years of being pushed around and dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers,
the Cincinnati Bengals refused to be bullied any more.
The Bengals beat the Steelers at
their own game in their own stadium, relying on a defense that
smothered Ben Roethlisberger and the Super Bowl champions by holding
them to four field goals, and one big special teams play for an 18-12
victory Sunday that put them in control of the AFC North.
Shayne Graham kicked four field goals
in the second half even as the Bengals (7-2) failed to convert
opportunity after opportunity to take control. Bernard Scott‘s 96-yard
kickoff return in the first quarter proved pivotal as Cincinnati,
despite playing the second half without ace running back Cedric Benson
and failing to convert on the extra point after Scott’s score, followed
up a 23-20 win over the Steelers (6-3) on Sept. 27.
By sweeping the season series for the
first time since 1998, the Bengals effectively lead the division by two
games because they own the tiebreaker and, for the first time in their
history, a 5-0 division record.
For the Steelers, it was a
frustrating defeat after they had won five in a row and were coming off
key wins over the Vikings and Broncos.
Now, the Bengals — a lowly 4-11-1
last season — are in first place in a division where the Steelers and
Ravens played for the AFC championship last season. Cincinnati — yes,
Cincinnati — went 4-0 against those teams this season. And the
Steelers, despite a soft schedule the rest of the way, now face an
uphill climb against a rival that has won seven of eight and is 4-0 on
the road.
The Bengals, who had won only 13
previous times in Pittsburgh since they moved into the same division in
1970, have spent so many years getting manhandled by the Steelers, they
tried doing the same thing. And it worked.
They didn’t let the Steelers convert
any of their final 10 third-down plays, pressured Roethlisberger so
much that he passed for only 174 yards on 40 attempts and bottled up
Rashard Mendenhall (36 yards, 13 carries) a week after he ran for 155
yards in Denver.
Most of all, the Bengals didn’t allow
the Steelers’ defense to dictate to them, despite gaining only 218
yards and scoring its only touchdown on Scott’s kickoff return — the
third allowed by Pittsburgh in its last three home games.
The Bengals kept letting Pittsburgh
get off the hook, only to spend four minutes-plus driving for Graham’s
43-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining. Graham hit earlier from the 23,
32 and 32.
The Steelers still had a chance, but
Roethlisberger threw incomplete on four consecutive downs from the 33,
and it was over. The Bengals danced and pranced off the Heinz Field
turf where the Steelers had won their last 10.
It was close, but then it was supposed to be.
Each team played most of the game
without a key player — Steelers safety Troy Polamalu aggravated a left
knee injury that kept him out for four games and didn’t play after
Cincinnati’s opening possession. Benson, the NFL’s No. 2 rusher coming
in, hurt a hip during the second quarter and didn’t play in the second
half, with Scott managing only 33 yards on 13 carries for him.
Chad Ochocinco (2 catches, 29 yards)
and Carson Palmer also couldn’t get going — he was 18 of 30 for 178
yards — but Palmer didn’t turn the ball over. The Steelers did in a
game in which the two teams combined for only 444 yards, a good day for
some offenses.
Frostee Rucker returned
Roethlisberger’s interception to the Steelers 14 on Pittsburgh’s
opening drive of the second half, but, settling into a familiar script,
Cincinnati settled for Graham’s 23-yarder.
With the Bengals effectively
controlling the Steelers’ running game and getting enough pressure —
mostly by Jonathan Fanene — to keep Roethlisberger from mounting any
sustained drives, they drove to the 14 again later in third. Again,
they came away only with a Graham field goal.
Jeff Reed later tied it early in the
fourth at 12 with his fourth field goal, but the Bengals would have led
if holder Kevin Huber hadn’t mishandled the snap on the extra point
following Scott’s kickoff return. Cincinnati also missed an extra point
attempt in its 23-20 win over the Steelers on Sept. 27.