Tee Higgins didn’t just show up in the Bengals’ snowy showdown with the Bills - he showed out. In one of his most gutsy performances of the season, Higgins hauled in six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in Cincinnati’s 39-34 loss. But what had people talking after the final whistle wasn’t just the stat line - it was the sheer toughness he displayed getting there.
This wasn’t a clean, easy day at the office. Higgins took multiple hard hits to the head, including a pair of violent falls that had him in and out of the medical tent.
One of the scariest came late in the second quarter when his helmet slammed into the frozen Buffalo turf. He missed the rest of that drive.
Then it happened again just before halftime, and he didn’t come out of the locker room to start the second half.
And yet, every time it looked like he might be done, Higgins kept coming back.
After the game, when asked if he ever considered shutting it down, Higgins didn’t hesitate. “Didn’t think about it at all,” he said.
“I’m a team-first guy. My team needed me, and I felt like they did, so I went out there and played.
Tried to dog this out with my team.”
That mindset tracks with who Higgins has always been - a physical, high-effort receiver who’s never backed down from contact. But this game took that to another level.
Just days earlier, he’d cleared concussion protocol after a Week 12 head injury. His status for this game was uncertain all week, and the brutal conditions in Buffalo - icy field, frigid air, playoff-level intensity - only heightened the risk.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins on why he played through some hard falls on Sunday, especially given his recent concussions: “I’m a team-first guy.” pic.twitter.com/rq44ScnVCD
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) December 8, 2025
Still, Higgins never blinked.
“I’m a soldier,” he said. “I mean, soldiers take hits.
It happens. It’s football.
It’s the name of the game. You got to get up - next play mentality.”
Tee Higgins was the poster child for the pressure to not be diagnosed with 2 #concussions in a row.
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) December 7, 2025
1st game back from a concussion, his head clearly hurts here, but everyone is under pressure to pretend he's fine, so no erring on the side of caution.pic.twitter.com/NiP45ZeO7v
That mentality is exactly what kept him in the game - and what nearly helped the Bengals steal a win they desperately needed. When Higgins scores multiple touchdowns, Cincinnati usually walks away with the W.
But not this time. The loss drops them to 4-9, and while the math hasn’t officially eliminated them from the playoff picture, the margin for error is now razor-thin.
With the AFC North still a chaotic mess, there’s technically a path forward. But it’s a narrow one, and it starts with a must-win matchup against the Baltimore Ravens next week. Anything less, and the Bengals may find themselves shifting from playoff push to offseason evaluation mode.
Still, if there’s one thing Sunday reminded us, it’s that Tee Higgins isn’t going to stop fighting - for yards, for touchdowns, or for his team. Even when the hits keep coming.