PITTSBURGH − Seemingly everywhere you looked, there they were: Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins popping up at opportune moments and providing clutch catches. It was a sight Bengals fans have viewed plenty of times, but it was the first time in 2026 Cincinnati leaned so heavily on the two stars, and they delivered.
Chase and Higgins extended and saved drives. They made circus catches and peeled off defenders on out-routes. Higgins fell backward on a reception in the end zone with a defender draped on him, completing a the team’s second unbelievable touchdown reception in as many weeks.
By game's end, Chase and Higgins reminded the NFL-viewing world once again why, in the Bengals’ Week 3 AFC North opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
the highly-paid duo might be the best receiving tandem in the NFL.
Both players hauled in touchdowns during the Sept. 27 game at Acrisure Stadium, and Chase (nine catches, 98 receiving yards) and Higgins (six catches, 90 receiving yards) combined for 188 yards and crucial scores in Cincinnati’s 30-27 loss to the Steelers.
After Cincinnati’s defense seemed to provide the spark needed to lift the team in its first two game, Chase and Higgins combined with quarterback Joe Burrow to elevate the team on a day when the defense struggled where it had excelled in the first two games.
Turnovers, quarterback pressure and forcing punts were all more scarce for Cincinnati's defense than they had been in the first two games. Given an opportunity for the offense to be the driving force in a Bengals win, Chase and Higgins nearly did it on their own.
On just the final drive and trailing the Steelers by a field goal, Chase accounted for 30 yards before the possession ended with Burrow being hit and fumbling the ball away to Pittsburgh with less than a minute remaining.
Like he had been all game, Chase was a release valve in the face of pressure. Higgins was, too, and they nearly combined to overcome a host of errors on the day.
The Bengals were about 10 yards away from the outer limits of kicker Evan McPherson's expansive range, and a successful field goal would have forced overtime.
But the Burrow fumble wasn't the Bengals' only turnover on the day. The errors, along with a disconcerting output from the Cincinnati defense, proved too consequential for even the Chase-Higgins pairing to overcome.
The Enquirer will update this story.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins are bright spots in Bengals loss
