PITTSBURGH — Joe Burrow pᴀssed for 277 yards and a touchdown, Cade York kicked four field goals and the Cincinnati Bengals kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 19-17 win over the floundering Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.
Burrow also threw an interception and his NFL record streak of consecutive games with at least 250 yards pᴀssing and three touchdowns came to an end.
But he did enough to propel the Bengals (9-8) to their fifth straight win and keep them in the mix until the season’s final day.
Cincinnati will earn the seventh seed in the AFC if Denver loses to Kansas City and Miami either loses to or ties the Jets on Sunday.
Burrow completed 37 of 46 pᴀsses, including a 12-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase on Cincinnati’s first possession that gave the Bengals a lead they never gave up.
Chase finished with 10 receptions for 96 yards to put the NFL’s “Triple Crown” for receivers (catches, yards and touchdowns) within reach.
The Bengals’ late run began after a 44-38 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 1 dropped them to 4-8. They haven’t lost since, with Burrow playing at an MVP level and their once porous defense playing its best football of the season.
Cincinnati held reeling Pittsburgh (10-7) to 193 yards — more than 300 less than the 520 the Steelers rolled up in the first meeting — and turned aside a late rally.
Trey Hendrickson sacked Russell Wilson 3¹/₂ times to boost his season total to an NFL-leading 17¹/₂ on a night the Bengals never let the playoff-bound Steelers get on track.
Wilson pᴀssed for 148 yards and a touchdown, both the score and the vast majority of the yards coming during the fourth quarter when the Steelers were desperately playing catchup.
Wilson hit Pat Freiermuth for a 19-yard touchdown pᴀss and Chris Boswell hit a 54-yard field goal to get Pittsburgh within two.
The Steelers got the ball back just after the 2-minute warning but never made it to Cincinnati territory.
Wilson threw incomplete to Freiermuth on fourth down and Burrow came out for a kneeldown that extended the Bengals’ season to the final day.
Pittsburgh is ᴀssured of playing next week despite a four-game losing streak.
The Steelers will be the fifth seed if the Los Angeles Chargers lose at Las Vegas. If the Chargers win, Pittsburgh will be the sixth seed and travel to rival Baltimore in the first round.
