PITTSBURGH -- The Steelers' defense scored two touchdowns in the second half to help Pittsburgh pull away for a 34-12 win over the Bengals on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

The Bengals were driving while down 13-9 in the last minute of the third quarter, when quarterback Joe Flacco was hit as he tried to throw to wide receiver Tee Higgins over the middle. The affected pass went into the waiting arms of Pittsburgh strong safety Kyle Duggar, who returned the interception 73 yards for a pick-six.

In relief of starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who left the game with a left wrist injury, Mason Rudolph converted a pair of third-and-11s and a first-and-23 as the Steelers drained the fourth-quarter clock. The Steelers added a fumble return for a touchdown late in the fourth to bring the total to 34.

Flacco had his three-game string of 100-plus passer ratings snapped when he went 23 of 44 for 199 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The Bengals defense pitched perhaps its best half of the season when it blanked the Steelers between Rodgers' 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Kenneth Gainwell on the game-opening drive and Chris Boswell's chip-shot field goal that ended the first half with the Steelers leading, 10-6.

Edge Myles Murphy had a career-high seven tackles in the game and five in the first half, including a sack. Linebacker Oren Burks added a team-leading nine more tackles, and the Bengals forced four punts in holding the Steelers to 188 yards in the first half.

The Bengals matched that opening touchdown on their own first drive, as Flacco kept the possession alive with two third-down conversions to wide receiver Andrei Iosivas. Flacco then bought time in the pocket to watch Higgins get behind linebacker Jack Sawyer and in front of safety Jalen Ramsey for a 28-yard touchdown pass, the fourth straight game Flacco and Higgins have connected for a score.

Ja'Marr Chase, who had a Bengals-record 16 receptions in the Week 7 win over Pittsburgh in Cincinnati, was limited to three catches for 30 yards.

The Bengals, who ran for 162 yards against Pittsburgh last month, finished Sunday's contest with 105 on the ground, spearheaded by Chase Brown's 99 on 18 carries.

When CIncinnati opted to go for the two-point conversion following Higgins' touchdown -- the ball was placed at the one-yard line following a roughing penalty on the extra point -- Pittsburgh stopped Brown on a run up the middle as the Wild Cat quarterback.

NOTES

Higgins Continues TD Streak on Opening Drive

Flacco capped off the Bengals' first offensive possession by finding Tee Higgins downfield for a 28-yard touchdown to make it a 7-6 game midway through the first quarter. It marked Cincinnati's first touchdown on its opening drive since Week 1 at Cleveland.

Higgins now has a touchdown in each of his last four games, the longest such streak in his career. He had a scoring catch in three straight games played on two separate occasions last season, doing so in Weeks 7, 11 and 13, then again in Weeks 15-17.

Higgins' seven receiving touchdowns this season are tied for third in the NFL. The wideout finished with three catches for 63 yards.

Chase Brown Hits Triple Digits Again

Halfback Chase Brown finished with 99 rushing yards on 18 carries and 28 receiving yards on six catches, good for a season-best 127 yards from scrimmage. It was his fourth straight game with 100 or more scrimmage yards, which marks the second-longest such streak of his career. He previously reached the century mark in five consecutive games from Weeks 11-16 of last season.

Brown's longest gain was a 35-yard run on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, which led to an Evan McPherson 43-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 10-9. It was his second-longest run of the season and third-longest of his career, behind a 37-yard dash in Week 7 against Pittsburgh and a 40-yard scamper in Week 13 of last season versus the Steelers.

Extra Points

• Joe Flacco became the 17th quarterback in NFL history to start 200 regular-season games.
• Defensive end Myles Murphy got in the sack column in the second quarter when he brought down Rodgers for an 11-yard loss to force a third-and-long. Murphy now has 2.5 sacks this season. He finished Sunday's game with a career-high seven tackles.
• Halfback Kendall Milton, who was elevated from the practice squad to the active roster on Saturday, recorded his first two career rushing attempts.

QUOTES

"You feel all the losses. They all eat at you. We're working like crazy to make sure that this doesn't happen. It happened today - it's disappointing. Our option is to come back tomorrow and keep fighting and find a way to get a win. We've got a red-hot team coming in here (in New England), and so that's what we're going to do. We're going to do everything we can to clean this up, correct the mistakes, get back to work and fight another week, and find a way to get a win." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on how the team moves forward following this loss

"They probably had a couple guys on him more often than they did in the first game. That's why they're a good football team. We knew they were going to make adjustments and come in here and play better than they did the first time we played them. We've got to match that." - Quarterback Joe Flacco, on how the Steelers defended Ja'Marr Chase in Week 11 compared to in Week 7

Click to view everything Zac Taylor and Joe Flacco said after Week 11.