Steelers will try to hold on to first in the AFC North when Joe Flacco and Bengals visit

Cincinnati (3-6) at Pittsburgh (5-4)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Steelers by 5 1/2.

Against the spread: Bengals 3-6; Steelers 4-5.

Series record: Steelers lead 71-41.

Last meeting: Bengals beat Steelers 33-31 on Oct. 16, 2025, in Cincinnati.

Last week: Bengals were off; Steelers lost to Chargers 25-10.

Bengals offense: overall (22), rush (32), pass (13), scoring (13).

Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (32), pass (30), scoring (32).

Steelers offense: overall (29), rush (30), pass (23), scoring (16).

Steelers defense: overall (28), rush (14), pass (32), scoring (20).

Turnover differential: Bengals minus-5; Steelers plus-6.

QB Joe Flacco. Expected to make his 200th career start, Flacco is averaging a league-high 313.5 passing yards over his four starts since being traded from Cleveland to Cincinnati on Oct. 7. The 18-year veteran passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns in the Bengals' 33-31 come-from-behind victory on Oct. 16. He has 30 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 86.7 passer rating in 23 regular-season games against the Steelers.

QB Aaron Rodgers. The oldest active player in the NFL looked his age (41) for the first time all season last week against the Chargers, when he completed just 16 of 31 passes for 161 yards with a touchdown and two picks, one of which wasn't his fault. The four-time MVP has rarely put up back-to-back clunkers during his Hall of Fame career and facing the NFL's worst defense might be just what he needs. Rodgers passed for 249 yards and four scores in Pittsburgh's first meeting with the Bengals.

Pittsburgh DBs Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre and Brandin Echols against Cincinnati WRs Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase lit the Steelers up for a franchise-record 16 receptions in the first meeting, and Pittsburgh's secondary hasn't exactly distinguished itself in the interim, though it was a bit better in last week's loss to the Chargers. If the Steelers want to avoid a repeat of what happened in Cincinnati, the cornerbacks need to be more competitive against arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the league.

Bengals: Flacco is expected to play despite dealing with a sprained AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. ... QB Joe Burrow (left big toe) has opened his 21-day window to return, but has already been ruled out. ... DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) is likely to miss his second straight game and third in the last four. ... RB Samaje Perine (ankle) and DE Shemar Stewart (knee) are also likely to be inactive.

Steelers: OLB Alex Highsmith (pectoral) is out. This will be the third game Highsmith has missed with injury this season. ... CB Darius Slay (concussion) is out. There's a chance veteran CB Asante Samuel Jr., signed to the practice squad this week, could play. ... LG Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) is questionable after sitting out the Chargers game. ... S Jabrill Peppers (quadriceps) will be available . ... WR Scotty Miller (finger) is available after recovering from thumb surgery.

Cincinnati has won five of the last nine meetings after the Steelers ripped off an 11-game winning streak between 2015-20. ... Pittsburgh is 36-19 all-time against the Bengals at home. ... Rodgers' four touchdown passes against Cincinnati last month tied Ben Roethlisberger's franchise record for most scoring tosses in a single game vs. the Bengals, set in 2020. ... Pittsburgh's 31 points against Cincinnati in October marked the first time since 2005 that the Steelers had topped 30 points when facing the Bengals and lost.

The Bengals have lost two straight since beating Pittsburgh on Oct. 16, but could tighten up the AFC North by sweeping Pittsburgh. ... The Steelers have dropped three of four to see their once comfortable AFC North lead trimmed to one game over surging Baltimore. ... Flacco passed for a career-high 470 yards and four touchdowns on Nov. 2 against Chicago and became the oldest player in NFL history with at least 450 yards and four touchdowns in a game. ... RB Chase Brown has at least 100 scrimmage yards in his last three games. ... Chase leads the league in receptions (76) and is second in yards receiving (831). He had a franchise-record 16 catches in the first meeting. Chase has 44 receptions in the last four games. He has 6,256 yards receiving in his first five seasons and needs 91 to surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (6,346 yards receiving) for the fourth most by a player in their first five seasons in NFL history. ... WR Tee Higgins had a season-high 121 yards receiving and two touchdowns in Week 9. ... Cincinnati has allowed five 100-yard rushers, including three in the last three games. ... LB Barrett Carter is fifth among rookies in tackles with 54. ... CB DJ Turner leads the league with 14 pass deflections. ... WR Charlie Jones has two kickoff returns for touchdowns since the start of last season. ... Cincinnati set a team single-game record with 297 kick return yards against Chicago. ... Pittsburgh is 15-6 under Mike Tomlin in games following a loss of at least 15 points, though one of those setbacks came against Cincinnati last December, a week after getting blown out by Kansas City. ... Rodgers' 18 touchdown passes are the sixth-most through nine games in Steelers franchise history. Roethlisberger holds the first five spots, though Rodgers is on pace to threaten Roethlisberger's single-season touchdown pass record of 34 set in 2018. ... Rodgers' 36 career games with at least four touchdown passes are third in NFL history behind Drew Brees (37) and Tom Brady (39). ... The Steelers have failed to top 300 yards in six of nine games this season, but racked up a season-high 396 yards in the first meeting with Cincinnati. ... Pittsburgh RB Jaylen Warren had a career-best 158 yards from scrimmage in that game. Warren is averaging 5.0 yards per touch over Pittsburgh's last seven games but has not been getting a heavy workload. Warren hasn't had more than 20 touches since September. ... Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith has four sacks, a forced fumble and swatted down a pass over the last two games. Pittsburgh needs to put some pressure on Flacco, who was sacked just twice in 49 dropbacks in the first meeting. ... Steelers K Chris Boswell has been nearly automatic against the Bengals throughout his career, converting 46 of 49 field goals and all 42 extra point attempts vs. Cincinnati in 19 meetings.

While Chase will be hard-pressed to replicate his record-setting performance against Pittsburgh last month, expect him to be targeted early and often by Flacco until the NFL's worst pass defense shows it can stop him.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) is grabbed by Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Cam Hart (20) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) tries to catch a pass under pressure from Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (29) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco (16) speaks after his team's loss to the Chicago Bears in an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (15) is taken down by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback James Pierre (42) and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Bud Dupree (48) tackles Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LONDON (AP) — In France, civil servants will ditch Zoom and Teams for a homegrown video conference system. Soldiers in Austria are using open source office software to write reports after the military dropped Microsoft Office. Bureaucrats in a German state have also turned to free software for their administrative work.

Around Europe, governments and institutions are seeking to reduce their use of digital services from U.S. Big Tech companies and turning to domestic or free alternatives. The push for “digital sovereignty” is gaining attention as the Trump administration strikes an increasingly belligerent posture toward the continent, highlighted by recent tensions over Greenland that intensified fears that Silicon Valley giants could be compelled to cut off access.

Concerns about data privacy and worries that Europe is not doing enough to keep up with the United States and Chinese tech leadership are also fueling the drive.

The French government referenced some of these concerns when it announced last week that 2.5 million civil servants would stop using video conference tools from U.S. providers — including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and GoTo Meeting — by 2027 and switch to Visio, a homegrown service.

The objective is “to put an end to the use of non-European solutions, to guarantee the security and confidentiality of public electronic communications by relying on a powerful and sovereign tool,” the announcement said.

“We cannot risk having our scientific exchanges, our sensitive data, and our strategic innovations exposed to non-European actors,” David Amiel, a civil service minister, said in a press release.

Microsoft said it continues to “partner closely with the government in France and respect the importance of security, privacy, and digital trust for public institutions.”

The company said it is “focused on providing customers with greater choice, stronger data protection, and resilient cloud services — ensuring data stays in Europe, under European law, with robust security and privacy protections.”

Zoom, Webex and GoTo Meeting did not respond to requests for comment.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been pushing digital sovereignty for years. But there’s now a lot more “political momentum behind this idea now that we need to de-risk from U.S. tech,” Nick Reiners, senior geotechnology analyst at the Eurasia Group.

“It feels kind of like there’s a real zeitgeist shift,” Reiners said

It was a hot topic at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of global political and business elites last month in Davos, Switzerland. The European Commission's official for tech sovereignty, Henna Virkkunen, told an audience that Europe's reliance on others “can be weaponized against us.”

“That’s why it’s so important that we are not dependent on one country or one company when it comes to very critical fields of our economy or society,” she said, without naming countries or companies.

A decisive moment came last year when the Trump administration sanctioned the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor after the tribunal, based in The Hague, Netherlands, issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an ally of President Donald Trump.

The sanctions led Microsoft to cancel Khan's ICC email, a move that was first reported by The Associated Press and sparked fears of a “kill switch” that Big Tech companies can use to turn off service at will.

Microsoft maintains it kept in touch with the ICC “throughout the process that resulted in the disconnection of its sanctioned official from Microsoft services. At no point did Microsoft cease or suspend its services to the ICC.”

Microsoft President Brad Smith has repeatedly sought to strengthen trans-Atlantic ties, the company's press office said, and pointed to an interview he did last month with CNN in Davos in which he said that jobs, trade and investment. as well as security, would be affected by a rift over Greenland.

“Europe is the American tech sector’s biggest market after the United States itself. It all depends on trust. Trust requires dialogue,” Smith said.

Other incidents have added to the movement. There's a growing sense that repeated EU efforts to rein in tech giants such as Google with blockbuster antitrust fines and sweeping digital rule books haven't done much to curb their dominance.

Billionaire Elon Musk is also a factor. Officials worry about relying on his Starlink satellite internet system for communications in Ukraine.

Washington and Brussels wrangled for years over data transfer agreements, triggered by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of U.S. cyber-snooping.

With online services now mainly hosted in the cloud through data centers, Europeans fear that their data is vulnerable.

U.S. cloud providers have responded by setting up so-called “sovereign cloud” operations, with data centers located in European countries, owned by European entities and with physical and remote access only for staff who are European Union residents.

The idea is that “only Europeans can take decisions so that they can’t be coerced by the U.S.,” Reiners said.

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein last year migrated 44,000 employee inboxes from Microsoft to an open source email program. It also switched from Microsoft's SharePoint file sharing system to Nextcloud, an open source platform, and is even considering replacing Windows with Linux and telephones and videoconferencing with open source systems.

“We want to become independent of large tech companies and ensure digital sovereignty,” Digitalization Minister Dirk Schrödter said in an October announcement.

The French city of Lyon said last year that it's deploying free office software to replace Microsoft. Denmark’s government and the cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus have also been trying out open-source software.

“We must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely,” Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen wrote on LinkedIn last year. “Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers.”

The Austrian military said it has also switched to LibreOffice, a software package with word processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs that mirrors Microsoft 365's Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

The Document Foundation, a nonprofit based in Germany that's behind LibreOffice, said the military's switch “reflects a growing demand for independence from single vendors.” Reports also said the military was concerned that Microsoft was moving file storage online to the cloud — the standard version of LibreOffice is not cloud-based.

Some Italian cities and regions adopted the software years ago, said Italo Vignoli, a spokesman for The Document Foundation. Back then, the appeal was not needing to pay for software licenses. Now, it's the main reason is to avoid being locked into a proprietary system.

“At first, it was: we will save money and by the way, we will get freedom,” Vignoli said. “Today it is: we will be free and by the way, we will also save some money.”

Associated Press writer Molly Quell in The Hague, Netherlands contributed to this report.

This version corrects the contribution line to Molly Quell instead of Molly Hague.

FILE - Henna Virkkunen, European Commissioner for Tech-Sovereignty, Security and Democracy gives a press conference at the end of the weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

French President Emmanuel Macron is seen during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)