CINCINNATI — The moment Tee Higgins caught the game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow in overtime, he heaved his third touchdown reception high into the air as a cathartic release.

For Higgins, however, as he was surrounded by his teammates, flashing a confident glare with diamonds on his teeth shining off the flashing Paycor Stadium lights, this moment wasn’t merely about Bengals 30, Broncos 24.

No, this moment was about so much more. It was about everything.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Higgins said.

This feeling was about a year in which the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him rather than offer a long-term contract. And rather than complain, he leaned into the work, showed up on time and dedicated himself to producing a contract year that would prove his worth while making a run for a title.

The feeling was about the inferred devaluing of his skills that came along with offers made to Higgins in each negotiation along the way.

About five years spent building a connection and deep-rooted respect among teammates that lifted this franchise from dregs to the top and back down, building bonds that regularly move his emotions.

About politely playing in the shadows of Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, one of the great tandems in the NFL, never complaining or selfishly petitioning for the football.

Joe and Tee did that.@JoeyB @teehiggins5 pic.twitter.com/cw3HFF2p2q

— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

About his conscious decision to shy away from the drama and spotlight at nearly every turn.

About hearing the words “injury prone” thrown around all year, calling his toughness into question, yet playing through knee and ankle injuries when everyone would understand a decision to shut it down.

About a city he never expected to grow attached to loving him back, one “Teeee!” chant at time, one final chorus cutting through the victorious pandemonium.

About a game where he walked in the building, through the tunnel and into franchise lore knowing this might be his last at home in Cincinnati.

“Emotions are just everywhere,” Higgins said, feeling reflective following his 11-reception, 131-yard, three-touchdown emphatic statement to the entire NFL. “You don’t know what to feel. It’s a surreal feeling.”

Surreal for everyone. Could this really be it in Cincinnati? The financials are challenging, the philosophy is worth debate. In that moment, smoke from the fireworks still hovering over the celebration, it was surreal, indeed, to think this could mark the final image for fans of one of the most electric trios in team history.

“I hope not, but that could have been my last game in the stripes here,” he said. “This game meant a lot more to me coming into it. Just walking into the stadium, that’s what I was thinking. It’s a possibility. You never know what happens in the future.”

“Who Dey! Love you!” – @teehiggins5 pic.twitter.com/yWktRagrhD

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 29, 2024

The path to this moment started with a text. With Higgins battling knee and ankle injuries, the first meeting of the week Tuesday included contingency plans in which he wasn’t on the field. Higgins pulled out his phone and sent a text to head coach Zac Taylor.

“I was in the back of the room and he texted me, ‘I’m playing,’” Taylor said. “So, you know, it’s early in the week, so I just let those guys get their space, really, to get right. But he was sending a pretty clear message that he saw personnel on the screen and said, ‘No, I’m playing.’”

There was no way he would miss this one. And no way the Bengals would win if he did.

In nearly every critical spot Saturday with the season on the line, Burrow turned to Higgins. When the offense scuffled through multiple failed short-yardage and red zone opportunities, it turned to Higgins as a mismatch. Once he motioned into a slot matchup with Ja’Quan McMillian, he instantly shook him inside for a pitch-and-catch 2-yard touchdown pass.

As Pat Surtain II slowed Chase, the Bengals sought matchups with Higgins. That included three receptions on three third-down targets.

With a tie game in the fourth quarter, Burrow saw Higgins matched up with corner Riley Moss, whom he targeted all night, and counted on his guy to go win. The 6-foot-4 athletic specimen took over with the type of high-point and toe-drag catch you just can’t teach.

.@joeyb x @teehiggins5 TOUGHHHH 😤#EasyToCelebrate | @budlight pic.twitter.com/rOiEIoSHvN

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 28, 2024

“Everybody can see what kind of player he is,” said Burrow, who stated following the first of these four consecutive wins he had a plan to keep himself, Chase and Higgins together for the long term. “He elevates us to a different level when he’s playing like that. Lucky to be a part of what we have going on right now.”

Even when Higgins made a mistake, fumbling in the fourth quarter as Cincinnati yet again crossed into Denver territory, his resiliency showed as his best moments would still be in front of him.

So, when the night went haywire from game-management debacles to fourth-down heaves to doinked game-winning attempts, Burrow and the Bengals were done screwing around when the defense gifted them one final chance at salvation from an 0-7 record against teams with winning records.

Get the ball to Higgins.

Burrow was beating the Broncos on slants all night. The move to keep them off-balance was over the top. Only, to make that throw, in that situation, you must have a ball-winner capable of snagging a 31-yarder over the shoulder and toe-tapping to seal the game. A game he would finish off one play later.

“I was waiting for the right moment to take our shot there,” Burrow said. “What a great catch by Tee. Tee came up big. He was unbelievable today.”

The owners’ suite didn’t need a reminder of why you would just pay the price and keep Higgins, but on Saturday night it sure got slapped in the face with one. Right along with the rapidly increasing cost of doing so.

Chase stood 10 feet away from Higgins as he spoke into a bevy of microphones after the game and interjected a simple message: “Pay that man!”

Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. The challenging nature of the decision didn’t make the reality of the moment any easier to digest.

“I grew so many relationships within the building, outside the building, in the city,” Higgins said, when asked about contemplating the concept that money could take him elsewhere. “It’ll definitely hurt. But there’s business, and if that’s where life takes me, God got me and I’ll just follow his lead.”

He admitted the emotions of the night returned as the celebration went on. Players so often say there’s no time for reflection during the season. But there was no avoiding it Saturday night.

“At the end of the game when I scored the game winner,” he said, smiling and looking off into the distance, “I was like, ‘Man, shout out to Cincy.’”

A surreal, emotional conclusion, without question, to a game that was about so much more. A night that might be Higgins’ final, brightest moment in Cincinnati.

“If it is,” he said, “go out with a bang, you know what I mean?”

Everyone very clearly knows what he means.

(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)