Cincinnati (3-6) at Pittsburgh (5-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.
BetMGM NFL Odds: Steelers by 5 1/2.
Against the spread: Bengals 3-6; Steelers 4-5.
Series record: Steelers lead 71-41.
Last meeting: Bengals beat Steelers 33-31 on Oct. 16, 2025, in Cincinnati.
Last week: Bengals were off; Steelers lost to Chargers 25-10.
Bengals offense: overall (22), rush (32), pass (13), scoring (13).
Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (32), pass (30), scoring (32).
Steelers offense: overall (29), rush (30), pass (23), scoring (16).
Steelers defense: overall (28), rush (14), pass (32), scoring (20).
Turnover differential: Bengals minus-5; Steelers plus-6.
Bengals player to watch
QB Joe Flacco. Expected to make his 200th career start, Flacco is averaging a league-high 313.5 passing yards over his four starts since being traded from Cleveland to Cincinnati on Oct. 7. The 18-year veteran passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the Bengals’ 33-31 come-from-behind victory on Oct. 16. He has 30 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 86.7 passer rating in 23 regular-season games against the Steelers.
Steelers player to watch
QB Aaron Rodgers. The oldest active player in the NFL looked his age (41) for the first time all season last week against the Chargers, when he completed just 16 of 31 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown and two picks, one of which wasn’t his fault. The four-time MVP has rarely put up back-to-back clunkers during his Hall of Fame career and facing the NFL’s worst defense might be just what he needs. Rodgers passed for 249 yards and four scores in Pittsburgh’s first meeting with the Bengals.
Key matchup
Pittsburgh DBs Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre and Brandin Echols against Cincinnati WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase lit the Steelers up for a franchise-record 16 receptions in the first meeting, and Pittsburgh’s secondary hasn’t exactly distinguished itself in the interim, though it was a bit better in last week’s loss to the Chargers. If the Steelers want to avoid a repeat of what happened in Cincinnati, the cornerbacks need to be more competitive against arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the league.
Key injuries
Bengals: Flacco is expected to play despite dealing with a sprained AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. … QB Joe Burrow (left big toe) has opened his 21-day window to return, but has already been ruled out. … DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) is likely to miss his second straight game and third in the last four. … RB Samaje Perine (ankle) and DE Shemar Stewart (knee) are also likely to be inactive.
Steelers: LG Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) could return after sitting out the Chargers game. … CB Darius Slay spent the week in the concussion protocol. … S Jabrill Peppers (quadriceps) could be available after missing the last two games. … WR Scotty Miller (finger) returned to practice this week after undergoing surgery.
Series notes
Cincinnati has won five of the last nine meetings after the Steelers ripped off an 11-game winning streak between 2015-20. … Pittsburgh is 36-19 all-time against the Bengals at home. … Rodgers’ four touchdown passes against Cincinnati last month tied Ben Roethlisberger’s franchise record for most scoring tosses in a single game vs. the Bengals, set in 2020. … Pittsburgh’s 31 points against Cincinnati in October marked the first time since 2005 that the Steelers had topped 30 points when facing the Bengals and lost.
Stats and stuff
The Bengals have lost two straight since beating Pittsburgh on Oct. 16, but could tighten up the AFC North by sweeping Pittsburgh. … The Steelers have dropped three of four to see their once comfortable AFC North lead trimmed to one game over surging Baltimore. … Flacco passed for a career-high 470 yards and four touchdowns on Nov. 2 against Chicago and became the oldest player in NFL history with at least 450 yards and four touchdowns in a game. … RB Chase Brown has at least 100 scrimmage yards in his last three games. … Chase leads the league in receptions (76) and is second in yards receiving (831). He had a franchise-record 16 catches in the first meeting. Chase has 44 receptions in the last four games. He has 6,256 yards receiving in his first five seasons and needs 91 to surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (6,346 yards receiving) for the fourth most by a player in their first five seasons in NFL history. … WR Tee Higgins had a season-high 121 yards receiving and two touchdowns in Week 9. … Cincinnati has allowed five 100-yard rushers, including three in the last three games. … LB Barrett Carter is fifth among rookies in tackles with 54. … CB DJ Turner leads the league with 14 pass deflections. … WR Charlie Jones has two kickoff returns for touchdowns since the start of last season. … Cincinnati set a team single-game record with 297 kick return yards against Chicago. … Pittsburgh is 15-6 under Mike Tomlin in games following a loss of at least 15 points, though one of those setbacks came against Cincinnati last December, a week after getting blown out by Kansas City. … Rodgers’ 18 touchdown passes are the sixth-most through nine games in Steelers franchise history. Roethlisberger holds the first five spots, though Rodgers is on pace to threaten Roethlisberger’s single-season touchdown pass record of 34 set in 2018. … Rodgers’ 36 career games with at least four touchdown passes are third in NFL history behind Drew Brees (37) and Tom Brady (39). … The Steelers have failed to top 300 yards in six of nine games this season, but racked up a season-high 396 yards in the first meeting with Cincinnati. … Pittsburgh RB Jaylen Warren had a career-best 158 yards from scrimmage in that game. Warren is averaging 5.0 yards per touch over Pittsburgh’s last seven games but has not been getting a heavy workload. Warren hasn’t had more than 20 touches since September. … Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith has four sacks, a forced fumble and swatted down a pass over the last two games. Pittsburgh needs to put some pressure on Flacco, who was sacked just twice in 49 dropbacks in the first meeting. … Steelers K Chris Boswell has been nearly automatic against the Bengals throughout his career, converting 46 of 49 field goals and all 42 extra point attempts vs. Cincinnati in 19 meetings.
Fantasy tip
While Chase will be hard-pressed to replicate his record-setting performance against Pittsburgh last month, expect him to be targeted early and often by Flacco until the NFL’s worst pass defense shows it can stop him.
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The Associated Press
