Five Takeaways From The Cincinnati Bengals' 37-30 Win Over The Pittsburgh Steelers

Cincinnati improved to 6-4 on the season following the win.

Mike Santagata | Nov 21, 2022

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Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals notched their first divisional win of the season on Sunday when they beat the Steelers 37-30. This win keeps them alive in the AFC North and also makes them the seventh seed in the AFC.

Joe Burrow and the offense showed that they can still put points on the board even without star receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

Tee Higgins is Him

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (85) turns downfield after completing a catch in the second quarter during a Week 11 NFL game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. Nfl Cincinnati Bengals At Pittsburgh Steelers Nov 20 0110 — © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Higgins smoked the Steelers for nine receptions for 148 yards.

He looked excellent the past couple of games on film, he just had some unfortunate circumstances against the Browns to not capitalize and they didn’t need him against the Panthers with Joe Mixon running for seven yards per carry.

Finally, he can show this high level talent on the stat sheet as well. The 148 yards are the second most yards that Higgins has tallied and his nine catches are the second-most he's had in a game.

His efficiency in this game was incredible. According to Pro Football Focus, Higgins averaged 4.35 yards per route run. He also added 0.59 EPA (expected points added) per play with 7.7 EPA added in total. That means just about every other target, Higgins was giving the Bengals a point on the scoreboard. The most remarkable thing about the EPA is that he did this all without scoring a touchdown. Samaje Perine and Trenton Irwin both ended up with higher EPA per play numbers in the receiving game because of the touchdowns, but those get a huge boost from getting into the end zone. Higgins dominated without the touchdown and ended up with a stellar game. Hats off to the 23-year-old, who showed that he is a true No. 1 wide receiver in this league.

Joe Burrow Carves Them Up

To go with Higgins’s fantastic game, Joe Burrow had the best two interception performance from a quarterback that I have seen. Neither of the interceptions were Burrow’s fault, just an unfortunate tipped ball on the one and an unreal defensive play from T.J. Watt to catch the ball at the line of scrimmage on the other.

Despite the two interceptions, Burrow ended the day with 355 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 9.1 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 104. Most impressive to me is that he still ends with 0.3 EPA per play on the day, despite the turnovers. That puts him into the 80th percentile since they started tracking the statistic.

The turnovers typically have a huge effect on that number, but Burrow was so efficient outside of the flukey interceptions that he still ends the day with fantastic numbers. It’s going to be a real tell online about who watched this performance and who did not when they talk about it. To me, it showed that Burrow can still slice and dice a good defense despite missing his number one target. This is also the first game that Burrow has won in the NFL where he threw two interceptions, moving him to 1-5 in those games.

Drue Chrisman Wins The Job

Cincinnati Bengals long snapper Cal Adomitis (48) and newly promoted punter Drue Chrisman (4) warm up before the first quarter of of the NFL Week 11 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. The Steelers led 20-17 at halftime. Cincinnati Bengals At Pittsburgh Steelers Week 11 — © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Before the game, it came out that second year punter Drue Chrisman was going to get his shot at winning the punting job. He came out on Sunday and balled. Two out of his three punts ended inside of the 20 and he averaged 50 yards per punt, with a long of 57.

The 50 yards per punt is the most since week 1 when Kevin Huber averaged 52 yards per punt. Huber has only hit the 50 yards per punt seven times in the past three years. That puts this game on a yards per punt standpoint in the top 15% of Huber games over the past three seasons. There are only three other players in the league who average 50+ yards per punt in Ryan Stonehouse, A.J. Cole, and Tommy Townsend. Those are also the three best punters in the NFL. This isn’t to say that Chrisman is going to be the next Ray Guy, but he showed yesterday that if you give him a shot, he can deliver. With the high end performance from the second year punter, it will be hard to go back to Huber after this week. I would expect Chrisman to be the guy moving forward.

Trayveon Williams Shines On Kick Returns

Chrisman was not the only special teamer to take advantage of their opportunity yesterday. Trayveon Williams got the nod at kick returner for an injured Chris Evans and he had a nice day. Williams averaged nearly 25 yards per return. This would put him sixth out of 28 kick returners with 10 or more returns on the season. Chris Evans has only averaged 21 yards per return, with one game above 25 yards per return on the season. The Bengals may not make the switch to Williams yet, but this game from him showed that he is nipping on Evans’s heels to win the kick return job. If Evans puts together another bad game or two, then it may be time for Williams to take over duties.

A Pair of Defensive Standouts

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91), center, celebrates a sack with Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard (94), left, and Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates III (30), right, in the third quarter during a Week 11 NFL game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Cincinnati Bengals won, 37-30. Nfl Cincinnati Bengals At Pittsburgh Steelers Nov 20 0095 — © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

After spending too much time with the offense and special teams, I needed to shout-out two defensive players that were studs on Sunday: Germaine Pratt and Trey Hendrickson.

Pratt was a monster in the run game. He finished the day with eight tackles and two tackles for loss (TFLs). The TFLs both came from him fast-fitting through the B-gap on wide zone runs. Essentially, that means that he would run through the small opening between the guard and the tackle on the play to get into the backfield untouched. This is very difficult to do and not something that the Bengals typically ask out of their linebackers. With DJ Reader not yet back to his usual self, these TFLs were critical in the Bengals' run defense. He ends the day with a 90+ grade from Pro Football Focus.

Hendrickson dominated Dan Moore in this game. He consistently generated pressure off the left side of the offensive line, finishing with four quarterback hits, two sacks, and a pass breakup.

Hendrickson had his bullrush on full display as he routinely walked Moore back into Kenny Pickett and finished by hitting the quarterback.

He also showed off his ability to cover on a peel blitz. A peel blitz is a Cover 0 blitz where they don’t leave anyone to account for the running back. If the running back runs a route, then the outermost defender that’s rushing is responsible for him man to man. That happened to be Hendrickson and he broke up the pass to the running back on the play.

These two defenders were key in turning the defensive performance around in the second half. They only allowed 3 points in the final two quarters before garbage time, which allowed the Bengals to pull away.

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