Joe Flacco did that Thursday in his second start since replacing Jake Browning, but a few aspects outside of the dynamic passing game made key impacts on his ability to lead the Bengals to a 33-31 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor gave a heavy dose of credit to the offensive line, which allowed just two sacks while Flacco attempted 47 passes. The protection also paved the way for the running game to produce more than 85 yards in a game since 2024, as Chase Brown’s 108-yard performance contributed to the team’s 142 yards gained on the ground.
Then, there was the special teams help from kicker Evan McPherson, who put 12 points on the board by going 4-for-4 on his field goal attempts, including the clutch 36-yarder with seven seconds left to win the game.
“I thought our offensive line played outstanding, and that (Pittsburgh) defensive line has been wreaking havoc the last couple weeks,” Taylor said after the game. “All the film we’ve watched on all these other teams’ goal line gave (Flacco) a great shot. Our tight ends did an unbelievable job in the run game as well. And everybody stepped up forcing yards after the catch. Collectively, on offense, it was great.”
Thursday’s win was just the 10th game in Bengals history where a quarterback had at least 47 pass attempts and was sacked two times or less, and it was the first time Flacco did it since 2019.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Bengals had some decisions to make in terms of personnel at guard with Dylan Fairchild back from a knee injury and Lucas Patrick added back to the active roster off injured reserve this week. Both were starters on opening day, but Taylor decided to stick with Dalton Risner at left guard and rookie Jalen Rivers at right guard on a short week.
Fairchild would have been coming back to deal with Cam Heyward, and Taylor said he felt that would be a tough task for a rookie who wasn’t able to get a lot of reps in the short week. Patrick might just be veteran depth moving forward, though.
“We’ll determine what role he (Patrick) has, whether that’s a swing back up or we trust him to go in there and play,” Taylor said. “He was our opening day starter, so we have depth there in the interior that we’re excited about.”
Rivers has started four straight games now after Risner initially replaced injured Patrick in Week 2. Risner exited that game banged up, but Rivers did enough stepping in to earn the starting role and has kept it, despite a rough game last Sunday at Green Bay.
The rookie fifth-round draft pick did allow one of the sacks and he had a drive-stalling holding penalty before one of McPherson’s field goals, but he has given some push in the running game the past two weeks and that proved key.
Brown popped off runs of 27 and 37 yards early, and that first big one sparked the first scoring drive for the Bengals in the second quarter after falling behind 10-0.
“We finally just got him through to the third level, so that felt really good,” Bengals center Ted Karras said. “He’s running hard. He’s close to breaking it all the way, so we’ve got to keep blocking and this is great. We needed this one.”
Brown had not topped 47 yards rushing in any previous games this season, despite expectations he was poised for a big year. He is in his first season as the feature back after a breakout performance last year when he opened the season splitting carries with Zack Moss.
His explosiveness earned him more opportunities, and he eventually overtook Moss even before a neck injury sidelined Moss for the year. Brown said it felt good to finally “pop a couple of big ones” Thursday and hopes he can keep the momentum going after an especially frustrating start to the season for him.
McPherson can understand the importance of staying positive and mentally strong through tough times. That was something he struggled with last year when he was uncharacteristically missing big kicks – and in some cases more routine ones. He attributed those issues to tweaks he had made in his approach, but he went back to his regular routine this offseason.
On Thursday, McPherson made his eighth career game-winning kick, but it had been a while since he experienced that. He has made 10-of-12 field goal attempts and 14-of-14 PATs, and his two misses were for 67 and 56 yards.
“I think just going back to last year, I think this one is so special,” McPherson said. “Just the struggles I had last year mentally, and the battles that would happen to myself in my mind, and just to go out there and execute in a clutch time, it really feels good.
“It definitely makes the work I put in this offseason and preseason - just kind of shows me I’m doing the right things. Not even just the last kick, but the three other ones, I put good hits on, and I felt good all day. I’m just really proud of where I’ve come from last year.”
The Bengals will be looking to build on Thursday’s performance with a chance to get back to .500 in Week 8 when they host the New York Jets.
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