Geoff Hobson

PITTSBURGH _ A quick look at the Bengals' 34-12 loss to the Steelers Sunday at Acrisure Stadium:

Key Play of the Game

Steelers strong safety Kyle Duggar, acquired in a trade with the Patriots two weeks after these two clubs met on Oct. 16, was nowhere near that 33-31 Bengals win.

He won this one with a 73-yard pick six with 37 seconds left in the third quarter right in the heart of the game.

The Bengals were driving, down 13-9 in the last minute of the third quarter. Facing a third-and-nine from the Pittsburgh 35, quarterback Joe Flacco got bumped by ubiquitous defensive lineman TJ Watt as he tried to hit wide receiver Tee Higgins over the middle.

"I don't know if my arm got hit. I just got ht. I was trying to wrap it around that guy," Flacco said. "Kind of saw him sitting there and felt like there was a lot of room in the middle of the field trying to wrap Tee in there. And maybe it's out in front of Tee or not. I thought there was room in there, and kind of got bumped and couldn't get the ball where I wanted it."

It was Watt's lone hit on Flacco Sunday, but a big one.

Watt Again

Flacco is practicing only once a week with a sore AC joint in his throwing shoulder, and Watt didn't exactly give it treatment when he was called for roughing Flacco in the first quarter when he put his body weight on him and he drove his shoulder into the ground.

But Flacco wouldn't use it as an excuse for the worst start of his five with the Bengals: 65.3 passer rating on 17 of 31 for 199 yards, a touchdown and the pick-six.

"Listen, that's football. He did a good job. He buried me in the turf," Flacco said. "But I felt good all game.

Ja'Marr Jammed

After ripping the Steelers for a Bengals-best 16 catches on 23 targets last month, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase ended up with three catches for 30 yards on ten targets. He said those two new safeties (Dugger and Jalen Ramsey) played more two-high Sunday than the one-high they used in Cincinnati.

"I think they made sure that they probably did it more. They probably had a couple guys on him more often than they did in the first game," Flacco said. "We knew they were going to make adjustments and come in here and play better than they did the first time we played them, and we've just got to match that."

Slants and Screens

Chase had a couple of run-ins with Ramsey and, of course, he did. All Bengals fans remember how Ramsey got himself and mild-mannered All-Classy A.J. Green both thrown out of a 2017 game.

On Sunday they were both flagged after the first scrum and then in the second one, Ramsey threw a punch and reportedly said Chase spit at him. Chase denied it

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was lost early in the game with a left foot injury, and it looks serious. He was on crutches in the locker room