Bengals-Steelers rivalry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Bengals-Steelers rivalry is a rivalry in the NFL. The two teams have played each other twice a year since becoming division rivals in 1970, the lone exception being 1982, when the annual matchup in Cincinnati was canceled due to the player's strike; the teams only met in Week 2 in Pittsburgh that season just before the start of the strike. Originally placed in the AFC Central following the NFL-AFL merger, the two teams currently compete in that division's successor, the AFC North.

Though not as historic as both of the team's rivalries with the Cleveland Browns (Battle of Ohio and Browns-Steelers rivalry, respectively) or as bitter as their rivalries with the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals and Steelers are still divisional foes with many similarities. Both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are situated on the Ohio River, and both of the cities baseball teams (Reds and Pirates) play in the NL Central--the two baseball teams, in fact, had their own rivalry in the 1970's. Both of the team's former stadiums, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, were often confused for one another due to their similar names and architectural styles, even for "cookie-cutter" standards of the day.

Though the Steelers have mostly dominated this rivalry, it has heated up in recent seasons due to the Bengals resurgence among NFL teams. Even during the Bengals' dismal years in the 1990's and early 2000's when they were one of the NFL's worst teams, they would at times get the better of the Steelers, who were usually the dominant team in the division during the "Bungals" years. One notable example came in 1999, when the Bengals swept the Steelers in the season series while finishing 4-12 overall. (Their other two wins came against the Browns, who had returned to the NFL as an expansion team that season.) The Steelers themselves were going through a rare down year, finishing 6-10 for the season.

While the Steelers have a much older rivalry with the Browns and have a longer history against several teams from the NFC due to the Steelers being part of the "old" NFL prior to the 1970 merger, the Bengals have met the Steelers more than anyone else in their own history, due to the Tennessee Titans being moved to the new AFC South in the 2002 realignment, while the Browns missed keeping pace due to being out of the league for three years.

Pittsburgh has a 46-30 series lead against the Bengals.

[edit] 1970's

[edit] 1980's

[edit] 1990's

[edit] 2000's

This American football-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.