The Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing the Cincinnati Bengals ever since the merger of the AFL with the NFL in 1970. The Steelers dominate the contests 71-39 and at home 36-18. Excluding the eighties, Cincinnati have been overshadowed by Pittsburgh which is why the win ratio is so heavy in the Steelers favor.
Cincinnati won the AFC Central division in its inaugural year with Pittsburgh in third place. Four years later the positions were reversed as the influence of Coach Noll began to take effect.
I was going to revolve my article around the Bengals game in the historic 1974 season. But Cincinnati played a backup quarterback Wayne Clark who threw only 8 passes for 23 yards with 1 interception for a rating of 6.2. I don’t think Coach Paul Brown was interested in winning the game.
It was worthy of interest for Steeler fans because rookie Lynn Swann set a franchise record for punt return yards with 112. His 37.33 average for the game still stands. His total yards for the game have been overtaken with Antwaan Randle El’s 132 against Oakland in 2003.
The following season’s contest eventually took my eye. The Steelers were coming off a Super Bowl win while the Bengals had finished 7-7.
The teams had been jostling all season to win the division, but the Steelers always held the edge after their week 7 win in Cincinnati. Following a week 2 loss to the Bills, the Steelers went on a ten-game winning streak before hosting the Bengals.
The Bengals opened their season with six consecutive wins until the Steelers defeat. Another loss to the Browns in week 10 saw them slip a game behind the Steelers.
“They’re unlike any other team,” said Andy Russell. “Paul Brown’s calling those plays and he doesn’t like to repeat things. That causes problems. He’ll hurt you real bad with a play early in the game and you’ll be looking for it for the rest of the game and he’ll never come back to it. But he’ll come back with a sister play that looks the same and beat you with that too.”
Rocky Bleier saw a parallel with the current season and their first Super Bowl winning season. “We had to make sure we didn’t peak too soon, or the guys would get tired. But we continued to get better as the season progressed and played even a finer brand of ball in the playoffs.”
A Steelers win would seal their third division title. If the Bengals won, the division crown would have to wait another week for the winner to be confrimed.
The Steelers would be without Joe Greene with the capable Steve Furness taking his place. Greene had missed three out of the team’s previous four games with a pinched nerve.
The (11-1) Steelers vs (10-2) Bengals; December 13, 1975
The Steelers received the opening kickoff and went 68 yards in 12 plays with a Terry Bradshaw touchdown pass to Lynn Swann to open the scoring. Roy Gerela’s point after attempt was successful and gave the Steelers an early 7-0 lead.
The Steelers defense was next to make an impact. Bengals running back Boobie Clark lived up to his name when he fumbled after being hit by Dwight White. Jack Lambert picked up the loose ball, ran 21 yards before lateralling to J.T. Thomas who ran another 21 yards into the end zone for the score.
As the game went into the second quarter, the Bengals missed a 36-yard field goal attempt. On their next series they mounted a scoring drive of 77 yards. Stan Fritts’ 1-yard touchdown finished the drive.
The Steelers defense added another contribution when Mike Wagner intercepted a Ken Anderson pass. His 20-yard interception return put the ball on the Bengals’ 19. Franco Harris finished the short series with a 10-yard touchdown run which saw the Steelers go into the locker room at the half leading 21-7.
With the game in the third quarter, Bengals punter Dave Green shanked a kick that went just 23 yards to give the Steelers a short field of 50 yards. Bradshaw took just seven plays to get into the end zone with his 7-yard touchdown run.
In the final period, Harris piled on the yards contributing 38 to a Steelers scoring drive of 65. His 2-yard touchdown run increased the Steelers advantage to 35-7.
The Bengals put together a consolation scoring drive of 92 yards which finished with Anderson’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Curtis.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 35 vs the Cincinnati Bengals 14
Franco Harris recorded his sixth 100-yard game for the season and the 20th of his career.
In defeat, Cincinnati’s coach Paul Brown only had good words to say about the Steelers, “They were Super Bowl champions before today. They’ve got a good team and great players, and they are well put together.”
Of the former player he had brought into pro football at Cleveland in 1953, Coach Brown revealed, “You know they used to call Noll ‘the Pope’ at Cleveland because he could do no wrong.”
The regular season finale saw the Steelers travel to Los Angeles. With the team’s third division title in the bag and the playoffs waiting, Coach Noll made liberal use of his reserves. The Steelers lost 10-3 to the Rams as both teams finished with the same 12-2 record.
In the playoffs, the Steelers would roll over the Colts, squeeze past the Raiders to make Super Bowl X where they beat the Cowboys 21-17. Their second Championship victory guarantees another well- deserved 50th celebration for the Steelers season next year.
