The Bengals did what they had to do to give themselves a chance at making the playoffs.

Trey Hendrickson had 3.5 sacks of Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, including one in the final minute that led to the Steelers turning the ball over on downs with 11 seconds left to play. That secured a 19-17 win for the Bengals and they will now shift to observer mode on Sunday. Losses by the Broncos and Dolphins will give the Bengals a playoff spot.

It’s a scenario that seemed far-fetched when the Bengals were 4-8, but five straight wins to close out the regular season leaves them alive heading into the final day of the season. Hendrickson, who is likely to be the league’s sack leader with 17.5 on the season, was one of the three usual suspects to play a big role in the latest win.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase hooked up for their 17th touchdown of the season to open the game and Chase ended the night with 10 catches for 96 yards. He is the first player in league history with 1,700 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in the same season and he won the receiving triple crown by leading the league in catches as well.

Burrow was checked for a concussion at one point, but didn’t miss a snap and went 37-of-46 for 277 yards to drive an offense that was missing running back Chase Brown and saw wide receiver Tee Higgins leave with an ankle injury. It wrapped up a stellar season for Burrow, but Sunday’s results will show whether it is enough for them to have a shot at getting back to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers know that they’ll have that chance, but will have to wait for the Chargers’ result to find out their seed. If the Chargers beat the Raiders, the Steelers will head to Baltimore as the No. 6 seed. If the Chargers lose, they’ll go to Houston as the No. 5 seed.

Playing the Texans seems like a better bet to advance, but the Steelers offense doesn’t feel like a safe bet under any circumstances. They had a pair of touchdown drives that accounted for 12 of their 16 first downs and they couldn’t take advantage of a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter. A Corliss Waitman punt bounced into Bengals defensive back D.J. Ivey’s foot and the Steelers recovered on the Bengals’ 38-yard-line.

One of Hendrickson’s sacks helped force a Chris Boswell field goal that cut Cincinnati’s lead to two, however, and the Steelers would never get the touchdown they needed. They only managed 193 yards for the game and they will be trying to snap a four-game losing streak when they take the field next weekend. It will help if wide receiver George Pickens can hold onto the ball after dropping three passes on Saturday, but there were enough other issues to make it feel like the long wait for the Steelers offense to catch fire feels like it may not end before the 2025 season.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Southernmost parts of Western Connecticut could see some chances for some light wintery weather on Monday.

This is part of a system that has been trending more to the south.

The heaviest and most intense parts of this continue to be very far south of Connecticut.

As of Saturdayn night, this looks to be flurries to a light snow shower. The impacts will be low, beyond slightly slippery roads.

THE BIGGER DEAL:

The cold and wind.

Connecticut experienced gusts up above 30 mph on Saturday and will continue to see blustery and frigid conditions through the weekend and into next week.

Temperatures will feel at times like in the teens and low-20s.

High temperatures will be in the low-30s but will feel much colder due to lingering breezy and gusty conditions.

At the “warmest” parts of the day this weekend, temperatures will feel more like in the teens and in the low-20s.

Rain and snow chances remain low through the next week beyond the chance of snow on Monday.

Dry, cold and blustery conditions prevail through the week. Make sure to layer up and have those hats, scarves, mittens, and heaviest coats.

FORECAST

OVERNIGHT: Some clouds and still breezy. Low of 21 but feeling like the teens.

SUNDAY: Sun and clouds but frigid feeling. Wind remains. High of 34, low of 24.

MONDAY: Low flurry chance. Mostly cloudy and breezy. High of 32, low of 20.

TUESDAY: Sun and clouds. High of 31, low of 19.

WATERVILLE — There wasn’t much, if any, snow on the ground through much of central Maine this weekend. Relatively warm temperatures and slight rain had swept through the area in the week prior.

But at the end of a mile long dirt path tucked beneath Interstate 95, the hills and slopes of the Quarry Road Trails are blanketed with about 2 feet of bright white man-made snow.

Maine has had an unpredictable winter so far. The first snow of the year came unseasonably late in late November, and despite the brief threat of flash flooding and a few inches of snow in December, temperatures around the state have remained relatively high.

“We got a little snow around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then we had our annual rain that washed it all away,” said Jerry Combs, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

Snowfall totals in southern and western Maine are “well below normal” this season, Combs said, and have decreased across the state in recent years. Climate models forecast this winter will likely come with above-average temperatures and more precipitation than normal for most of Maine, but less snowfall overall.

“In recent years, snowfall has been decreasing from November to March, but we also haven’t gotten halfway through the winter yet,” Combs said. “We’ve definitely gone lower on the snow overall for the last several years. It’s just kind of on a downward trend.”

While warming winters are leaving many recreation businesses who rely on cold and snow without a vital lifeline, others are turning to man-made snow: like Quarry Road.

A fan gun snowmaking machine is seen Saturday at Quarry Road Trails in Waterville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“We’ve become a mecca of sorts because nowhere else has snow, quite literally,” said Victor Esposito Jr., Quarry Road’s lead ski coach. “People come from all over, 20, 30, 40 miles, because we’re not a two-hour drive like most of the resorts and we don’t charge anywhere near as much: And we actually have snow.”

Maine’s winters are becoming warmer and less predictable, recent data shows. Climate change is transforming winter into the fastest warming season in the U.S. as Maine and most of New England experiences hotter temperatures both on land and sea.

The rest of the winter is predicted to be warmer than usual, Combs said, though there are equal chances of receiving more or less precipitation than normal. But with higher temperatures statewide, less of that precipitation is expected to be snow.

“There could still be warmer periods and colder periods, but for January, February and March, the outlook is to be above normal,” Combs said.

Esposito, 78, has overseen Quarry Road’s downhill skiing trails since 2020. While smaller slopes and sometimes large resorts increasingly remain without snow during peak ski season, Quarry Road maintains a layer of fresh artificial snow all winter long each year.

Victor Esposito Jr., Quarry Road Trail’s lead ski coach, is seen Saturday at Quarry Road Trails in Waterville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

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Maine’s winter recreation “destination points” — places across the state with hotels, restaurants, gas stations and natural beauty — can be put out of business by a bad winter, said Mark Latti, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s communications director. It’s something that’s happening with an increasing frequency, he said.

“It happens from Limerick to Madawaska and from Rangeley to Eastport,” Latti said. “This is big money.”

Without consistent snowfall and cold temperatures, trails and ski slopes are hard to maintain, and businesses that depend on winter tourism have struggled to keep up, especially in the last five years.

At the same time, Esposito said Quarry Road has thrived. He began creating artificial snow for the trails in 2020 and offering seasonal passes at discounted rates through partnerships with local businesses — effectively filling an increasing gap in winter recreation fueled by warming weather each year.

More people are buying ski passes at Quarry Road each season, and Esposito said he plans to expand its operations next year to accommodate rising demand.

“We’re going to bring the downhill slope to the top of this hill, and hopefully build a T-bar (ski lift) in the next few years,” Esposito said. “More people are coming here, we’ve got the room for it.”

About a dozen skiers were gliding through Quarry Road’s cross country trails by noontime Saturday while dozens of cross country skiers from across the state competed in a competition on the nearby Nordic skiing trails. The Bethel Relays were moved to Quarry Road due to a lack of snow in southern and western Maine.

Kolby Lajoie, 10, of Belgrade makes a run down the Alpine ski hill Saturday at Quarry Road Trails in Waterville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Heather Lajoie and her son Kolby, a 10-year-old student at Belgrade Central School, bought passes for Quarry Road’s downhill slope. Kolby was just finishing his skiing lesson that day, and Heather said she planned to sign up for lessons of her own.

Neither would have had the opportunity to try skiing if not for Quarry Road, Heather Lajoie said, in large part due to the increasing lack of snow through each subsequent winter.

“I mean, it just doesn’t snow like it used to,” she said. “It’s really nice having this here because otherwise we’d have literally nowhere nearby to ski.”

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