PITTSBURGH – Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor walked into the visiting locker room at Acrisure Stadium after Saturday night’s 19-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and quickly walked over to quarterback Joe Burrow.

They briefly hugged, exchanged a few words and continued to celebrate what could be a very important victory. Cincinnati’s season is alive for at least one more night.

The Bengals did their part to stay in playoff contention heading into Sunday’s playoff games. To secure the seventh and final spot in the AFC, they need losses to the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins.

And if they get the help they need, Taylor says there’s no limit to what they can achieve.

“They’re capable of anything,” Taylor said of the season. “They won’t want us in this tournament. I promise you that.”

On Saturday night against Pittsburgh (10-7), everything looked easy until it wasn’t so easy. After controlling the first three quarters of the game, the Bengals (9-8) had to hold on to a lead that was on the verge of disappearing. But a late stop by the team’s defense, including one of defensive tackle Trey Hendrickson’s 3.5 sacks on the night, sealed the win. Hendrickson finished the regular season with 17.5 sacks. Houston’s Danielle Hunter, the only player to catch Hendrickson now this season’s sack leader, has 12 players on Sunday.

Cincinnati’s defense showed a much improved performance compared to the previous meeting between the two teams. In the loss to the Steelers on December 1st, the Bengals gave up 520 yards in a 44-38 loss. Pittsburgh finished the game with 193 total yards and was 4 of 12 on third-down conversions.

“I just feel like we owe them something,” cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt said. “You all know what we think of this team. But at the end of the day, we came to their house and basically did what they did to us.”

This defensive effort was necessary on a night where the offense struggled. Cincinnati sputtered three times deep in the red zone and settled for field goals.

Burrow, who finished the season with just under 5,000 yards, said that was the story of the game. He completed 37 of 45 passes for 277 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

There was a brief moment when it looked like Burrow was going to be ejected from the game. After a hard sack on a third-down attempt in the red zone, Burrow remained on the ground for a few moments before being evaluated for a possible concussion in the blue medical tent.

However, after a few minutes he came out of the tent and back to the bench. He didn’t miss a beat.

“There was nothing that could stop me from playing at that point,” Burrow said.

He and the offense did just enough to have a chance in the postseason. Like his coach, Burrow believes the team has the potential to win playoff games if the results go in Cincinnati’s favor.

“I know when we come in we can make a splash with the players and coaches we have in this building,” Burrow said. “We’ll just have to hope for some help tomorrow and sit back and watch it.”

What happens on the final day of the regular season will determine how Cincinnati feels about a promotion and relegation season.

The Bengals started the season with three straight losses, their worst start since the Bengals drafted Burrow with the first overall pick in 2020. At one point, Cincinnati had a 4-8 record and was reflecting on its inability to close out several games of what could have been victories.

Like the results of Sunday’s games between the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, which Burrow hopes will feature at least a few starters, and Miami’s game against the New York Jets in what could be quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ final game.

And Burrow knows that if the Bengals had won games earlier in the year, they wouldn’t have been spectators on Sunday.

But the win against the Steelers at least kept the chance of getting into the playoffs open.

“The chances are good,” Burrow said. “But we have a chance.”