CINCINNATI — Ten days ago, Joe Flacco didn’t know whether he’d get to experience again what he felt Thursday night.

Last week, Flacco was a quarterback who had been benched in his 18th NFL season. On Thursday night, he celebrated another comeback win in the AFC North.

Nine days after his trade to the Cincinnati Bengals, he led his new club to a 33-31 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium. Needing points on the final drive to win, Flacco propelled the offense down the field, with kicker Evan McPherson’s 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left sealing the victory.

Flacco acknowledged the uncertainty he had felt about getting back to the position he was in Thursday night.

“It felt like I might not, to be honest with you,” Flacco said. “It’s pretty special.”

In the second game following his trade from the Cleveland Browns, the 40-year-old helped Cincinnati snap a four-game losing streak. He was 31-of-47 passing for 342 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first win for the Bengals (3-4) since starting quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2.

Burrow watched from the sideline with a walking boot on his left foot as Flacco made plays in the closing minutes to prevent Cincinnati from a devastating collapse. After leading for the bulk of the contest, the Bengals trailed by a point after Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers with 2:21 left.

But in his 23rd regular-season game against the Steelers (4-2), Flacco delivered. With Cincinnati on the cusp of field goal range, he hit wide receiver Tee Higgins for a 28-yard completion down the left sideline that made McPherson’s kick a relatively easy one.

McPherson is among those who have enjoyed having the veteran quarterback on their team.

“I love his attitude and what he brings to the team,” said McPherson, who now has eight career tying or go-ahead kicks in the final two minutes of a regular-season contest. “He’s done a really good job connecting with guys on a really short notice.”

Flacco did most of his connecting with Higgins and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase against the Steelers. Chase set a franchise record with 16 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown. It was his ninth game with more than 150 receiving yards, passing Jerry Rice for the second most in the first five seasons of an NFL career.

Chase again praised the franchise’s decision to acquire Flacco to be the starting quarterback.

“It’s honestly good having him here for us,” Chase said. “Organization made a big jump on him. We believed in him. We got him. He came in, doing his thing and showing off for us.”

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Flacco’s experience was crucial in a game that Cincinnati “needed to have.” And the veteran almost made it look effortless.

“It’s easy for him,” Taylor said. “And it’s not, because he’s putting in the work. He’s so experienced in this situation. You gain a lot of confidence from that because he goes out there [and] it’s not too big.”

Last week, Flacco was going down Interstate 75, talking to Taylor on the phone as the coach started explaining as much of the playbook as quickly as possible. Despite his experience, Flacco wanted to make sure he didn’t waste an opportunity.

On Thursday night, Flacco talked about the relief his family probably felt to see him complete another game. In his postgame news conference, Flacco said he was eager to hear how that relief morphed into excitement.

“I can’t wait to talk to my wife tonight and just hear it in her voice and all those things,” Flacco said. “Talking to [family] reminds you of how special this is.”