei Iosivas with 2:39 remaining in regulation, Pittsburgh recovered the onside kick and Justin Fields clinched the game with a third-down run that allowed Pittsburgh to run out the final 90 seconds.
Joe Burrow went 28-of-38 for 309 yards and three touchdowns for the Bengals (4-8). But Burrow was strip-sacked twice, including one that led to a 21-yard scoop-and-score from Payton Wilson in the fourth quarter. He also threw an interception for Cincinnati, which dropped its third straight game.
Ja’Marr Chase led all receivers with 86 yards and a score on six receptions.
The first of two meetings between the bitter AFC North rivals had a physical tone early on with Burrow taking a nasty spill on the first play from scrimmage.
Steelers receiver Calvin Austin III was leveled by Cincinnati linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither on a defensive pass interference on Pittsburgh’s first drive. Austin, who caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, later left with a head injury and did not return.
Two plays after Davis-Gaither’s big hit, Pickens stumbled out of his break and embattled Cincinnati cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt assisted his fall to the turf with a shove. Taylor-Britt remained standing, caught the pass and returned it 51 yards for Cincinnati’s first defensive score in 23 games.
The Bengals had three different seven-point leads in the first half but Pittsburgh fought back each time. Burrow was strip-sacked by T.J. Watt with less than five minutes left in the second quarter and recovered by Payton Wilson.
The Steelers ran roughshod over the Bengals’ hapless defense in the first half, led by Russell Wilson’s 257 yards passing on 21-of-27 passing, with two touchdowns.
The Steelers were on the brink of making it a two-score game to open the second half when Wilson completed passes of 18 yards to MyCole Pruitt and 36 yards to George Pickens. But after the play to Pickens, taking the ball to the Cincinnati 13, Pickens was called for his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game.
Pickens wasn’t ejected but Joseph Ossai blocked a 42-yard Chris Boswell field goal attempt that led to Cincinnati taking over and marching down the field for a 38-yard field goal by Evan McPherson, cutting Pittsburgh’s lead to 27-24.
But the Steelers answered when Wilson found a wide-open Pat Freiermuth for a 25-yard touchdown and a 34-24 lead.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media