Joe Burrow leads long drives as Bengals beat Steelers in season finale

Before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season finale even began, they endured their first set of hard knocks when the Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC North Division title by beating the Cleveland Browns.

Then the Cincinnati Bengals delivered an even bigger blow, handing the spiraling Steelers their fourth consecutive defeat.

Joe Burrow directed long scoring drives that chewed the clock and Cade York kicked four field goals, and the Bengals held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Steelers for a 19-17 win Saturday night before 65,631 at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers (10-7) followed a disastrous December in which they suffered double-digit defeats against the Philadelphia Eagles, Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs with a rare loss in their finale at home. They were 11-0 at home in season finales since Heinz Field opened in 2001.

With the Ravens clinching the AFC North and No. 3 seed with a 35-10 win over the Browns in Saturday’s early game, the Steelers lost any chance of hosting a wild card playoff game. Depending on how the Los Angeles Chargers fare against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon, the Steelers will either be the No. 5 seed and play at the Houston Texans or the No. 6 seed and play at Baltimore.

“It’s disappointing because we play and play to win but it’s neither here nor there,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We are in the single elimination tournament now so we better turn our attention to playing good football, better than we have in recent weeks.”

The win gives the Bengals (9-8) an outside chance of making the playoffs, though they need both Denver and Miami to lose Sunday.

Burrow picked apart a secondary missing starting cornerback Donte Jackson by completing 37 of 46 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown, snapping his NFL-record streak of eight games with at least 250 passing yards and three touchdowns.

The Bengals controlled the clock, finishing with a 16-minute time-of-possession advantage over the Steelers. Cincinnati’s five scoring drives alone totaled 27 minutes, 5 seconds — five minutes more than the Steelers’ total. Four of the Bengals’ five scoring drives consisted of nine or more plays.

The Steelers, by contrast, mustered only 193 yards after compiling 520 yards in a 44-38 win over the Bengals on Dec. 1 in Cincinnati. Russell Wilson, who passed for a season-high 414 yards in that first meeting, was 17 of 31 for 148 yards and a touchdown.

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“We made plays in that one. We didn’t make routine plays in this one,” Tomlin said, attempting to avoid comparisons to the first game. “We formulated a plan we thought was appropriate for this environment and this game, this week. It didn’t work out the way we liked.”

That was clear from the start when Burrow completed his first 12 pass attempts, including all six for 64 yards on the opening drive as the Bengals went 73 yards on nine plays capped by his 12-yard strike to Ja’Marr Chase for a 7-0 lead at 9:49 of the first quarter.

Burrow extended his consecutive completions streak to 12 before Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen dropped him for a 9-yard sack and caused a fumble that was recovered at the Pittsburgh 30. York’s 48-yard field goal gave the Bengals a 10-0 lead.

Najee Harris carried eight times for 32 yards on the next drive, when the Steelers drew a pair of third-down pass interference penalties against Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. After the second flag — on a pass intended for 6-foot-7 tight end Darnell Washington in the end zone — Harris scored on a 1-yard run to cut it to 10-7.

The Steelers stopped Burrow on successive series, first when defensive tackle Cameron Heyward tipped a fourth-and-1 pass to force a turnover on downs and then when outside linebacker Preston Smith sacked Burrow. But Calvin Austin fumbled the punt return and David Gaither recovered at the Steelers’ 33 with 2:46 left in the first half.

Even when the Steelers put pressure on Burrow, it backfired.

T.J. Watt’s strip-sack was recovered by the Bengals, then negated by a holding penalty on cornerback Cory Trice Jr. Two plays later, nickel back Beanie Bishop Jr. intercepted a pass tipped by Queen at the 17.

The final two minutes felt like an eternity, thanks to a strange three-play sequence that saw the Steelers appear to convert a first down only for an official review to rule that they were short of the marker. A fourth-and-1 stop by the Bengals caused a turnover on downs at the Pittsburgh 37 with 48 seconds left that resulted in a 27-yard field goal by York to give the Bengals a 13-7 lead that they took into halftime.

Khalil Herbert carried the load in the second half, as Cincinnati went 82 yards on 15 plays in 8:31, with York kicking a 23-yard field goal for a 19-7 lead at 11:02 of the fourth quarter.

“The game took awhile for us to get going — it wasn’t really until the fourth quarter,” Wilson said. “Our defense did a good job of keeping us in the game, making some plays. Our defense gave us a chance to win that game. The good thing was, in the fourth quarter we responded the right way.”

The Steelers’ offense finally came alive, as Wilson completed five passes before scrambling 12 yards for a first down to the Cincinnati 19. On the next play, Wilson found tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 19-14 with 8:07 remaining.

After stopping the Bengals, the Steelers made a curious decision by electing to punt on a fourth-and-1 from their own 20. It proved fortuitous, as Corliss Waitman’s punt bounced off the right foot of the Bengals’ DJ Ivey and was recovered by Connor Heyward at the Cincinnati 38. The Steelers managed only 2 yards and settled for a 54-yard field goal by Chris Boswell to cut it to 19-17 with 2:39 remaining.

The Steelers had a final shot when they took over at their 24 with 1:51 left, but Wilson was sacked for a 5-yard loss and missed George Pickens on a deep throw and couldn’t complete a fourth-down pass.

It was a hard loss to swallow but the Steelers have no choice but to put it behind them and turn their attention toward the postseason.

“It’s do-or-die now,” Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “Of course we didn’t end the season the way we wanted to but we have to flush it, move on and get ready for whoever we play. We’ll see how it pans out. We have to put our head down, work and get ready.”