The series between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals is led 69-39 by the Steelers. In Pittsburgh the Steelers overwhelm the Bengals with 35 victories in 43 games.
As division rivals since the 1970 AFL merger, the Bengals and the Steelers have been adversaries for over half a century.
In 1972 the Steelers were enjoying their fourth season under Chuck Noll. In his first role as a head coach, Coach Noll was gradually building a winning team in Pittsburgh through the draft. Each year his teams would increase the number of games they won, beginning with a lowly single game in his first year.
The Bengals were coached by Paul Brown who had an extensive career in coaching. He had coached the Cleveland Browns in their AFL championship years before he fell out with owner Art Modell. In the Bengals’ first year in the NFL, Brown led them to the AFC Central division title.
The week 8 matchup would see the apprentice in Pittsburgh face the experienced master from Cincinnati. With both teams on the same record, it would be a game that would go a long way to deciding the division title.
The Bengals’ second-year quarterback Ken Anderson had seen off their veteran Virg Carter in the preseason. As the Bengals traveled to Pittsburgh, Anderson had led them to five wins with two defeats. When the teams faced each other in Cincinnati week two, the Bengals kicked their way to a 15-10 win with five field goals in a contest defined by their defenses.
The teams were tied at the top of the AFC Central division with Cleveland a game behind. Confirming what was at stake in Pittsburgh, Paul Brown noted, “It’s a pivotal game. The burden is upon us. Pittsburgh is greatly improved since we played earlier. They’ve got us in their hometown… they’ll be up… we know it’ll be awfully tough.”
The Bengals were the number one defense in the AFC.
Coach Noll acknowledged, “Our football players know what they have to do. I’m not a practicing psychologist, just a football coach. Everything is dependent upon them meeting the challenge. It is obviously here.”
The (5-2) Steelers vs the (5-2) Bengals; November 5, 1972
The Steelers began on the back foot when the Bengals forced them to punt on their first possession. At that point, the Cincinnati players would have thought their defense would once again lead them to a win, but their offense would soon negate that opportunity.
On their first play from scrimmage, Ken Anderson fumbled, and Dwight White recovered on the Cincinnati 7. Frenchy Fuqua smashed through the defense for a 7-yard touchdown and the Steelers then took control of the game.
After Glen Edwards’ 54-yard punt return set up a Roy Gerela 15-yard field goal, the Steelers went into the second quarter holding a 10-0 advantage. On the Steelers next series, Gerela added a field goal from 23 yards.
Terry Bradshaw began to find his receivers with completions to Franco Harris of 29 yards before hitting Frank Lewis with a 28-yard touchdown pass. Gerela’s drop kick failed after the snap on the conversion was fumbled, but the Steelers were comfortably ahead with Bradshaw blossoming while Cincinnati’s Anderson was wilting.
As the first half was closing, the Bengals’ quarterback was picked off by Henry Davis. Bradshaw led his team 53 yards in a minute and 10 seconds finishing with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Larry Brown. The Steelers were 26-0 ahead at the half.
Anderson was replaced by Virg Carter for the second half and on the Bengals’ first possession he led his team on a scoring drive that finished with his 1-yard touchdown run.
Bradshaw replied with a touchdown pass to Lewis who burned the Bengals’ defense for a 34-yard score to retain the Steelers’ advantage.
Carter led the Bengals again on a scoring drive that he finished with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Chip Myers.
While the Bengals were playing catchup, the Steelers were having fun and Bradshaw called an end around that Lewis executed for a gain of 41 yards. After Harris added a 2-yard touchdown to increase the Steelers lead to 40-14, Coach Noll had the opportunity to rest Bradshaw. Joe Gilliam made his NFL debut throwing three passes for 1 completion although one pass was dropped by the receiver.
With his team at such a big points disadvantage, Coach Brown made a strange decision, spurning an opportunity to go for it on fourth down. The Bengals were on the Steelers’ 24 with a fourth and eight and six-minutes remaining. They kicked a field goal to reduce their large deficit by three points.
The Steelers defense ensured their opponents would fail to add to the score and the Steelers took a comfortable victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 40 vs the Cincinnati Bengals 17
The game was watched by the largest crowd of 50,035 in Three Rivers Stadium’s short history.
For only the fourth time in their history it was the Steelers fourth consecutive win.
Coach Noll admitted it was the most meaningful victory he had enjoyed in his four seasons in Pittsburgh.
For rookie Franco Harris, it was his third 100-yard game.
“I certainly never thought any team could move on us the way they did today,” acknowledged Bengals’ defensive captain Royce Berry.
The Steelers would finish the season 11-3 marking their best ever in their thirty years in the NFL. In the playoffs, they would fall to the unbeaten Miami Dolphins in the Conference Championship.
