Steelers pull away with defense and win a wild one in rematch with Bengals

Brian Batko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov 16, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — Kyle Dugger wasn’t in the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary the first time they faced the Cincinnati Bengals and got shredded by Joe Flacco and Co. He certainly made his presence felt in the rematch.

Dugger, in his third game with the Steelers, intercepted a horrendous Flacco throw and returned it 74 yards for a momentum-shifting touchdown with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. The Steelers (6-4) rode that wave the rest of the way to a 34-12 win Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

That pick-six by Dugger was the first defensive touchdown for the Steelers all season and was their first takeaway in nearly seven quarters against the Bengals (3-7). There was more where that came from, too.

They didn’t sack Flacco until almost five minutes into the fourth quarter but the defense still made life easy on Mason Rudolph when he came in to replace an injured Aaron Rodgers for the second half. A penalty-filled game ended up tilting in the Steelers’ favor thanks to splash plays and a Bengals defense that still can’t tackle to save its life — or its season.

Jalen Ramsey wasn’t much help in the fourth quarter, either, after he became so incensed with Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase that he jabbed at his facemask and was ejected for throwing a punch. Ramsey and Chase had already received offsetting penalties for jawing with each other on the previous play.

Rudolph finished 12 for 16 for 127 yards and a 5-yard dump-off touchdown to Kenneth Gainwell. He had a bad miss to a wide-open DK Metcalf but was otherwise sharp, so surely everyone in town will be completely normal about this development and not jump to conclusions for a quarterback controversy ... right?

Flacco threw for just 199 yards on 23-of-40 passing. Maybe Joe Burrow should just call it a season and get ready for 2026.

It was over when

The Steelers slammed the door shut in the form of a Brandin Echols forced fumble on tight end Noah Fant, returned by James Pierre for a 33-yard touchdown to make it a three-possession game with 3:22 left.

Player of the game

Darnell Washington. Four catches for 67 yards generally isn’t an MVP type of stat line, but you had to be there. If you were watching Washington work, you can appreciate how much damage he did on those three receptions, the biggest gain going for 31 on a rumbling, stumbling, stiff-arming run-after. Washington doesn’t always get to show it, but he’s a physical specimen, a beast with the ball in his hands and — on this day — a sight to behold as a runaway freight train in the open field. Jaylen Warren was on his way to another stud showing, too, averaging 6.2 yards a carry until his ankle injury early in the second half.

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James Pierre. Who had this as a potential solution for the Steelers’ coverage woes? It’s not Ramsey, Darius Slay or even Cory Trice Jr. stabilizing the cornerback group. Undrafted six years ago, Pierre has gone from special teams mainstay who didn’t make the team out of training camp to Pierre Peninsula. He had a huge breakup on Chase early in the second quarter on a deep shot from Flacco and was generally solid all afternoon opposite Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers used Pierre to the field, the wide side of the formation, with Porter to the boundary.

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Aaron Rodgers. Even before he left the game with an injury, Rodgers was struggling for the second week in a row. He looked to be having some of the same issues as he did against the Chargers, unable to evade pressure — save for one nifty 8-yard scramble to move the chains — and was either inaccurate or missing open receivers. We’ll see how serious of a setback he sustained, but he did not appear to return to the sideline in the second half. Rodgers wound up with 116 yards and completed 9 of 15 passes, including a touchdown.

Up next

A road trip to Chicago, where the Steelers haven't won since 1995 (but where they also haven’t played since 2017).

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