PITTSBURGH — Maybe it wasn’t a concession speech, even if it sounded like one. The Bengals spent most of the last 20 seasons chasing Pittsburgh, and now it’s the other way around, and the Steelers realize it’s a decidedly uphill climb.
“They’re clearly the best team in the division,” safety Ryan Clark said after the Bengals beat the Steelers 18-12 on Sunday to take control of the AFC North. “I’d give my left arm to play them again.”
The Bengals (7-2) pulled it off by beating the Steelers (6-3) at their own game in their own stadium, where Pittsburgh had won its last 10. They smothered Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh’s running game, yielded only four field goals by Jeff Reed and converted the game’s only big play, Bernard Scott’s 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
“That’s probably the most grinding football game I ever experienced,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.
The Steelers were without star safety Troy Polamalu for all but the opening series as he aggravated the left knee injury that previously sidelined him for four games. He underwent an MRI exam, but there was no immediate word about his status.
Whether they have Polamalu or not the rest of the way, the Steelers realize they’re in big trouble.
By sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998, the Bengals effectively lead Pittsburgh by two games because they own the tiebreaker and, for the first time in their history, a 5-0 division record.
The Bengals played the second half without ace running back Cedric Benson, yet still found a way to follow up their 23-20 win over the Steelers on Sept. 27.
The Bengals, a lowly 4-11-1 last season, swept both Baltimore and Pittsburgh a season after those teams played for the AFC title. They’ve won seven of eight and are 4-0 on the road.
For the Steelers, it was a frustrating defeat after they had won five in a row, scoring at least 27 points in each. By winning, they would have led the division and controlled the momentum; now, Clark concedes, they may be playing for a wild card unless the Bengals collapse.
“We still got to find a way to get to the playoffs,” cornerback Deshea Townsend. “We have enough veteran guys to get to that point. We’re chasing Cincinnati, and hopefully we get to see them again.”
“There was just something missing all day, I don’t know what it was,” Roethlisberger said. “Something was weird about the day, I don’t know if it was the (mid-60s) weather in November. We just didn’t make the plays we normally make.”
Ochocinco (2 catches, 29 yards) and Carson Palmer (18 of 30 for 178 yards) never got going, but there were no Bengals turnovers. Pittsburgh had one, and it mattered.
