It was more than fitting that the first of Joe Burrow’s three touchdown passes on Sunday resembled a leaning Athens High jump shot more than anything else.

Suddenly at Paycor Stadium, Bengals-Steelers had gone from MMA to NBA. The smashmouth series had turned seven-on-seven.

So here was Burrow showing off the immense resourcefulness that has made him the league's most prolific quarterback this season.

He dribbled around sackmaster T.J. Watt and then leaned into the Steel Curtain just before floating a jump pass over linebacker Payton Wilson for a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase that kept him the NFL's most prolific wide receiver.

It gave the Bengals the lead for the last time at 21-14 with about ten minutes still left in the first half of this very different Bengals-Steelers game. It was supposed to be 23-20, right? Maybe 27-24?

How about 27-21, which is what it was at halftime, the most points ever in 110 halftimes of Bengals-Steelers. Pittsburgh's 44-38 win marked the most points ever with 82 in a series that began with Paul Brown and Chuck Noll in 1970 meting out 72 points in the first two games combined.

All of which didn't surprise Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after his 27^th win over the Bengals, five more than Noll had over Cincinnati.

"We needed all 44 of those points," Tomlin said. "When playing against Joe Burrow and company, chances are you might have to score some points."

His quarterback, the resilient Russell Wilson making a playoff curtain call at age 36, called it a heavyweight fight after he scored with enough jabs to the underbelly of the Bengals defense to become the first Steelers quarterback to throw for 400 yards against the Bengals with 414.

Not Bradshaw. Not Big Ben. Not old friend Neil O'Donnell, who came close with 377 when he beat Jeff Blake in a 49-31 shootout during that 1995 Riverfront Stadium game the Bengals led, 31-10.

Bengals-Steelers has given us many things. But never a 400-yard passer and a 300-yard passer, which Burrow did once again with 309 yards on another bloody accurate day of 73.7%.

Not surprising in the least. That's the 21st time he completed at least 70 percent of his passes on 30 or more attempts: That ties Patrick Mahomes for the most in NFL history in a player's first five seasons. It jacked Burrow's all-time completion percentage to 67.9, a tick behind leader Tua Tagovailoa's 68.0.

What catches the eye is the defense he did it against. In the 18 seasons and 286 games Tomlin has coached the Steelers, only 16 times have opposing quarterbacks completed 73.7% of their passes. Burrow has done it three times. Mahomes twice. Tom Brady once. Drew Brees once.

(Footnote: When he was with Seattle in 2019, Wilson's 82.9% leads the list against Tomlin.)

Burrow keeps stacking milestones like firewood. He now leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 30 and yards with 3,337. But the wins aren't following and after the loss put the Bengals' playoff hopes into single-digit percentage possibilities, he could have cared less.

"I feel it. I feel the pressure on me to be great. That's part of playing quarterback in the NFL," Burrow said. "I have to play to the absolute peak of my ability every week for us to go and win. Some games I've done that, some games I haven't. So, I'm just trying to be as consistent as I can for the team, try and take care of the ball better and go from there?"

One of Tomlin's go-to lines when it gets tight is "Don't blink." He said it Sunday as Burrow kept the Bengals alive in the shadows and Burrow didn't blink later when asked if he can possibly keep playing under the weight of it all.

"I feel like I can do anything," Burrow said.

It sure looked like it Sunday.

Against a defense that has the best rating in the league against downfield passes at about 40.0, Burrow averaged 8.1 yards per throw on a passer rating of 112.7.

You just don't do that against a front that gets home as often as the Steelers and with their ball-hawking safeties and fast cornerbacks. They came in with the second-best defensive passer rating at 74.9 while averaging seven yards per throw as Burrow danced away from the T.J. Watts and Cam Heywards.

(Take a look at that third-down conversion to wide receiver Tee Higgins early in the game where he suddenly flicks the completion from his neck as almost an afterthought before he steps out of bounds.)

"Joe did a great job all game of stepping up through that B-gap and climbing the pocket," Watt said.

He believes he can do anything, right? He vowed in the offseason to be better with off-platform throws and he did it all day Sunday.

"I'm feeling good in that department. I work it hard every week," Burrow said. "Thursday is my day to throw on the run. Thursday is a big work day for me and that's where I feel like I get the most done. I think I've taken a big step in that department this year."

But he's not running away from the score.

"I would say that. I've been really happy with my playmaking ability this year," Burrow said. "Every game is its own challenge, and you quickly change your mindset into playmaking mode when maybe you would take a check-down or throw it to the running back quickly in some spots. But that's not where we're at."

Where they're at is hunkering down for a final five games where they're trying to find wins for one of greatest offenses in franchise history. As Burrow leads the league, he also knows he's leading the locker room.

"You try to give your opinion in ways that you feel comes off the best. This is a tough season, and the cornerstones of this organization are going to be remembered by more than this season," Burrow said. "We will be remembered by how we handle this. It's still an exciting opportunity to go out and play for this city and this team, week in and week out. That's something I don't take for granted, especially with my injury history. I've been on the sidelines and that's not a fun feeling. I love being out there with the guys for the city, the team, and the ownership. I love playing."

They'll keep counting the stats. With five games left, he's a wisp away from a 40-touchdown season and an NFL passing title. With that 13^th touchdown catch of the season, Chase has five games to catch Carl Pickens' club record of 17, and he's only 314 yards from breaking his own club record of 1,455 yards. A total of 22 stands between him and back-to-back 100-catch seasons, a franchise first.

"The next six weeks will say a lot about who we can count on and who we can't," Burrow said. ""I think we'll learn a lot about who we have in the locker room. The guys we can count on going forward, and the guys we can't."

The numbers are falling, but it seems Burrow is counting something else down the stretch.