If he was trying to figure out what happened in Cincinnati’s season opener, he wasn’t alone. The Bengals endured a day that included several turnovers, a game-changing game and a tough outing in a 23-20 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In Cincinnati’s first game since Super Bowl LVI, Burrow committed five turnovers, the Bengals missed two game-winning chances and were left with a bad result. “We had our chances,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Losing the turnover battle five-to-none, getting the kicks ruined on two kicks that both would have won the game, it’s disappointing that way.” Chris Boswell’s 53-yard field goal late in overtime allowed the Steelers to escape with a victory and snap a three-game losing streak against their AFC North rivals. 2 Related Barrow had a career-high four tackles and lost a fumble in the team’s loss. He was also sacked six times. And yet, the Bengals were still able to pull off an improbable victory. “Obviously, you don’t want to drop four picks,” Barrow said. “But I never panicked. We stayed tied and came back and put ourselves in a position to win.” At the end of regulation, Barrow threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to tie the game at 20 with two seconds left. But Steelers defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, who returned an interception for a touchdown on Cincinnati’s first drive of the game, blocked the potential game-winning extra point. Cincinnati’s special teams unit had a chance at redemption in overtime. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 29-yard field goal that could have won the game in overtime. On both of those kicks, Cincinnati used Mitchell Wilcox as the punter. Clark Harris, who has held the position for the team since 2009, suffered a right bicep injury that ruled him out for the rest of regulation and overtime. Wilcox, who said he was a long linebacker in high school and a backup in college at South Florida, took over. “We had a chance in the first,” Wilcox said. “It just got blocked. In the second, it’s on me. I have to give [punter Kevin Huber] a better shot there.” Boswell also missed a 55-yard field goal with 2:27 left in overtime that could have ended the game. His kick sailed left and hit the left upright, leaving the game tied until he ended it at the end of overtime. Pittsburgh couldn’t pull away despite a huge turnover advantage. Cincinnati’s defense limited the Steelers to 267 total yards. In his debut with the team, Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky was 21-of-38 for 194 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Steelers running back Najee Harris was held to 23 yards on 10 carries and did not finish the game with a leg injury. “It was enough,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of the team’s offensive performance. Last year, the Bengals defeated the Steelers twice en route to the division title that led to their first playoff berth since 2015. This postseason brought the team’s first win in 31 years and its first appearance team in the Super Bowl since 1989. On many occasions last season, Cincinnati was able to do enough to win. On Sunday, the Bengals nearly pulled a positive out of a game that featured a series of unfortunate events. Instead, they were left trying to piece together a wild losing season. “A loss is a loss,” Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd said. “It hurts just the same. “We had a chance and we didn’t take it.”
