AFC North title on the line
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown celebrates with fans as he walks off the field following last Sunday’s win against Kansas City at Heinz Field.
Inside linebacker Vince Williams, front, celebrates with linebacker Ryan Shazier after recovering a fumble by Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles last Sunday at Heinz Field.
PITTSBURGH – If there was any question regarding the importance of today’s game between the Steelers and Bengals, it was answered last Sunday night when television executives selected the matchup as the game it would move to prime time as the final game of the regular season.
While there are a few other games on the NFL schedule in which division championships will be decided – Carolina at Atlanta and Detroit at Green Bay – it is the Bengals at the Steelers that holds the most intrigue.
While both teams are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, at stake is the AFC North championship and staying at home – at least for one week – in the postseason.
And the victor will go into the postseason on a winning streak. The Steelers (10-5) have won three in a row, including a 42-21 victory three weeks ago at Cincinnati, while the Bengals (10-4-1) rebounded from that loss to Pittsburgh with two consecutive wins.
Neither team wants to enter the playoffs coming off of a loss.
“We are going in the right direction. We are definitely heating up,” said Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell. “I think we are playing the best football we have all year, collectively as a group. I am not talking about just the offense, defense or special teams. Collectively as a group, all three together, we are playing really well. We aren’t turning the ball over. We are getting turnovers. We are flipping the field on special teams. We are making special teams plays. We are making field goals.
“There are a lot of things going well. We just have to stay consistent. Right now is the time that you have to heat up. I am just glad we are heating up now and heating up at the right moment.”
The Bengals feel the same way. After losing to Pittsburgh, they have rallied to shut out Cleveland, 30-0, and beat Denver, 37-28, last Monday night.
“We had to get back on track,” said Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis, a McDonald native and Fort Cherry High School graduate. “I thought our guys did a good job of that.”
What the Bengals didn’t do in the previous meeting with the Steelers was control Pittsburgh’s big three of Bell, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Bell rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns and added another 50 yards and a touchdown receiving, while Roethlisberger threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns and Brown had nine catches for 117 yards.
It was more of what they’ve been doing to opponents all season. The Steelers are the only team in NFL history to have a 4,000-yard passer, 1,500-yard receiver and 1,300-yard rusher all in the same season.
Lewis said it’s the best threesome in the NFL.
“It is,” said Lewis. “They’re obviously very good, and they’re playing at a high level in both production and winning.”
Cincinnati has a developing threesome of their own on offense in quarterback Andy Dalton, wide receiver A.J. Green and rookie running back Jeremy Hill.
While Dalton isn’t on Roethlisberger’s level as a quarterback, Green is considered one of the best receivers in the league – though he’s dealing with a painful upper arm injury – and Hill has rushed for 148 and 147 yards in the past two games.
The defenses also have been better.
The Steelers are coming off their best game of the season after sacking Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith six times in a win over the Chiefs, while Cincinnati intercepted Peyton Manning four times in its win over the Broncos.
Both teams are playing well heading into a winner-takes-all game.
“They know us. We know them. This is a big football game,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “Usually, these games are decided by who plays well fundamentally and who does what it is that they need to do in situational football. Situational football is won with detail. So it’s going to be a good, high-quality football game, a classic AFC North battle. How else would you want it?”
Brown leads the NFL in receptions and receiving yards, while Roethlisberger and Bell are second in passing and rushing yards, respectively. No trio from the same team has finished the season in the top three in those statistics since Indianapolis’ Edgerrin James, Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison in 2009. No Steelers’ group finished in the top five since 1977 when Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth all did so. … Linebacker Jason Worilds and defensive end Cameron Heyward enter the game tied for the team lead in sacks with 6.5 each.