8 shining stars from Bengals’ curb-stomping of Steelers in week 12

3. Joe Burrow

Fans will probably hear the coaches and players mention all week how this was the best the offense has looked all season. Well, Joe Burrow is to thank for that.

He started this game off in dominant fashion and didn’t throw an incompletion until the second quarter. Burrow’s stats were 20-of-24 for 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while dashing for eight yards and a touchdown, giving him two scores on the day.

Burrow did throw another interception, taking his total to 12 on the year, but the Bengals got the ball right back afterward on a pick-six (more on that shortly) so no harm, no foul. Burrow is one of the Bengals’ shining stars this week.

2. Mike Hilton

It might seem crazy to put Mike Hilton higher than Burrow or Higgins but I’m trying to judge each player by their position and not their stats because it’s harder for defensive players to put up eye-popping stats.

With Hilton playing in the secondary, what’s the most impressive thing he can do in a game? That would be picking off the opposing quarterback and taking it to to the house or simply shutting down their opponent. Hilton helped out in coverage well but he’s No. 2 on this list for the first option that I listed.

After Burrow threw his only pick of the game, Roethlisberger helped get Cincinnati right back on track by throwing the football right into the waiting arms of Hilton, who took it the other way for a pick-six. What made this even better was that Hilton used to play for the Steelers so it was a big middle finger to them.

He’s a shining star from the win over Pittsburgh.