CINCINNATI (AP) — Mike Tomlin wondered this week why the Cleveland Browns traded Joe Flacco to their AFC North rival, the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Thursday night, Flacco proved Tomlin’s worst fears to be well founded.
Flacco passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns as he rallied Cincinnati to a 33-31 victory. Evan McPherson had four field goals, the last a 36-yarder with seven seconds remaining to put the Bengals on top and snap a four-game losing streak.
The 40-year-old Flacco completed 31 of 47 passes in his second Cincinnati start after being acquired Oct. 7, and outdueled 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers in only the third regular-season game between starting quarterbacks in their 40s.
Bengals fans were chanting “Thank you Cleveland! Thank you Cleveland!” when Flacco appeared on Prime Video’s postgame set on the field, which brought a smile to coach Zac Taylor’s face.
“Our fans are happy, and I’m happy,” Taylor said. “It’s a big victory. We needed this. It had been a long time since we won.”
Cincinnati led most of the second half, but Rodgers gave Pittsburgh a 31-30 advantage with 2:31 remaining on a 68-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth.
On second-and-20, Rodgers rolled left and found Freiermuth open downfield. The fifth-year tight end caught the ball at the Bengals 36 after getting separation from safety Geno Stone and scored his second touchdown.
“I told him to be ready. I saw something on the pictures on the sideline in the first half. So at halftime I pulled him aside. I had a nice shot down the middle,” said Rodgers, who went 22 of 32 for 244 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
That set the stage for the 23rd fourth-quarter comeback of Flacco’s 18-year career.
Flacco led the Bengals (3-4) 52 yards in eight plays, including completions of 15 and 18 yards to Ja’Marr Chase got Cincinnati into Pittsburgh territory. Flacco then found Tee Higgins for a 28-yard gain to the Steelers 5 with 1:39 remaining to put the Bengals well within McPherson’s range.
“It’s very fun. It’s because of games like this that we do what we do,” Flacco said.
Chase had a franchise-record 16 receptions for 161 yards and a TD, making him the fourth receiver in NFL history with two games of at least 14 catches in a single season. Higgins finished with six catches for 96 yards and a score. Noah Fant also had a TD reception.
The Bengals scored on seven of their last eight possessions and won for the first time since Joe Burrow went down with a toe injury Sept. 14. Jake Browning struggled in his three starts after Burrow’s injury, prompting the Bengals to acquire Flacco.
“Last week, it seemed we had finally figured out how it was going to be with Flacco and the offensive line. And today we showed what we’re capable of,” Chase said.
Chase Brown had 108 rushing yards on 11 carries, the second 100-yard game of his career.
Freiermuth had four catches for 106 yards for the Steelers (4-2). Jaylen Warren ran for 127 yards on 16 carries.
“I just thought the first half we allowed them to run the ball too much,” Tomlin said. “Then we turned the ball over a couple of times, and that just kind of set a negative trajectory. We’re fighting uphill the rest of the way.”
Bengals rally in second quarter
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 10-0 lead on Chris Boswell’s 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter before Rodgers was picked off on consecutive drives.
Cincinnati scored a touchdown in the first half for the first time in five games with 4:42 remaining in the first half when Flacco found Chase in the left corner of the end zone for an 8-yard score.
The Bengals then converted both of Rodgers’ interceptions into points. On the first play of the next drive, Jordan Battle picked off a deep ball intended for Metcalf at the Bengals 24. Three plays later, Flacco’s 29-yard quick slant to Higgins gave Cincinnati its first lead since the first quarter of the Week 4 Monday night game at Denver.
After DJ Turner picked off Rodgers along the left sideline at the Cincinnati 30 with 40 seconds remaining, McPherson booted a 49-yarder to make it 17-10 at halftime.
All day and night
The Steelers scored a touchdown on an opening drive for the third time this season when Jonnu Smith caught a 10-yard pass from Rodgers with 10:51 remaining in the first quarter.
Rodgers held onto the ball for 8.598 seconds before connecting with Smith in the end zone. It was Rodgers’ longest time to throw on a completion since the NFL’s Next Gen Stats started tracking in 2016.
Injuries
Bengals: DE Trey Hendrickson was inactive due to a hip injury he suffered during the first half of last week at Green Bay.
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