Pittsburgh won for the
seventh straight time in
Cincinnati 24-13.
CINCINNATI (AP) — The biggest crowd in stadium history wanted Marvin Lewis to go for it. So did the Cincinnati Bengals players, who assumed their coach would try to make a statement.
In a way, he did.
Instead of showing faith in his offense and going for a touchdown, Lewis decided to play it safe and kick a field goal that left the Bengals behind. The demure decision had a ripple effect.
Hines Ward caught a pair of touchdown passes, and the Pittsburgh Steelers turned Lewis' conservative call into the pivotal moment of a 24-13 victory Sunday, their seventh straight in Cincinnati.
From the top down, it was another case of down-the-river domination.
"That's why they're 5-2 and we're 2-5," Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. "Good teams put it in the end zone. Teams like us kick field goals."
They'll be kicking themselves over this one for the rest of the season.
The Steelers solidified their hold on first place in the AFC North and pushed the last-place Bengals to a precipice. The Bengals are 2-5 for the first time since 2004, Carson Palmer's first season as the starting quarterback.
Whenever the Steelers come to town, bad things seem to happen to the home team. Pittsburgh ended Cincinnati's 2005 season with a first-round victory in the playoffs, and knocked the Bengals out of contention last season with an overtime victory on New Year's Eve.
"There's a little comfort level here," said Ward, who had eight catches for 88 yards. "We've won here. The environment is not as hostile."
Heading into the game, defensive captain John Thornton said the Bengals had to put on their "big boy pads" and match the Steelers' moxie. When they got a chance to do it late in the first half, they backed down.
Trailing 14-3, the Bengals drove to a fourth-and-1 from just inside the 2-yard line with 2:16 left. They needed only about 2 more feet to get the first down, and initially looked like they would flex some muscle and go for it.
Lewis called a timeout to talk it over. Then, he sent out the field goal unit.
His players were stunned.
"It's like telling a kid he can have some candy and then saying, 'Um, not right now,' " Houshmandzadeh said.
Shayne Graham's 20-yard kick had barely cleared the uprights when the stadium-record crowd of 66,188 started booing, an instant and emphatic second-guess.
"In hindsight, we probably should have gone for it," Lewis said.
Pittsburgh's response? A gutsy touchdown.
The Steelers drove to Cincinnati's 1-yard line with eight seconds to go in the half, then confidently gave the ball to Willie Parker, who had 126 yards overall. Parker dived into the end zone, popped up and flexed both arms in a muscleman pose.
Those two drives — one ending with a field goal, the other with a touchdown — defined the difference between the two teams.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Pittsburgh won for the
seventh straight time in
Cincinnati 24-13.
CINCINNATI (AP) — The biggest crowd in stadium history wanted Marvin Lewis to go for it. So did the Cincinnati Bengals players, who assumed their coach would try to make a statement.
In a way, he did.
Instead of showing faith in his offense and going for a touchdown, Lewis decided to play it safe and kick a field goal that left the Bengals behind. The demure decision had a ripple effect.
Hines Ward caught a pair of touchdown passes, and the Pittsburgh Steelers turned Lewis' conservative call into the pivotal moment of a 24-13 victory Sunday, their seventh straight in Cincinnati.
From the top down, it was another case of down-the-river domination.
"That's why they're 5-2 and we're 2-5," Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. "Good teams put it in the end zone. Teams like us kick field goals."
They'll be kicking themselves over this one for the rest of the season.
The Steelers solidified their hold on first place in the AFC North and pushed the last-place Bengals to a precipice. The Bengals are 2-5 for the first time since 2004, Carson Palmer's first season as the starting quarterback.
Whenever the Steelers come to town, bad things seem to happen to the home team. Pittsburgh ended Cincinnati's 2005 season with a first-round victory in the playoffs, and knocked the Bengals out of contention last season with an overtime victory on New Year's Eve.
"There's a little comfort level here," said Ward, who had eight catches for 88 yards. "We've won here. The environment is not as hostile."
Heading into the game, defensive captain John Thornton said the Bengals had to put on their "big boy pads" and match the Steelers' moxie. When they got a chance to do it late in the first half, they backed down.
Trailing 14-3, the Bengals drove to a fourth-and-1 from just inside the 2-yard line with 2:16 left. They needed only about 2 more feet to get the first down, and initially looked like they would flex some muscle and go for it.
Lewis called a timeout to talk it over. Then, he sent out the field goal unit.
His players were stunned.
"It's like telling a kid he can have some candy and then saying, 'Um, not right now,' " Houshmandzadeh said.
Shayne Graham's 20-yard kick had barely cleared the uprights when the stadium-record crowd of 66,188 started booing, an instant and emphatic second-guess.
"In hindsight, we probably should have gone for it," Lewis said.
Pittsburgh's response? A gutsy touchdown.
The Steelers drove to Cincinnati's 1-yard line with eight seconds to go in the half, then confidently gave the ball to Willie Parker, who had 126 yards overall. Parker dived into the end zone, popped up and flexed both arms in a muscleman pose.
Those two drives — one ending with a field goal, the other with a touchdown — defined the difference between the two teams.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Monday, October 29, 2007
The biggest crowd in stadium history wanted Marvin Lewis to go for it. So did the Cincinnati Bengals players, who...
