The Icy Hot Bowl: Cold Starts, Hot Finish
October 17, 2025
Thursday night’s matchup, dubbed “The Icy Hot Bowl” by Steelers DL Cameron Heyward, comes with no shortage of storylines. Chief among them is Mike Tomlin’s troubling track record on the road in Thursday night games. He holds just a 2-9 overall record in such contests, including a winless 0-6 mark within the AFC North. These short-week road games have been a persistent challenge for Tomlin, most recently last season when the Steelers fell to a struggling Browns team in a snow-filled showdown. If anyone can fix Tomlin’s Thursday night woes though, it’s his new quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who enters the game with a 13-6 TNF record, and with a win tonight would tie Tom Brady for the most TNF wins of all-time. Rodgers also will likely have the chance to surpass Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger on the all time passing yardage list with 116 yards, which would put him at 5th, with 64,089 total passing yards in his career. On the other side of the field, another key storyline is how Joe Flacco performs in his second week running this offense. Last week he started off slow in the first half, but when he settled in for the second half he was picking apart the Packers defense. Chase hauled in 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown last week, with a majority of that coming in the second half. If they can get rocking early they may be able to cause the Steelers trouble in what Steeler fans are calling “a classic Tomlin trap game”. Still, if the Bengals are going to pull off the upset, they’ll have to do it without star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who was ruled out after suffering an injury last week.
The Bengals won the toss and deferred to the second half, which was certainly a choice considering how bad their defense has performed this year along with the fact that they are missing their top defensive player in Trey Hendrickson. The Steelers drive started slow and it was looking as if the Bengals decision was paying off. After 2 plays and a penalty, the Bengals had the Steelers in a 3rd and long situation for a chance to start the game the best way possible, with a 3 and out. Aaron Rodgers had other plans though as he dropped back and delivered a beautiful ball down the sideline to DK Metcalf for a 39 yard gain to move the chains. After a few nice runs by Jaylen Warren, Rodgers dropped back on 3rd and 6 and ran around the backfield for what seemed an eternity before delivering a 10 yard strike a frozen rope to Jonnu Smith for the TD and Smith’s first TD as a Steeler. The rest of the first quarter was a punt fest as neither team could really get anything going. The Steelers started the second quarter with a 12 play drive but stalled out and had to settle for 3. For the second straight week though, after a couple drives Flacco came alive. Flacco sat in the pocket picking the Steelers apart, taking the check down when he needed and ultimately led a 10 play, 72 yard drive that resulted in an 8 yard Ja’marr Chase TD reception. The Steelers came out ready to respond, looking to go deep on the first play of the drive. Rodgers threw a ball into double coverage intended for DK Metcalf, but was intercepted by safety Jordan Battle. The Bengals stayed hot starting the drive off with a 37 yard Chase Brown run to get them into Pittsburgh territory. After a short pass interference on Jalen Ramsey and a 6 yard Bengals run, Flacco found Tee Higgins on a 29 yard fade route in the endzone to take the lead 14-10. The Steelers were looking to put together a 2 minute drive before half, and were moving nicely before an incredible INT by DJ Turner, snatching the ball out of Metcalf’s hands on the sideline to set the Bengals up for a field goal to go into the half up 17-10.
The Bengals received the ball to start the 2nd half and picked up right where they left off. A 14 play drive of a steady mix of Flacco and Chase picking the secondary apart then Perine or Brown for 3-5. The Steelers finally got a run stop to start a set of downs and followed that up forcing 2 incompletions, causing the Bengals to stall and settle for 3. The Steelers followed up with a nice drive of their own, headstarted by a 24 yard run by Jaylen Warren bowling through defenders. A couple plays later Aaron Rodgers found TE Pat Friermuth up the seam and delivered a strike for a 19 yard touchdown. Down 3 the Steelers were looking for their first stop since the first quarter. Flacco and Ja’marr Chase had other plans though as they continued to completely bully the Steelers secondary. A big gain to Andrei Iosivas for 39 yards set the Bengals up to do whatever they wanted, and that they did as Flacco sat back and picked the Steelers apart, eventually for a 5 yard touchdown pass to former Bronco teammate Noah Fant. Jaylen Warren wouldn’t let the Steelers go out without a fight though, starting the drive off with a 37 yard carry, running through every defender in sight looking for contact as he finished the run. Rodgers took it from there delivering 5 passes going 5/5 and ending with a 2 yard Darnell Washington Touchdown. Flacco and Chase aren’t gonna let their magical night be ruined though, and after a 12 yard Chase Brown run, Flacco found Chase over the middle for a 25 yard gain. They continued to march down the field until a holding penalty set them behind the sticks at 2nd and 13, and after 2 incompletions the Bengals had to settle for a field goal to go up 30-24, giving the Steelers hope. The Steelers came out and had a quick 3 and out and questionably punted it back despite having no stops since the first quarter. This was looking like it was gonna be a bad decision after the drive started with a 12 yard Chase Brown run. TJ Watt and Cam Heyward had other plans though, as they followed that up with a sack to get the Bengals behind the sticks, and after a 1 yard run the Bengals had to punt the ball away. The Steelers took the field after a nice punt return, now smelling blood in the water. The drive started exactly how they didn’t want it too, an incompletion on the first play followed up by a holding call to set up a 2nd and 20. Aaron Rodgers remained composed though, and dropped back on 2nd down finding Pat Friermuth over the middle with room to run, and he took it 68 yards to the house to give the Steelers the lead 31-30, their first since early in the second quarter. With a little over 2 minutes though would this prove to be too much time left on the clock? Flacco took the field looking to lead a game winning drive on his 10th day with his new team and he looked poised. He started the drive with a 15 yard pass to Ja’marr Chase then followed this up with another 18 yard pass to a wide open Chase. After a 2 yard run set the Bengals up for a 2nd and long, Flacco found Higgins matched up with his favorite victim of the night, Jalen Ramsey, and delivered a strike down the sideline for a huge 28 yard gain that could have went for a touchdown but Higgins made a high IQ play getting down in bounds to burn the rest of the Steelers timeouts. After a couple kneel downs the Bengals kicked a 36 yard field goal to go up 33-31 with 7 seconds remaining. With the greatest Hail Mary throwing QB of all time set to take the field, there was still a glimmer of hope. As Aaron Rodgers did his classic Hail Mary roll out drop and released the ball, Bengals fans held their breath as he looked 30 again, reaching the end zone with DK Metcalf in proximity, but it was DJ Ivey jumping above the rest to bat the ball down and secure the win.
In a game full of explosive plays and late-game drama, it was Joe Flacco and Ja’Marr Chase who stole the show. Flacco looked like vintage Joe Cool, finishing with 342 yards and 3 touchdowns, showing complete command of the Bengals offense in just his second start. But it was Chase who made history, setting a new Bengals franchise record with 16 receptions, racking up 161 yards and a touchdown in a performance that will be remembered for years to come. His connection with Flacco proved too much for a Steelers defense that had no answers all night. Despite Aaron Rodgers’ late-game heroics and a monster day from Jaylen Warren, the Bengals held firm when it mattered most. With the win, Cincinnati not only keeps its playoff hopes alive but also delivers Mike Tomlin yet another Thursday night road loss closing the gap on the AFC North lead, extending a frustrating trend in a game that truly lived up to the chaos promised by “The Icy Hot Bowl.”
Ben, Author
Communication major and junior from Ohio. I played college ball at the D2 level for Lake Erie College as a defensive end…so I know a thing or two about grit (and laundry day after turf stains). I’m a proud fan of the Steelers, Michigan, and Red Sox, and when I’m not watching or debating sports, you’ll probably catch me at a Steelers game.
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