The Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday 30-27.

QB Joe Burrow completed 28 of 37 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. WR Ja'Marr Chase led the offense with nine receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown, while WR Tee Higgins added six catches for 90 yards and a score.

The Bengals trailed 17-10 late in the first half before S Jordan Battle intercepted a tipped pass to set Cincinnati up in scoring position. Burrow hit Higgins for a circus-catch touchdown to tie the score at 17 going into the half.

K Evan McPherson continued his strong start to 2026, hitting both field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder.

Burrow found TE Mike Gesicki for a fourth-down touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Bengals a 27-24 lead. A pair of field goals from K Chris Boswell put the Steelers back in front, and a Burrow fumble was recovered by Pittsburgh DE Sebastian Joseph-Day in the final minute ended the game.

Ten of the Steelers' points came off special teams miscues by Cincinnati, as the Bengals were called for roughing the punter to extend a Pittsburgh drive in the third quarter, then later muffed a punt in the fourth to set up the Steelers with a first-and-goal.

NOTES

Gesicki's Fourth-Down TD Gives Bengals Fourth-Quarter Lead

Zac Taylor elected to go for it on fourth-and-two at the Pittsburgh 25-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and his decision was rewarded with Burrow finding a wide-open Mike Gesicki for a touchdown to take a 27-24 lead. Burrow threw his third touchdown of the afternoon on the play, while Gesicki registered his second scoring reception of the season and 26th of his career.

Burrow, who made his 80th career regular-season start Sunday, improved his touchdown pass total to 163. That marks the fourth-most passing touchdowns in a player's first 80 starts in NFL history, trailing only Patrick Mahomes (192), Dan Marino (181) and Aaron Rodgers (177).

Battle's Pick Sets Up Highlight Tee-D

Jordan Battle flipped the game's momentum late in the second quarter with his first interception of the season, a pick on a tipped pass near midfield. The play set up Cincinnati's offense at its own 47-yard line, and Burrow capitalized by leading a five-play drive ending in a 28-yard touchdown pass to Higgins.

The interception was the first of the season for the Bengals, and the seventh of Battle's career. Cincinnati has five takeaways through three games, tied for the second-most in the NFL with Las Vegas.

Higgins, who was falling down but still managed to corral the ball on the in the front corner of the end zone, registered his first touchdown catch of the season. He now has 46 career scoring receptions, which are seven shy of Isaac Curtis (53) for the fifth-most in Bengals history.

Joe to Ja'Marr Gets Bengals on Board

The Bengals' offense responded to Pittsburgh's opening touchdown with an 11-play, 73-yard drive capped off by a three-yard scoring pass from Burrow to Chase. Burrow went a perfect seven-for-seven for 60 yards on the drive, with a 23-yard completion to receiver Dohnte Meyers on third down near midfield.

Chase logged his third touchdown reception of the season and 157th of his career on the play.

Money Mac Drills 50-Yarder

Evan McPherson closed the gap to 14-10 early in the second quarter with a 50-yard field goal, finishing off a nine-play, 31-yard drive for Cincinnati. It marked McPherson's 34th career made field goal from 50+ yards, which are the most in Bengals history and the fifth-most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2021.

McPherson later converted a 38-yard field goal to give the Bengals their first lead of the afternoon, 20-17, early in the third quarter. He now has made 20 consecutive field goals without a miss dating back to Week 11 of last season, which is the second-longest streak in team history behind 21 straight field goals by Shayne Graham in 2007.

Burrow Starts 14-for-14

Burrow completed his first 14 passing attempts before a deep shot to Chase fell incomplete in the second quarter. It marked the second-most passing attempts without an incompletion to begin a game in his career, one shy of a 15-for-15 start against Las Vegas in Week 9 of the 2024 season.

Burrow finished the first half 18 of 21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns, good for a 128.6 passer rating.

Extra Points

• Chase eclipsed 7,000 receiving yards in his career, with his 98 on Sunday boosting his career total to 7,022. Playing in his 81st regular-season game, he became the fourth-fastest player in NFL history to reach 7,000 receiving yards. The only players to reach that milestone in fewer games are Hall of Famer Lance Alworth (72 games), Julio Jones (72) and Justin Jefferson (73).
• Sunday marked the 13th time Chase and Higgins each had a receiving touchdown in the same game, and the third instance against Pittsburgh. They also did so versus the Steelers in Week 13 of 2024 and Week 7 of 2025.
• Higgins has nine receptions of 25+ yards in his career against Pittsburgh, the most by any player in NFL history versus the Steelers. He surpassed A.J. Green and former Titans/Ravens/Jets/Texans receiver Derrick Mason, who both had eight catches of 25+ yards in matchups against Pittsburgh.

QUOTES

"They earned the win, we did not. A big opportunity next week to see what we're really made of. We're 2-1. We had good momentum after two games. We lost a tough one on the road. It hurts, because you feel like you had every opportunity to win it. We didn't do it, so now we go home and see what we're made of next week." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on how he sees his team overcoming the loss

"We just can't shoot ourselves in the foot like that. You can't win in this league when you do that. It's really hard. We could have overcome it, but it's really hard to win like that." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on the Bengals' six penalties

"I know who we are. I know the men we have in here. I have no doubt that we're going to come to practice next week and be locked in, eliminate mistakes and correct the ones we made." - DT Dexter Lawrence II, on how he sees the defense bouncing back from the loss