NFL fans got a real treat on "Thursday Night Football" as the Cincinnati Bengals snapped their three-game losing streak with a thrilling 31-30 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. 

The Bengals, desperate for a win after starting the season 2-0, are now 3-4, while the Steelers fall to 4-2 on the year. 

And while they may be well past their primes, Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco put on a show like it was the early 2010s in Cincinnati. 

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It started with Rodgers, who has gotten better by the week it seems with the Steelers in his debut season. He needed just eight plays to go 69 yards for a touchdown to tight end Jonnu Smith from 10 yards out, as he scrambled, surveyed and threw a strike to his man for the seven-point lead. 

For Flacco, the success didn’t come right away in his home debut with the Bengals, as they were forced to punt twice. But the third possession saw the drive Bengals fans have been desperate for since Flacco was traded from the Cleveland Browns to relieve Jake Browning of his starting duties. 

Flacco went 10 plays and 72 yards where he found Ja’Marr Chase on one of many passes, this one for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 10-7. 

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Then, Cincinnati’s defense came through immediately as momentum shifted to the home team. Jordan Battle intercepted Rodgers on an incredible play, ripping the ball out of D.K. Metcalf’s hands and staying inbounds while doing so. Flacco took that opportunity and found Tee Higgins, who ran through multiple Steelers defenders for a 29-yard touchdown. 

Rodgers would be picked off again on the ensuing drive, and the Bengals were able to kick a field goal before the end of the first half to head into the locker room with a surprising 17-10 lead. 

If the first half wasn’t wild enough, the second half blew the doors off their primetime divisional bout. There were five straight scoring drives, including three straight touchdown drives, with Flacco finding Noah Fant and Rodgers using his tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington to make it a 27-24 game. 

The Bengals were able to give Evan McPherson a field goal try, which he buried to move their lead to 30-24, but Rodgers had the opportunity late in the fourth quarter to give his team a shot at the lead they were chasing since the first quarter. 

With 2:21 left on the clock, Rodgers escaped pressure and his eyes lit up as he saw Freiermuth alone downfield and he zipped a pass to him that was caught and it was off to the races. Freiermuth went 68 yards to tie the game, and the extra point was good to give Pittsburgh the 31-30 lead. 

But was it too fast of a score for the Steelers considering how Flacco and the Bengals’ offense were playing? You bet. 

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Flacco dissected the Steelers’ defense once more with a seven-play drive that was capped by a perfectly placed 28-yard pass to Higgins, who smartly slid in the red zone to waste clock and allow McPherson a chance for the walk-off field goal. He nailed it from 36 yards out and the Paycor Stadium crowd was in a frenzy as they finally got back into the win column. 

Looking at the box score, Chase broke his own franchise record for the most receptions in a single game, hauling in 16 of his 23 targets from Flacco for 161 yards and his touchdown. Those 23 targets were the most a player has had all season in the NFL by a mile. 

Higgins also added 96 yards with his touchdown on six catches, while Chase Brown finally had the rushing game he wanted with 108 yards on 11 carries after struggling through the first six games. 

Flacco finished an incredible 31-of-47 for 342 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. As for Rodgers, his patented Hail Mary didn’t work in the end. He was 23-of-34 for 249 yards with four touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Jaylen Warren tallied 127 yards on the ground as well as 31 air yards on four catches, while Freiermuth had his breakout game this season with 111 yards on five receptions. 

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NEW YORK, N.Y. - The three men running to be the next mayor of New York City, the largest city in the United States, clashed on multiple occasions on the debate stage Thursday night on issues ranging from the war in Gaza to public safety to housing costs.  

Public safety was discussed throughout the debate, with Mamdani's past disparaging comments about police and his calls to defund the New York City Police Department taking center stage. 

"He believes in defunding the police, disarming the police, disbanding the police," Cuomo said. "That's who he is."

Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past tweets, pointing out that they were from 2020. 

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All three candidates discussed their plans to address the housing crisis in New York City with Mamdani's plan to "freeze the rent" drawing sharp criticism from Cuomo and Sliwa.

"Freeze the rent only postpones the rent," Cuomo said about Mamdani's plan, making the case that many of Mamdani's opponents have made that rent freezes would do more harm than good to housing stock. 

Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his past support of legislation to decriminalize prostitution and faced criticism from both his opponents on that subject.

Mamdani's past statements on Israel were another flashpoint during the debate. At one point, Mamdani said, "of course" he supports calling on Hamas to disarm, despite dodging questions on that subject the previous day in an interview with Fox News Channel.

"I have denounced Hamas time and time again and it will never be enough," Mamdani said. 

Republican Curtis Sliwa told Mamdani, "Jews don't trust that you'll be there for them when they are victims of anti-Semitic attacks."

Experience was also brought up several times in the debate, focused on Mamdani and Cuomo making the case that they were the candidate with the right resume to lead the city going forward.

"This is not a job for a first timer," Cuomo said of Mamdani, adding, "he's literally never had a job."

"Thank God I’m not a professional politician because they have helped create this crime crisis in the city that we face," Sliwa said, criticizing both of his opponents' records. 

Mamdani shot back with a line directly at Cuomo on the experience issue.

"What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity," Mamdani said to Cuomo. "What you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience."

With under three weeks until Election Day, Mamdani holds a double-digit lead in the race for the nation's most populous city, but Cuomo is narrowing the gap, according to the latest public polling.

The tightening contest underscores how Cuomo’s independent bid continues to draw support from disaffected Democrats following embattled Mayor Eric Adams’ withdrawal from the race.

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Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens who shocked the political world in June with his convincing win over Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party's mayoral nomination, stands at 46% support among likely voters in the most recent survey in the race, from Quinnipiac University.

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid multiple scandals and who is running as an independent candidate in the general election after losing the primary, had 33% support in the survey, which was conducted Oct. 3–7.

Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democratic-dominated city, stood at 15% in the poll.

Quinnipiac's survey was the only major poll in the field entirely after Adams, a Democrat who was running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race. 

In Quinnipiac University's previous poll, conducted in early September, Mamdani held a 22-point 45%-23% lead over Cuomo, with Sliwa at 15% and Adams at 12%.

Despite Mamdani's lead in the race for Gracie Mansion, the democratic socialist has struggled to secure endorsements from national party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Mamdani did recently secure an endorsement from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined Mamdani on the campaign trail this week, but has since refused to return the favor. 
"It's a decision that should be made after this general election," Mamdai said when asked if the candidates are supporting Hochul for re-election.