Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals Match Player Stats (Oct 16, 2025)

Joe Flacco passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, Ja’Marr Chase set a Bengals franchise record with 16 receptions, and Evan McPherson converted all four field goal attempts — including a 36-yarder with seven seconds remaining — as Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh 33-31 on Thursday Night Football at Paycor Stadium.

Seven seconds left. Pittsburgh up 31-30. Aaron Rodgers had just threaded a 68-yard touchdown strike to Pat Freiermuth two minutes earlier to put the Steelers back in front, and everything that had gone wrong for Cincinnati in its four-game losing streak seemed to hang in the air over the stadium.

Then McPherson split the uprights from 36 yards. Bengals 33, Steelers 31.

Flacco — acquired from Cleveland nine days before this game — drove the offense 52 yards on eight plays to get Cincinnati within range, completing passes of 15 and 18 yards to Chase along the way. It was the 23rd fourth-quarter comeback of his 18-year career and his second start wearing a Bengals uniform. Chase’s 16 catches from 23 targets broke Cincinnati’s franchise reception record and established him as the fourth receiver in NFL history with two games of 14 or more catches in a single season.

Below is the full statistical record from this AFC North divisional game — every passing, rushing, receiving, and defensive number, plus the complete box score and team stats.

Game At a Glance

Score by Quarter

Full Scoring Summary

Passing Stats

This was only the third regular-season matchup in NFL history between two starting quarterbacks both aged 40 or older — Flacco at 40, Rodgers at 41. The previous two occurred during the 2020 season, when Drew Brees and Tom Brady met twice.

Flacco finished without a turnover against a Pittsburgh secondary that had generated nine turnovers in the five weeks prior to this game. During the course of the night, he also surpassed Fran Tarkenton for 14th on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list, reaching 47,012 career yards.

Rodgers’ four touchdown passes were offset by two second-quarter interceptions — both led directly to Cincinnati points. He held the ball for 8.598 seconds before his opening touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith in the first quarter, the longest time to throw on a completion recorded by NFL Next Gen Stats since the league began tracking the metric in 2016. His 68-yard strike to Freiermuth with 2:31 left gave Pittsburgh a lead it couldn’t hold.

“I told him to be ready,” Rodgers said of Freiermuth after the game. “I saw something on the sideline pictures in the first half. At halftime I pulled him aside. I had a nice shot down the middle.”

Rushing Stats

Pittsburgh Steelers — Rushing

Cincinnati Bengals — Rushing

Warren carried 16 times for 127 yards in Pittsburgh’s most productive rushing performance in several weeks. Chase Brown’s 108 yards on 11 carries — his second 100-yard game in the 2025 season — gave Cincinnati a ground threat it had lacked during its four-game skid. The two teams were essentially even on the ground, split by five yards.

Receiving Stats

Pittsburgh Steelers — Receiving

Cincinnati Bengals — Receiving

Freiermuth’s two-touchdown performance — 111 yards on five catches — was the Steelers’ most significant individual receiving effort. His 68-yard score broke open what had been a 30-24 game and briefly put Pittsburgh back in control.

For Cincinnati, Chase’s 16 receptions broke the Bengals’ franchise record. His previous career high was 15. Working primarily against zone coverage, he absorbed 23 targets and converted 16 of them, catching passes of 15 and 18 yards on the final drive to position McPherson’s game-winning attempt. Higgins contributed 96 yards and a touchdown on six catches. Fant scored the fourth-quarter go-ahead touchdown from five yards out.

Defensive Stats

Cincinnati Bengals — Defense

Note: DE Trey Hendrickson was inactive for this game with a hip injury sustained in the previous week at Green Bay.

Cincinnati Interceptions

Battle picked off a Rodgers deep ball intended for DK Metcalf at the Bengals 24 in the second quarter. Three plays later, Flacco found Higgins on a 29-yard slant for a touchdown. Turner’s interception of Flacco with 40 seconds left in the first half gave Pittsburgh a short field — but McPherson responded with a 49-yarder as time expired, a sequence that turned a potential Pittsburgh momentum shift into a seven-point Cincinnati halftime lead.

Pittsburgh Steelers — Defense

Pittsburgh generated six quarterback hits and 2.0 sacks — Keeanu Benton with 1.0, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt splitting the other — but recorded no interceptions. Flacco was sacked twice for 14 yards in losses and otherwise had time to work.

Special Teams

Kicking

McPherson’s four field goals came from 49, 23, 45, and 36 yards and accounted for 12 of Cincinnati’s 33 points. His 49-yarder as the second quarter expired extended a four-point halftime lead to seven. Boswell converted his only attempt and all four extra points.

Punting

Kick Returns

Punt Returns

Full Box Score — Team Stats

Game Officials

Pittsburgh’s stat line had weight to it. The Steelers ran for 147 yards, converted 70% of their third downs, and Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes. Those numbers usually win AFC North games. But Rodgers’ two second-quarter interceptions surrendered 10 Cincinnati points, Pittsburgh’s time of possession deficit reached more than nine minutes, and the Bengals — who entered the night having lost four straight — moved the ball on seven of their final eight possessions with a quarterback who had been on their roster for nine days.

Flacco finished the night without a turnover. Chase caught 16 passes from 23 targets. McPherson went 4-for-4. Whatever the Steelers built over the first two and a half quarters — a 10-0 lead, a late fourth-quarter comeback — wasn’t enough against an offense that simply refused to go away.

“It’s very fun,” Flacco said after the game. “It’s because of games like this that we do what we do.”

That was Cincinnati snapping a four-game losing streak. That was Joe Flacco at 40, in his second start with his third NFL team of the season, posting a 108.6 passer rating in an AFC North divisional win. The numbers are all above.