Bengals–Steelers
Final Score: CIN 27-30 PIT
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Joe Burrow (CIN) vs. PIT: 28/37 Passing, 282 Yards, 3 TD, 0 INT | 2 Carries, 13 Yards, 1 Fumble (Lost)
Twenty-eight of 37, 282 yards, three touchdowns, no picks. Joe Burrow lost. Chase got the first one from 3. Higgins took a 28-yarder with 34 seconds left in the half. Gesicki finished the set from 25 early in the fourth, Cincinnati led 27-24, and it felt over. Boswell tied it from 36. Then, 53 seconds on the clock, Burrow gets hit and the ball comes loose and Sebastian Joseph-Day is lying on it at the Cincinnati 49. Boswell from 33. Ballgame. He was sacked one time all afternoon. That was the one.
Running Back
Chase Brown (CIN) vs. PIT: 13 Carries, 61 Yards | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 8 Yards
Brown was on the field for 40 of 57 offensive snaps, and absorbed 15 out of 21 running back opportunities in the backfield. He didn’t find the end zone, but was on the field quite a bit, even in the red zone, he just didn’t get his number called as Burrow picked apart the secondary with three passing touchdowns.
Samaje Perine (CIN) vs. PIT: 3 Carries, 9 Yards | 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
Mostly used on third downs, Samaje Perine did garner one red zone carry (on 3rd-and-2) and earned a first down but not a touchdown. He may be more useful in negative game scripts, but for now he’s not a fantasy asset worth investing in.
Wide Receiver
Ja’Marr Chase (CIN) vs. PIT: 12 Targets, 9 Receptions, 98 Yards, TD
Ja’Marr Chase is good at football.
Bengals go for it on 4th down….
Ja'Marr Chase 1-on-1…
1st down Bengals. pic.twitter.com/h9vVxfgYZW
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 27, 2026
Tee Higgins (CIN) vs. PIT: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 90 Yards, TD
Tee Higgins is also good at football.
How in the WORLD did Tee Higgins make this TD catch???
Joe Burrow's reaction at the end 🤣 pic.twitter.com/MCLBFOpn9n
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 27, 2026
Dohnte Meyers (CIN) vs. PIT: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 29 Yards
Colbie Young (CIN) vs. PIT: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
With Andrei Iosivas placed on injured reserve, Meyers and Young rotated in at the Bengals’ WR3. As promising as Young has looked through preseason and with the limited opportunities he’s earned, he injured his knee early in this game and did not return. That left Meyers with the bulk of the WR3 snaps for the rest of the game which he did just as well as any other receiver behind Chase and Higgins in this offense in the past few seasons.
Tight End
Mike Gisecki (CIN) vs. PIT: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 37 Yards, TD
Tanner Hudson (CIN) vs. PIT: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 13 Yards
Drew Sample (CIN) vs. PIT: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 0 Yards
It seems impossible to predict, but Mike Gesicki is going to keep having chances to score if defenses leave him this unchecked:
Joe Burrow finds a WIDE OPEN Mike Gesicki for the TD 🏈@CINvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/6uQMynVQ8n— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
Those of you who bought into the Week 1 Gesicki hype will do well to explain to any Week 3 believers that this isn’t something to buy into. Yes, there’s some matchup-based streaming appeal, but nothing more.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers (PIT) vs. CIN: 19/34 Passing, 292 Yards, 3 TD, 1 INT | 3 Carries, 10 Yards
Look who woke up. One passing touchdown in two games. Three in this one, and two of those came in the first quarter alone, Roman Wilson from 38 and Skowronek from 23, 14-7 before anybody had settled into their seat. He should have had four. Metcalf was standing wide open in the end zone in the second and Rodgers put it nowhere near him, then finally connected with him from 6 in the third like he’d been meaning to get around to it. The long one was 47 to Darnell Washington in the fourth. Jordan Battle picked him off before halftime. Two sacks. Two hundred ninety-two yards and three scores on 34 throws is the discount double-check I said was gone for good. Boswell finished it from 33 at 2:15 after Cincinnati coughed it up.
Running Back
Rico Dowdle (PIT) vs. OPP: DID NOT PLAY
Jaylen Warren (PIT) vs. CIN: 17 Carries, 127 Yards | 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 39 Yards
With Rico Dowdle missing with an injury, Jaylen Warren showed exactly what a true Pittsburgh RB1 COULD look like. Warren was on the field for nearly every offensive snap, stepping off just momentarily for a breather here and there. Warren ran 95% of the RB routes, earned 95% of the running back opportunities, and looked darn good doing it against a Bengals rushing defense that made the Houston Texans look extremely one-dimensional a week ago. If Dowdle continues to miss time, Warren becomes a must-start running back in this backfield by himself.
Wide Receiver
DK Metcalf (PIT) vs. CIN: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 31 Yards, TD
There’s no question who the WR1 in this offense is from a snap share standpoint. DK Metcalf was on the field for 59 out of 62 snaps and ran a team-high 37 routes, but was targeted just five times. Luckily for fantasy managers, one of those targets was a wide open look in the back of the end zone that Metcalf pulled in for a score.
Michael Pittman Jr. (PIT) vs. CIN: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 16 Yards
Michael Pittman Jr. returned from a one week absence to run 28 routes on 45 snaps, good for second among the Steelers wide receivers. For fantasy managers, the performance was uninspiring, but it was good to see a healthy MPJ back on the field. With the way that the Steelers used their tight ends though, targets may be thin for Pittman moving forward.
Roman Wilson (PIT) vs. CIN: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 60 Yards, TD
What an amazing start of the game for Roman Wilson, who caught three passes including a 38-yard touchdown where he separated from the man coverage by a country mile, on the Steelers first few drives. Then it unraveled. Wilson dropped a pass that resulted in a Bengals interception and may as well never have been heard from again. Aaron Rodgers’ trust is a valuable, but fickle mistress.
Ben Skowronek (PIT) vs. CIN: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 23 Yards, TD
Skowronek was involved mostly as a blocker, but ran an excellent route out of the backfield on a play action pass to get behind the defense for a wide open touchdown, his only catch of the game.
Germie Bernard (PIT) vs. CIN: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 14 Yards
After what appeared to be a breakthrough in Week 2 with Michael Pittamn Jr. out, Bernard saw just 17 snaps in Week 3.
Tight End
Darnell Washington (PIT) vs. CIN: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 67 Yards
Pat Freiermuth (PIT) vs. CIN: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 30 Yards
Robert Tonyan (PIT) vs. CIN: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
It’s always great to see more Darnell Washington usage, but this offense isn’t one I want to buy into with the inconsistent usage and general dysfunction. I’d still trust Pat Freiermuth as my “emergency streamer” option, even if I enjoy Washington’s game 100 times more.