PITTSBURGH _ After watching his Bengals slam out a win-or-else 19-17 victory on a 19-degree Saturday night where the defense stopped the Steelers cold while allowing a season-low 193 yards and the fewest ever against Pittsburgh in 41 years, head coach Zac Taylor had a message for the rest of the NFL when the regular-season season ends Sunday.
"They're capable of everything," Taylor said as he savored his team's fifth straight win and fourth straight winning season in the coldest game of his six seasons. "They don't want us in this tournament, I promise you."
Taylor left the visitors' locker room to prepare for next week's Wild Card Game in Buffalo knowing he won't know if the Bengals are going to the playoffs for the third time in four years until about 8 p.m. Sunday. The 9-8 Bengals need the Dolphins to lose to the Jets and the Broncos to lose to the Chiefs in the late afternoon games.
"I'm sending out a mass (bleeping) text," said Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., the former Chief. "Hopefully everybody takes care of business. Some guys who haven't been playing but are going to get the opportunity are going to be hearing from me. My message to (Jets quarterback) Aaron Rodgers is I'll get his next Peru trip.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow says he won't message Rodgers unless the Jets win. But it sounds as if he thinks the Bengals ' playoff hopes are in good hands.
"I've been a fan of his for a long time," Burrow said. "Watching him growing up, he was one of those guys that you love to watch, and when Monday Night, Sunday Night Football came around, you were hoping that he was on it. Hopefully he can help us out tomorrow and break out a big-time game for us."
SLANTS AND SCREENS
Burrow threw his NFL-leading 43rd touchdown pass, Ja’Marr Chase all but clinched the NFL's third receiving Triple Crown of the century with 10 catches for 96 yards and a franchise-tying 17th touchdown, Cade York kicked a career-high four field goals, and the Bengals' 38 minutes in time possession was their most against the Steelers since 1983.
But this was clearly a defensive win with Pro Bowl right end Trey Hendrickson decisively snapping his tie with Myles Garrett on 3.5 sacks that should make him the first Bengal to win an NFL sack crown at the close of business Sunday.
The Bengals held big-play wide receiver George Pickens to one catch for no yards on a screen they blew up on the first series, and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt stopped the Steelers on fourth-and inches in the last minute of the first half when he stoned running back Jaylen Warren at the Pittsburgh 37.
"I was coming. The tight end was right there," said Taylor-Britt of what keyed his blitz on a play that got him a game ball.
Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, who lit the Bengals for 414 yards back on Dec. 1, had just 148 Saturday and targeted Pickens six times.
"The safety was always shadowing him and we did a good job letting somebody else beat us," said slot cornerback Mike Hilton …
The Taylor-Britt play turned out to be the turning point. The Bengals' fourth-best red-zone offense had to settle for three field goals, but this chip shot by York with 16 seconds was huge for a 13-7 halftime lead.
"The defense responded the right way and we were able to get some points going into halftime. Guess what? It proved to be the difference there, just that chain of events," Taylor said. "All season long, these games did not go our way. It was those moments not just at the end of the game but at the end of the second quarter and the end of the third quarter where we didn't do enough to put ourselves in front with commanding the lead. That's one of those moments today that we capitalized on." ...
Burrow, who went 37 of 46 for 277 yards, only produced one touchdown for the first time since the opener. His NFL record of consecutive games with 250 yards passing and three touchdown passes ended. But it was one of the biggest wins of his career and his third straight in Pittsburgh.
He took a shot in the second half that put him in the medical tent on a play that drove his helmet into the ground.
"After 15 seconds I knew I was OK," said Burrow of a neck issue. He didn't miss a snap ...
Running back Chase Brown (ankle) tried to give it a go in pregame, but he couldn't and was inactive for the first time this season. It robbed him of the ten yards he needed for 1,000 yards and the Bengals of one of their top weapons who has a streak of eight straight 90 games from scrimmage. Khalil Herbert, traded at the deadline by the Bears, made another deadline when he had his best game of the year in the biggest with 83 yards from scrimmage, 69 on 20 carries.
"(Brown) was hopefully. We didn't really push it until today. He did a couple warmup things and you could tell he couldn't go, and he didn't," Taylor said. "He was trying to do everything he could. He wanted so badly to help the team, but a high ankle (sprain) coming off five, six days, that's tough. Deep down we knew it, but we wanted to give him a chance, but it just wasn't right for him to go." ...
JA'MARR ALL BUT CROWNED
With 127 catches, 1,708 yards, and 17 touchdown catches, Chase has an 18-catch, 227-yard, five-TD lead on the field, which sure looks like he'll be the sixth receiver to sweep to the Triple Crown since the 1970 merger. But he was steamed about apparently mis-timing his leap on Burrow's throw to the back right pylon late in the first half.
"I've dropped two touchdowns in the last two weeks," Chase said. "Nineteen is better than 17."
"It's nice to finally get an honor under my belt," Chase said. "I'm still more worried about the playoffs than the Triple Crown. I appreciate Joe and the rest of the team for helping me get it."
Burrow and Chase have now teamed up for 44 touchdown passes to tie Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer as the fourth most prolific tandem in Bengals history.
"It's an exciting thing to be a part of. He deserves it all," Burrow said of the Triple Crown. "He works really hard for it. He's obviously a great player, great person. To etch his name in history like that is really special, and I'm excited to be a part of it. I know everybody else is, too."
TREY AND A HALF
Hendrickson was massive, particularly in the fourth quarter, where he had two sacks, a first-down tipped pass, and a third-down pressure in the game's final six minutes. For the second straight year he finished with 17.5 sacks and those 35 lead the league over the past two seasons.
When the Steelers got the ball back with 1:51 left at their 26, all they needed was to get the best field-goal kicker in the game, Chris Boswell, in position to win it.
And when quarterback Russel Wilson dropped back at his 45 on second-and-seven with 24 seconds left, it looked like that's what they were doing. Except here came Hendrickson for his 3.5 sack of the night that gave him his 70.5 in the last five seasons.
Third most of anyone in the 2020s. And the guy who is the leader with 73.5 could do nothing about it because the Steelers' T.J. Watt could only watch from his sideline. Garrett has 72.
Hendrickson did what he always does and thanked his Saviour and his wife.
"There are ten other guys who complete this defense," Hendrickson said. "I'm very blessed to do what I do. My wife has been with me through this whole process. She takes care of our son and she's obviously taking care of me."
