Joe Burrow and the Bengals relish chance to face Steelers in primetime

CINCINNATI (AP) — Over the years, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor remembers specific comments from opposing head coaches about the challenges of playing primetime games at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

This week, in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers where first place in the AFC North is on the line, the Bengals have the advantage of hosting a primetime division game.

It’ll also be the first regular-season primetime division home game that quarterback Joe Burrow has ever played in during his Bengals’ career.

“Our fans really show up for it,” Taylor said. “It’s a really awesome scene. Happy to be part of it. I don’t focus too much on (the primetime scene) in the game because there’s a lot of things that happen that I don’t notice. But I do know that our players get really excited about it, generally play well when we have these primetime games, and our fans perform very well and give us a significant advantage.”

The Bengals and Steelers both enter this week with a 6-2 record. The Steelers won the first matchup between these teams in September with a 30-27 victory.

The Bengals have a seemingly easier schedule than the Steelers down the stretch this season. A victory on Sunday could solidify the Bengals as the division favorites.

“Home-field advantage in the playoffs is so important,” Burrow said. “This is as big of a game as we’ve had here for a while. We lost to them early in the season. Huge game.”

The Bengals are looking for their first division title since 2022. They’ve looked the part over the past month, scoring at least 30 points in each of their past four games. The recent performances of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and the offensive line give the Bengals confidence that their offense can carry them to a win against any team, even a defense as challenging as the Steelers.

“When you find yourself in that (rhythm), you have to maintain the urgency to stay there,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “You don’t just take that for granted. That’s where we’re at.”

Burrow has played well against the Steelers, at least when he has been healthy. While he missed both matchups against the Steelers in 2023 and 2025 because of injuries and while he struggled in the season opener against the Steelers in 2022 as he was just back from an emergency appendectomy, the Steelers have struggled stopping Burrow from having standout games in each of their other matchups against him since the start of the 2021 season.

Last year on “Thursday Night Football” in Cincinnati, Joe Flacco threw for 342 yards in a memorable win against the Steelers.

A win on Sunday night would be an even bigger victory for the Bengals, considering the AFC North stakes.

“Our players do embrace it,” Taylor said of playing in primetime. “It doesn’t change anything as we go through the week. We still follow our same process. We’ve got to do a great job. It’s a really good team. They’re on a four-game winning streak just like us. They have a lot of confidence right now. They’re playing at a high level. They’re relatively healthy as far as an NFL season goes. We’ve certainly got our work cut out for us and we’ve got to maintain confidence that we’ve worked to establish and have a great week and get ready to go.”

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