Wilson completed 29 of 38 passes, threw three touchdown passes and posted a passer rating of 126.4. Wilson averaged 10.9 yards per pass attempt.

“I thought we had a great day,” Wilson said. “It all starts with the offensive line. I think they did a great job. The many things they do up front and the different looks they give, I think the O-line has handled that in a great way. I made a lot of checks, a lot of noise in the running game and in the passing game to accomplish things that were favorable for us. I just think the guys did a great job making the play.

While no Steelers player reached more than 100 yards in the game, ten different players caught passes.

The Steelers made life difficult for Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow by sacking him four times, including two by TJ Watt, intercepting him once and forcing him to fumble twice, both of which were recovered by the Steelers.

The win improves the Steelers’ record to 9-3, tying them with Dallas for the most consecutive undefeated seasons in NFL history at 21. They also remain sole owners of first place in the AFC North.

“It’s good to go on the road and get an AFC North win,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “It wasn’t easy, especially when you see a group like that seven (points). It was very urgent for many reasons. Coming here in their place, against the quality of team they have, smiling in the face of (adversity), I can’t say enough about the boys’ effort.”

The game see-sawed back and forth in the first half after the Steelers forced the Bengals off the field with a three-and-out on the game’s first possession.

Cincinnati (4-8) scored a defensive touchdown when cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt Wilson intercepted at midfield and returned the ball 51 yards for a score.

Taylor-Britt appeared to throw Wilson’s intended target, George Pickens, to the ground by his helmet as Wilson released the ball and threw him to the ground before easily intercepting the ball.

When the Steelers needed an answer, they went to Pickens in the red zone on their ensuing possession as he scored on a 17-yard screen pass after Najee had three big catches to put them within scoring range and the score equalize 7:7.

“We wanted to come out and attack because we knew what they were going to give us,” Tomlin said of Cincinnati’s offense. “These divisional battles are not about checkers, but about chess.”

The Bengals used their running game to score on their next possession when Chase Brown broke free for a 40-yard run to the 1, where he was tackled by Joey Porter Jr. But he scored on the next play, putting the Bengals back in the lead at the top, 14-7.

The Steelers tied the score at 14-14 on their next possession when Wilson connected with Calvin Austin III for a 23-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.

The Bengals answered again, this time Burrow threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase after escaping Watt in the pocket, and Keeanu Benton wrapped his arms around his waist as he released the ball.

Down 21-14, the Steelers again needed an answer and quickly got it in five plays, using two Bengals defensive penalties to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Harris to tie the game at 21-21 decide.

Watt sacked Burrow on Cincinnati’s next possession while the Bengals were already in Pittsburgh territory, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Preston Smith. It was Watts’ league-leading fifth forced fumble of the season.

The Steelers gained 29 yards on a screen to Jaylen Warren on their first play from scrimmage, but stalled at the Cincinnati 32 and settled for a 50-yard field goal by Chris Boswell for a 24-21, 3 lead :31 to go in the half.

The Steelers forced the Bengals to punt after another three-pointer and Wilson took them to the 16, where Boswell made a 34-yard field goal to take a 27-21 halftime lead.

The Steelers gained the first possession of the second half and appeared in position to score again, but Boswell’s 42-yard field goal attempt was deflected by Joseph Ossai, who came up the middle and ended the threat.

The Bengals drove to the Pittsburgh 11, but Watt sacked Burrow in the third, forcing a 38-yard field goal from Evan McPherson that cut the Steelers’ lead to 27-24 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.

Watt’s sack moved him past Jared Allen into third place for player with the most sacks in the first eight seasons of his career (106). Only Reggie White and DeMarcus Ware have more sacks in their first eight seasons.

However, the Steelers again responded quickly with Wilson directing an 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth that gave them a 34-24 lead just before the end of the third quarter.

Burrow had the Bengals moving again when disaster struck. Heyward tipped his pass, which then passed from the hands of wide receiver Tee Higgins into the waiting arms of cornerback Donte Jackson, who returned the ball 11 yards to the Pittsburgh 47. It was Jackson’s career-best and team-high fifth interception of the season.

The Steelers failed to convert the turnover into points and were forced to punt for the first time in the game, giving the ball back to Cincinnati at their own 11 line with just under 13 minutes left.

On third down, Nick Herbig got behind Burrow as he was about to throw and forced a fumble that was recovered by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson 21 yards for his first career touchdown and a 41-24 lead returned for Pittsburgh.

Burrow threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Higgins with 8:34 to play, cutting the lead to 41-31.

But on third-and-9 at the Pittsburgh 42, Wilson hit Van Jefferson from the slant for a 41-yard gain to the Cincinnati 15. That set up another Boswell field goal while also forcing the Bengals to call all of their timeouts The Steelers took the lead 44:31 with just under four minutes left in the game.

The Bengals added a Burrow touchdown pass to Andre Iosivas with 2:39 to play to cut the score to 44-38, but Connor Heyward recovered an onside kick and the Steelers ran out of time.

Harris had over 100 yards of total offense, caught six passes for 68 yards and rushed 15 times for 72 yards.

“We needed all 44 of those points, right?” Tomlin said. “If you’re playing against Joe Burrow, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to get some points.