Cincinnati didn't panic. Evan McPherson hit from 50 yards to make it 14-10 midway through the 2nd quarter. The Bengals won that quarter 10-3 and went into the half tied at 17. Pittsburgh played without Rico Dowdle and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., both inactive. Jaylen Warren, Michael Pittman Jr. and Jamel Dean all suited up, so the patchwork backfield the preview worried about still had its lead back.
The injuries were on the other sideline this time. Colbie Young went out for the rest of the game with a knee injury, and safety Bryan Cook (ankle) and corner Jalen Davis (hamstring) were both questionable to return. All 3 came in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The Cincinnati defense that started the day without B.J. Hill, Landon Robinson and Josh Newton spent the second half even thinner.
That's when the game turned. Pittsburgh won the 3rd quarter 7-3 to go up 24-20, then added 6 more in the 4th. Cincinnati's 7 in the final quarter got it back within a field goal, but it never got the ball back into the lead. Individual stat lines weren't available when this went up, so the verdicts on Rodgers, Burrow, T.J. Watt and the Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins pairing come from the scoreboard. Pittsburgh's quarterback led 30 points, and Cincinnati's passing game scored 27 against a secondary missing Porter. Neither side's best-case pregame story held up completely.
The Steelers didn't win this on defense, which is how they won in Week 1. They won it by finally keeping pace. They scored at least 3 points in every quarter and never trailed after the opening frame, the kind of steady 60 minutes their offense hadn't put together this September. The Bengals scored 27, more than either of Pittsburgh's first 2 opponents, and still lost.
The Polymarket chat drew more than 75,000 members, over 9 times the season's median room, and it got a 1-score game from start to finish. Cincinnati's 5-game run going back to August is over, and the AFC North standings are closer than they were at kickoff.