NFL: Steelers ready for Bengals

The Associated Press |

11/19/2008 - 11/20/08

PITTSBURGH — The Bengals are coming off the NFL's first tie in six years, the Steelers are only a few days removed from the league's first 11-10 game since, well, never.

With little time for either team to recuperate or prepare, might something curious happen again when AFC North rivals Cincinnati (1-8-1) and Pittsburgh (7-3) play tonight? Like, perhaps, the Bengals actually making a game of it?

The NFL brags anything can happen on any given Sunday, but this is Thursday, so maybe that's too much to expect.

Maybe not.

"I've learned to expect the unexpected," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said.

Pittsburgh losing to a Bengals team that didn't win until midseason would be more than surprising, given the Steelers' four-game win streak in the series and their 38-10 win in Cincy last month.

Still, recent history presents a reason for the Steelers to be wary. A year ago this week, they had a 7-2 record before they played another one-win team, the Jets, yet lost 19-16 in overtime.

With the Steelers up by a single game over Baltimore (6-4) in the division, attempting to coast against a team that recently beat Jacksonville and surprised the Eagles by tying them 13-all Sunday might be risky.

"It's a rivalry game and it's a division game, so it means to a lot to us in a tight division," left tackle Max Starks said. "Baltimore is not too far behind. You look at last year when we took (the Jets) for granted, and you saw what happened in that game."

The Steelers own the advantage of playing at home for the fourth time in five games, yet they lost there to the Giants (21-14) and Colts (24-20) and went to the final minute before beating San Diego 11-10 Sunday on three field goals by Jeff Reed and a safety.

Despite having a 300-yard passer (Ben Roethlisberger), a 100-yard rusher (Willie Parker) and a 100-yard receiver (Hines Ward), the offense kept getting pushed back by penalties — 115 yards in all — and never reached the end zone.

Overall, the Steelers have gone nearly seven quarters without a touchdown.

That's reason enough for worry, even if the Bengals' league-worst offense looks unequipped to do much against a Steelers defense that is No. 1 against the rush, pass and overall and is allowing the second-fewest points.