Melt-down
PITTSBURGH — The Cincinnati Bengals were convinced they would have beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs in January if Carson Palmer's left knee hadn't torn apart on his first pass attempt.
With Palmer back following an extensive and exceptionally fast rehabilitation, the Bengals were understandably confident of winning Sunday.
How they did so — with poise and resiliency in the kind of game they once lost with patented regularity — was the surprise.
"We've got a heck of a team," Bengals defensive end Justin Smith said after the 28-20 comeback victory over the Steelers. "These are world champs, we knew we would have our hands full and we knew have some bad things happens. And some bad things did happen. But we didn't unravel."
Instead, the Steelers did — at home, and in what they felt was the closest thing to a must game there can be in September.
Palmer couldn't have been much better at times, throwing two touchdown passes each to Chris Henry and T.J. Houshmandzadeh even as the Steelers took away top receiver Chad Johnson. During other stretches, Palmer couldn't have played much worse — throwing two interceptions, fumbling three times and taking six sacks.
But two Steelers turnovers and two Palmer-to-Houshmandzadeh touchdowns less than a minute apart in the fourth quarter kept the Bengals in a first-place tie with Baltimore (3-0) in the AFC North. It also gave them a two-game edge over the Steelers (1-2) only three games into the season.
"This stuff is not supposed to happen," Steelers linebacker Joey Porter said. "We had control of the game. The defense was controlling the game. The offense was controlling the game. ... We just made mistakes at the wrong time."
Maybe this didn't make up for that 31-17 loss in January, when the Steelers went on to win their first Super Bowl title in 26 years. But it reinforced the Bengals' belief they are the division's best team.
"They made plays, we made plays, it was back and forth, up and down," running back Rudi Johnson said. "The game could have gone either way. But we're a better team than we were a year ago. We expect to win every game."
Palmer didn't say so, but there couldn't have been an NFL game he has wanted to win so badly.
During his exhausting injury rehabilitation, he was motivated by the thought of playing against the Steelers. He said several times he hated them, and the fact they won the Super Bowl, though he exonerated former Steelers lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen for the hit.After doing exactly what he said for months he would do — get well enough to play the Steelers in September — Palmer also did what he absolutely had to do. Beat them."I didn't take anything personal into this game," Palmer said afterward, downplaying that talk of hatred and revenge. "I didn't come in here thinking, `It's payback time, let's get these guys.' I came in here thinking it's a divisional game and let's get a win."Henry, the wide receiver hurt on the same play as Palmer in January, wasn't as diplomatic."We planned on coming back this year and beating Pittsburgh two times," said Henry, whose two TD catches gave the Bengals a 14-7 halftime lead.Willie Parker's second TD run during a 133-yard game put the Steelers up 17-14, but the game changed dramatically on two mistakes.Ricardo Colclough, who has struggled as a punt returner since training camp began, muffed a punt at the Steelers 9 that Tony Stewart recovered midway through the fourth quarter. Palmer found Houshmandzadeh wide open in the end zone seconds later.Several Steelers could be seen throwing helmets in disgust at Colclough's fumble. Many players consider rookie Willie Reid to be their best punt returner, but he was deactivated for a third consecutive game."It hasn't been the smoothest, but I felt good about him," coach Bill Cowher said of Colclough, who is averaging 1.5 yards on four returns. "You can put that one on me."Two plays later, Verron Haynes fumbled and, again, Palmer followed immediately with a touchdown pass to Houshmandzadeh, this time for 30 yards.What a momentum swing. With 8 minutes left in the game, the Steelers led 17-14. With 7:05 to play, the Bengals led 28-17."We expected to come in here and win this game, but knew it would take everything we had," Rudi Johnson.Now, it may take everything the Steelers have to get back in the division race."Nobody is going to quit here. Nobody is going to point fingers," cornerback Deshea Townsend said. "We're going back to work and we're going to keep working."to Jacksonville. ... The Steelers lost for the first time in the last 35 games they had a 100-yards rusher (33-1-1).
