Steelers deliver a message
Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake (41) confronts Bengals running back Jeremy Hill (32) in the first half of Sunday’s game in Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin applauds on the sideline in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Gary Landers)
CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals went into Sunday’s game against the Steelers hoping to prove they were the best team in the AFC North.
Instead, the Steelers showed they are still the biggest bully on the block after a 33-20 victory.
The Bengals, and in particular, linebacker Vontaze Burfict, tried to intimidate the Steelers in pregame warmups, stepping onto Pittsburgh’s side of the field and staring down some players.
Burfict, whom a number of Steelers had called out for what they felt was a celebration of his tackle on Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell that resulted in a season-ending knee injury in their last meeting, only succeeded in ramping up Pittsburgh’s intensity.
“You can’t do that, especially out of the gate, before we got warmed up,” joked Steelers’ 37-year-old linebacker James Harrison. “You get things flowing, the juices flowing, especially for an old guy like myself. I need a little extra incentive.”
Really, the Steelers didn’t. It was incentive enough that the Bengals had beaten them in Pittsburgh earlier this season and were attempting to clinch the AFC North title with four games remaining.
The Bengals wanted to show they were unquestionably the best team in the AFC North. That didn’t happen.
The Steelers didn’t need any pregame pushing and shoving to set the tone.
“The tone was set when we got off the plane, when we arrived in Cincinnati,” said linebacker Vince Williams. “We wanted to get out of here and get this W.”
The talking and extra pushes and shoves continued after kickoff and the Steelers never backed down. They weren’t going to be pushed around by the Bengals.
The game was similar to the old Steelers-Ravens games.
“Football is football. That talking and thug-type of stuff, you leave that home,” said guard Ramon Foster. “In between the lines is where you make your case. And we made our case. Whether the case may be that we’ll see them again, we’ll have the same game plan.”
The Steelers certainly didn’t hurt their chances of that happening.
In the past two weeks, they have now beaten a pair of teams that are division leaders in convincing fashion.
The win over a crippled Indianapolis team was nice, but Sunday’s over the Bengals was better.
Yes, the Bengals played most of the game without quarterback Andy Dalton, but so what? The Steelers have won games in which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t play or was injured.
This win marked Pittsburgh’s ninth consecutive in December, matching Carolina for the longest such streak in the league. And that’s not something to be taken lightly.
“We just know it’s that time of year,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s crunch time and you’ve got to get hot at the right time.”
The Steelers have certainly done that, overcoming some injuries this season that might have devastated another team. We’ll find out if Cincinnati, which lost Dalton to a fractured thumb on his throwing hand, has the same kind of fortitude.
If not, the Steelers might have an outside shot of winning the AFC North title.
It’s a long shot, but if this team showed anything this season, it’s that it is a resilient group.
“I just think this team is playing really well,” said guard David DeCastro. “If we can stay healthy with no more crazy injuries, we’re going in the right direction. We’re going up.”
And they’re looking more and more like they just might be the best team in the AFC. And this is the time of year when you want to have that title.
F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.