Feats of Strength: Russell Wilson's huge day, key defensive splash plays secure Steelers shootout over Bengals

During the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris had to leave the contest briefly because he didn’t feel well after a run. He blamed himself for eating too much of a dessert made by tight end Pat Freiermuth’s girlfriend during Thanksgiving dinner. 

Apparently, that was the only holiday hangover the Steelers’ offense endured during Sunday’s 44-38 shootout of a victory.

As for the defense? At times, it looked like their Gatorade was laced with tryptophan. But, hey, the Bengals can make a lot of defenses look bad.

That said, defensive captain Cameron Heyward and company made a couple of huge plays at opportune times, and the offense matched Cincy’s score for score and then some.

We’ll recap all the ups and downs in this week’s “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances.”

FEATS OF STRENGTH

DangeRUSS: Russell Wilson had one of the best days for a Steelers quarterback in recent memory. He threw for 414 yards on 29-of-38 passing to go along with three touchdowns.

The Steelers last broke the 40-point barrier on Nov. 8, 2018 (52-21 against Carolina). Wilson was the biggest reason for that.

He was accurate. He hit shots that needed to be taken. He made the proper reads and used his legs as needed. He was in command all day. He checked it down over the middle and to the running backs when necessary.

Wilson used the middle of the field on scores to Freiermuth and Calvin Austin. He hit a bomb down the sideline to George Pickens. He also drilled a throw to Van Jefferson up the seam for 43 yards.

Russell Wilson so clutch.

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Wilson mostly avoided negative plays. A pick-six he threw to Cam Taylor-Britt in the first quarter wasn’t his fault. It should’ve been a penalty against Taylor-Britt. The ball was where it was supposed to be, and Pickens was thrown to the turf by his helmet.

The Steelers knew coming into this game that a lot of offense was going to be necessary to match scores with the high-powered Bengals offense, and Wilson was the first full-time starting QB we’ve seen in a while capable of keeping up with the pace.

“It was fun. We had a great time. I kept telling guys it was going to be a heavyweight fight, and we’ve got to win it,” Wilson said after the game.

Sunday’s game marked the first time a Steelers QB went over 400 yards passing since Ben Roethlisberger totaled 462 on Nov. 25, 2018, during a 24-17 loss in Denver.

Spread it arahnd: For a team that had been so reliant on Pickens, almost all of the eligible pass catchers made a contribution Sunday.

Ten receivers were on the other end of Wilson’s targets. He did a wonderful job moving the ball. Pickens led the way with 74 yards on three catches. Freiermuth had a solid day as well, catching six passes for 68 yards and a score.

Also, Austin is finally developing into a legitimate threat. He caught another touchdown, his third of the year, before being removed for concussion evaluation.

The Steelers ended up with 527 yards of offense, their most since they posted 527 that day Roethlisberger exploded in Denver in 2018.

Cam can: Heyward led a defense that relied on splash plays to win the game despite the Bengals putting up 31 offensive points and 282 team-passing yards.

The 35-year-old lineman was the defensive star of the day. He had a sack, a pass deflection and five tackles (two for a loss).

On one play, Heyward drilled Chase Brown for a 3-yard loss in the red zone. His pass deflection turned into an interception for Donte Jackson.

Donte Jackson picks off Burrow!

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T.J. Watt re-emerged after a relatively quiet six weeks. He ended up with two sacks, an additional tackle for loss, a forced fumble and five quarterback hits.

Nick Herbig also had a strip sack that Payton Wilson returned for a touchdown.

Loving the O-line: The offensive line performed well. Russell Wilson had 41 dropbacks. He was sacked only twice.

Also, Najee Harris ran hard behind some decent blocking. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry on 16 attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown. Cordarrelle Patterson added 16 rushing yards on three attempts.

Left tackle Dan Moore stood out. Trey Hendrickson, who entered the game with 11 1/2 sacks, was shut out and posted just one tackle.

“We had a good plan against him,” Moore said after the game via KDKA+. “I thought the tight ends did a really good job chipping him and helping me out. But we definitely eliminated that guy today.”

Related:

• Madden Monday: Steelers’ win in Cincinnati doesn't outweigh remaining hurdles
• 5 things we learned in Steelers’ win over the Bengals: Stripping Joe Burrow was by design
• Steelers vs. Bengals: What they're saying in Cincinnati after loss

Fields finishes: After last week’s third-and-4 incomplete pass in the fourth quarter in Cleveland, the Steelers put second-string quarterback Justin Fields back in that situation again Sunday. This time, they had him do what he should’ve done in Cleveland.

He ran.

For some reason, Cincinnati’s defense looked stunned that Fields kept the ball and ran himself.

"A slide by Fields and that's gonna do it!"

The @steelers close out strong pic.twitter.com/jsJIMINvbW

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) December 1, 2024

Fields picked up the first down with a 7-yard carry. He slid after the first-down marker this time, too, unlike in Washington. That iced the game.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

By George!: As he so often does, Pickens flashed his significant talent. He had three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. But he also drew two post-whistle unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. One of them was for dropping the football on a fallen player after a big gain. Another was for gesturing to the crowd.

“They said they got the gesture wrong,” Pickens claimed after the game. “They thought it was something else. But you can’t hurt the team. I never want to hurt the team. He just thought the gesture was different.”

Indeed, that second flag was flimsy. However, Pickens has put a target on his own back and has to know the officials are going to give him no wiggle room.

That penalty also took a first down from the Cincy 13 yard-line and moved it back to the 28. What could’ve been a touchdown eventually led to a blocked field goal after a burned timeout earlier in the sequence.

Just stop, George. Don’t give the officials a chance to get you. Make plays and get back to the huddle.

As expected: The defense did its typical thing where it made big plays and got timely turnovers, but it certainly made everyone sweat by allowing too many points, yards and extended scoring drives.

The Steelers yielded back-to-back first-half scoring drives that totaled 15 plays and 145 yards over 7 minutes, 44 seconds. That second drive lasted nine plays and covered 70 yards. The Bengals never even saw a third down.

They did see a third-and-21 on a field-goal drive in the third quarter and converted it. While Ja’Marr Chase was held without an explosive play until late in the game, Tee Higgins had a 31-yard catch, and Chase Brown had a 40-yard touchdown run.

Thanksgiving leftovers: Here are a few other grievances that I need to get off my chest.

• Ten Steelers caught passes from Wilson. Mike Williams wasn’t one of them. Again.

• Failing to throw a flag on Taylor-Britt for pulling Pickens down by his helmet on the pick-6 was an egregious miss by the officials. They also refused to flag numerous examples of Orlando Brown Jr. jumping early at the left tackle position.

• Joey Porter Jr. was hit for four more penalties (plus two more that were declined). One was a weak call and could’ve been a non-call or a flag on Higgins. The second one was likely an uncatchable ball, but Porter made unnecessary late contact that begged for a flag. He also dropped a fourth-quarter interception.

• I have no idea why the Steelers were hurrying up to the line of scrimmage with one timeout left and the clock nearly running out at the end of the first half before kicking a field goal.