Infidels Paradise

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.”

Who could have possibly envisioned the Super Bowl champions saying that about a rival they’ve largely dominated and, at times, intimidated since the 1980s, especially with seven games left in the season?

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 a tight-as-it-gets 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.