Upset Alert! The Cincinnati Bengals are flipping the script on Thursday Night Football, stunning the favored Steelers with a 17-10 halftime lead. This wasn’t supposed to happen—experts had Pittsburgh as the clear favorite. But here’s where it gets controversial: the Bengals not only rallied from a 10-0 deficit but also exposed the Steelers’ Achilles’ heel—turnovers. And this is the part most people miss: Cincinnati’s defense, often overlooked, stepped up big time, intercepting Aaron Rodgers twice in the final minutes of the half. Let’s break it down.
The Bengals dominated the first half, outgaining the Steelers 220 to 183 yards. Pittsburgh started strong, scoring on two of their first three drives—a 10-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Jonnu Smith and a 41-yard field goal by Chris Boswell. But then, the wheels came off. Rodgers threw back-to-back interceptions, both intended for DK Metcalf. Safety Jordan Battle’s pick with 4:25 left sparked a lightning-fast 76-yard touchdown drive for the Bengals, and cornerback DJ Turner’s jaw-dropping interception with 40 seconds remaining set up Evan McPherson’s 49-yard field goal as time expired. Talk about momentum shift!
The Steelers’ struggles didn’t end with turnovers. A holding penalty on center Zach Frazier nullified a touchdown, forcing them to settle for a field goal. Later, a false start on offensive lineman Mason McCormick on fourth-and-1 cost them another scoring opportunity. Bold statement: Is Pittsburgh’s offense cracking under pressure, or is this just a fluke?
Statistically, Rodgers (13-of-19, 118 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) looks shaky, while Metcalf’s two receptions for 45 yards feel underwhelming. Jaylen Warren’s 8 carries for 45 yards provided a bright spot, but it wasn’t enough. On the other side, Joe Flacco—who’s been in Cincinnati for just over a week—looked surprisingly sharp, completing 14 of 21 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase (7 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD) and Tee Higgins (3 catches, 54 yards, 1 TD) were unstoppable, and Chase Brown’s 74 rushing yards on 5 carries added another dimension to the Bengals’ attack.
Here’s the kicker: The Bengals, riding a four-game losing streak, now have the momentum heading into the second half. But here’s the question: Can they hold on, or will the Steelers regroup and mount a comeback? And this is where it gets even more intriguing—is Cincinnati’s performance a sign of things to come, or just a one-off surprise? Let us know what you think in the comments—are the Bengals for real, or is this just a Steelers meltdown?
