PITTSBURGH – Forget about the folly of a franchise long known as the Bungles. The Cincinnati Bengals proved to the Pittsburgh Steelers they're the best team in the AFC North right now and, most of all, they proved it to themselves.
The Bengals went into Pittsburgh yesterday, stood up to the team they rarely beat and all but secured their first division championship in 15 years, riding Carson Palmer's three touchdown passes and a defense that forced four more turnovers in an all-important 38-31 victory.
|
Three and out
1 The Steelers had been 20-7 against the Bengals under coach Bill Cowher, including a 27-13 rout in Cincinnati on Oct. 23.
2 The Bengals were outgained 474-324 but won for only the fourth time in their last 27 December road games.
3 The Steelers were held to 95 yards rushing after getting a season-high 221 in Cincinnati.
|
|
Rudi Johnson ran for Cincinnati's final two scores, one after a 94-yard Tab Perry kickoff return and the other following Ben Roethlisberger's third and most costly interception.
With four games to play, the Bengals (9-3) seized a two-game lead in the AFC North.
Believe it, Cincinnati: The Bengals are assured of their first winning record since 1990 and are closing in on their first playoff appearance since the days of the Ickey Shuffle and Wicky Wacky Sam Wyche.
"It's a game we had to win to control the division," Palmer said. "You can say all you want about how we had to beat Pittsburgh; we just needed to win this game."
Fittingly, Steelers receiver Hines Ward imitated Ickey Woods' old touchdown dance after scoring, only he didn't know his Chad Johnson-like highstepping would come in the Bengals' biggest win in years.
"None of us have been in this situation before," Palmer said. "Someone said since it's been since 1990, but in no way are we set. We have a chance to be 13-3 and that's what we're working toward."
The Steelers (7-5) got a gutty effort from Roethlisberger (29-of-41, 386 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions) despite a possible fractured right thumb, but dropped their third in a row and are in danger of not making the playoffs a year after going 15-1.
Roethlisberger had his biggest passing day in the NFL despite a black-and-blue thumb that was encased in a splint and covered by a glove, but the Bengals came back every time Pittsburgh scored.
The Steelers led 7-0 and 14-7 and also tied it at 24 after trailing 24-17, but the Bengals repeatedly answered, twice scoring touchdowns within four plays of getting the ball back.
Palmer, who felt an urgency to beat the Steelers after losing his first three starts to them, threw scoring passes of 43 and 6 yards to T.J. Houshmandzadeh and 1 yard to Reggie Kelly.
Turnovers, as usual, played a big role for the Bengals, who have a remarkable plus-24 turnover margin, with 37 takeaways and 13 turnovers.
The biggest turnover may have come with the Steelers trying to drive for what would have been a tying score in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Odell Thurman stepped in front of a pass intended for Ward and returned it to the Steelers 49, and Rudi Johnson scored six plays later from the 14 to make it 38-24. Johnson ran for 98 yards and has 1,066 for the season.
Roethlisberger wouldn't say if his thumb is broken, nor did he blame it for his interceptions.
