PITTSBURGH _ A quick look at the Bengals' 34-12 loss to the Steelers Sunday at Acrisure Stadium:

Key Play of the Game

Steelers strong safety Kyle Dugger, acquired in a trade with the Patriots two weeks after these two clubs met on Oct. 16, was nowhere near that 33-31 Bengals win.

He won this one with a 73-yard pick six with 37 seconds left in the third quarter right in the heart of the game.

The Bengals were driving, down 13-9 in the last minute of the third quarter. Facing a third-and-nine from the Pittsburgh 35, quarterback Joe Flacco got bumped by ubiquitous defensive lineman TJ Watt roaring around the right as Flacco tried to hit wide receiver Tee Higgins over the middle.

"I don't know if my arm got hit. I just got ht. I was trying to wrap it around that guy," Flacco said. "Kind of saw him sitting there and felt like there was a lot of room in the middle of the field trying to wrap Tee in there. And maybe it's out in front of Tee or not. I thought there was room in there, and kind of got bumped and couldn't get the ball where I wanted it."

It was Watt's lone hit on Flacco Sunday, but a big one. On the snap before, Watt made it second and nine when he tried to pressure from the middle and leaped up at the last instant, and got a hand on the ball. One of those Hall of Fame plays you can't devise against.

Watt Again

Flacco is practicing only once a week with a sore AC joint in his throwing shoulder, and Watt didn't exactly give it treatment when he was called for roughing Flacco in the first quarter when he put his body weight on him and he drove his shoulder into the ground.

But Flacco wouldn't use it as an excuse for the worst start of his five with the Bengals: 68.6 passer rating on 23 of 40 for 199 yards, a touchdown and the pick-six.

"Listen, that's football. He did a good job. He buried me in the turf," Flacco said. "But I felt good all game.

Ja'Marr Jammed

After ripping the Steelers for a Bengals-best 16 catches on 23 targets last month, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase ended up with three catches for 30 yards on ten targets. He said those two new safeties (Dugger and Jalen Ramsey) played more two-high Sunday than the one-high they used in Cincinnati.

"I think they made sure that they probably did it more. They probably had a couple guys on him more often than they did in the first game," Flacco said. "We knew they were going to make adjustments and come in here and play better than they did the first time we played them, and we've just got to match that."

Defensive Look

The Bengals defense had its best game since the opener, and edge Myles Murphy had the best game of his three seasons.

Murphy, the first-rounder from Clemson, had a career-high seven tackles to go with a sack that gives him 2.5 for the season.

"It's learning from any mistakes, taking it, and growing from it. Not taking steps back," Murphy told Charlie Goldsmith of "Charlie's Chalkboard." "That's the last thing we can do as a young defense. We can't take any steps back. We have to learn from our mistakes, take it to the next game, and move forward."

They were left talking about the plays where they couldn't get off the field, rather than the plays they made on the field. The Bengals had Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph (Aaron Rodgers left with a wrist injury) on the ropes several times in the second half. But Rudolph parlayed a slew of missed tackles into big gains off screens and dump passes.

The killer was the Steelers' first drive of the second half, just after the Bengals' Evan McPherson cut the lead to 10-9 on a 43-yard field goal. Rudolph converted a third-and-11 before tight end Darnell Washington broke a tackle on a third-and-17 to get the Steelers a field goal of their own.

"If we had got off the field then, I think it's a different game," said defensive tackle B.J. Hill.

Then, deep into the fourth quarter, Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell converted a first-and-25 on an untouched 28-yard catch and run.

"It's frustrating. Those are favorable situations for the defense," said rookie linebacker Barrett Carter. "We expect to get off the field every single time we're in that situation. Super frustrating. We just have to watch the film, and find exactly what we can do better with tackling better and swarming to the ball. Find a way to get the runner down."

What's Next

The NFL's hottest team comes to town Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) with the 9-2 Patriots' dangerous top ten brew of offense (ranked No. 8 in the NFL) and defense (No. 5) that has won eight straight games.

First-year head coach Mike Vrabel's re-boot has turned sophomore quarterback Drake Maye into the latest New England sports darling. Maye came into Sunday leading the league in passing yards and is tied for second with 20 touchdown passes.

Another new star has also emerged in rookie running back TreyVeyon Henderson. He's got four touchdowns in the last two games and that includes a monstrous 147 yards on 14 carries against Tampa Bay two weeks ago.

Slants and Screens

Chase had a couple of run-ins with Ramsey and, of course he did. All Bengals fans remember how Ramsey got himself and mild-mannered All-Classy A.J. Green both thrown out of a 2017 game in Jacksonville.

On Sunday they were both flagged after the first scrum and then in the second one, Ramsey threw a punch because, he said, Chase spit at him. Chase denied it and so did the officials ...

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was lost early in the game with a left foot injury, and it looks serious. He was on crutches in the locker room …

They lost edge Cam Sample (oblique) before halftime. They were already down edge rushers Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart ...

The Steelers played a very unSteelerish game in L.A. last week and got beat, 25-10. They came in leading the league in turnover margin at plus-nine and posted a minus-three. They also had a league-leading 50 points off turnovers and were minus-10. They got back on track against the Bengals and scored two defensive touchdowns.

"We lose the turnover battle two to nothing. That's how it's going to play out," said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. ...

Veteran backer Oren Burks logged nine tackles, the second most of his career, as he appeared to play many snaps next to Carter in place of rookie Demetrius Knight. his career-high is 17 from last year's regular-season finale with the Eagles before he started in the Super Bowl win for them ...