Former Clemson star Tee Higgins shined in primetime on Thursday Night Football, while fellow former Clemson star Barrett Carter made a big impact as well.

Higgins, the sixth-year NFL wideout, hauled in six receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown, helping the Cincinnati Bengals (3-4) to a 33-31 home victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2).

Meanwhile, Carter led the Bengals with 12 total tackles, including eight solo tackles. It marked his second straight game with double-digit tackles after he recorded 10 tackles against the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 12.

The rookie linebacker has 40 total tackles over seven games so far this season after being selected by Cincinnati in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 2025 NFL Draft.

On Thursday night, Higgins helped set up the Bengals’ game-winning 36-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining, as he caught a 28-yard pass from quarterback Joe Flacco and wisely went down on his own at the Steelers 7-yard line with 1:39 left, getting Cincinnati easily within field goal range.

Higgins’ 29-yard touchdown reception from Flacco at the 2:52 mark of the second quarter put the Bengals up 14-10 at the time.

Higgins entered Thursday night’s game with 18 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns over the first six games this season.

Back in March, Higgins finalized a four-year deal with Cincinnati worth $115 million, with the first two years guaranteed. The 26-year-old is under contract with the Bengals through the 2028 season.

The long-term deal was a long time coming for Higgins, who has emerged as one of the NFL’s top young wideouts and been a highly productive playmaker for the Bengals since they drafted him in the second round (No. 33 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Coming into the 2025 campaign, Higgins had caught 330 passes for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns across 70 career regular season games, while recording at least 900 receiving yards in four of his five seasons, including back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2021 and 2022. Higgins has also appeared in seven playoff games and ranks second in Bengals history in both postseason receptions (31) and postseason receiving yards (457).

Higgins is coming off a 2024 season in which he ranked second on the team in catches (73) and receiving yards (911) and finished tied for sixth in the NFL with a career-high 10 receiving touchdowns, despite missing five games due to injuries.

–Photo courtesy of Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images