The Cincinnati Bengals kept their playoff hopes alive with a hard-fought 19-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Now they need the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos on the road on Sunday and the New York Jets to upstage the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium.
Ja’Marr Chase was once again the star of the show for the Bengals as he caught 10 receptions for 96 yards and scored his team’s only touchdown. Chase had the support of Tee Higgins, who capped an excellent season with four receptions and 53 receiving yards in the most important game of his team’s campaign.
If things don’t go the Bengals’ way in the Broncos and Dolphins games on Sunday, this could be the 25-year-old’s last time playing for Cincinnati. Tee Higgins played on the franchise tag this season, which paid him $21.8 million. However, he is seeking a long-term deal and the Bengals have shown little interest in giving him a new contract.
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The wide receiver apparently has one foot out the door, but Burrow isn’t ready to say goodbye to him just yet. In the postgame press conference, the quarterback pleaded with the Cincinnati front office to offer Higgins an extension and retain his services:
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“[Me and Higgins] We started all this together. we enter together [in the 2020 NFL draft] and I built this from scratch. You don’t want to get used to letting the big players out of the building.
“Like I said earlier in the week, Tee is a great player. A guy who does everything the right way and works very hard for it. When you have a guy like that, you just can’t let him leave the building.”
Tee Higgins talks about his future after Bengals beat Steelers
Joe Burrow wasn’t the only Bengals player to talk about Tee Higgins’ future after the win in Pittsburgh. Higgins also spoke to reporters after the game:
It kind of sucks, but I’ll let God take control, whatever the future holds for me, so be it. Hopefully I can be here, but if not, I wish all my guys the best.
“I wouldn’t mind being here at all. I know the city inside and out, I know the facilities inside and out, the coaches, I have a great relationship with the front office and the coaching side.”
The Bengals’ playoff hopes are still alive after their victory, but they need the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets to help them reach the postseason. It will be interesting to see if Cincinnati can pull it off and what the future holds for Tee Higgins.
Edited by nagpaltusharn25