Steelers Week Meant 'Everybody Got Them A** Tight' According To Legendary Bengals WR Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson

The Pittsburgh Steelers have always had fierce rivalry games with against divisional opponents since the AFC North officially formed in 2002. There are countless memories over the years in contests versus the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. The consistent one of the bunch has come from the Steel City, as Pittsburgh has not had a losing season since the 2003 campaign. Now, in 2023, all four franchises sit with a winning record and would all be in the playoffs if the season ended after nine weeks.

While there are new memories being made each season that comes and goes, some of the incredibly dominant Steelers defenses were a horrifying upcoming matchup for division opponents during the days of Troy Polamalu. Pittsburgh had a stretch during the late years of Bill Cowher's career and early ones of Mike Tomlin's that had other teams scared to suit up against them on Sundays.

Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson played for the Bengals from 2001 to 2010, so he knows exactly what it was like to compete in big rivalry games. He joined Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor on their podcast, The Pivot, in an episode that was released on Friday. He had a hilarious description, as only the animated Johnson could, about how his teammates and coaches were feeling the week leading up to a game against Pittsburgh.

"For some reason, coaches, everybody got them a** tight. It's Steelers week. What we doin? You know how I am. I was a character, but I was one that wanted to keep everybody loose as possible. Coach, you ain't got nothing to worry about."

He decided to expand on this and emphasized that everyone in the building certainly had a little bit of worry in the back of their minds when the Ravens or Steelers were up next on the schedule.

"It's something about that Ravens week and Steeler week, everybody a**hole like this," Johnson said as he used his hand to display what he meant.

Both the defenses for the Steelers and Ravens were very feared throughout the NFL during Johnson's career. It's no surprise to hear him say that even grown men were a little wary about playing against the AFC North squads.

Taylor asked him what it was really like going into a Steelers game against Clark and co. and, as it turns out, the Bengals labeled the game a certain way to prepare players for what was to come that week.

"I call those two chin strap games. You go into the game, you need two chin straps. No bulls**t. That is what we labeled that week when we played the Steelers because you needed two chin straps."

Johnson, who has always been known as a trash-talker, explained that he did his best to keep the nerves and negative energy out of the building. He was a leader on the Bengals for a long time, and if his teammates didn't sense any kind of panic from him, the group would have been better off heading into each contest against the Steelers.

"I kinda tried to set the tone for us offensively with my mouth. If everyone see well sh*t, Chad is up, he ready to go, everybody else feeds off that. I might say something, ya know, a little bulletin board material throughout the week."

He backed up his confidence, too. In his career against Pittsburgh, Johnson hauled in 87 catches for 1,198 and three touchdowns in 20 regular season matchups.

Steelers-Bengals Rivalry Alive And Well In 2023

While Pittsburgh has enjoyed not having a losing season in some time, Cincinnati went through a rut that many fans would now say was worth it with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase now leading the way on offense. The two teams have had some great matchups over the last few seasons and expect that to continue in 2023, as they still have to face off twice. Let's hope, this time around, it's not the Steelers getting nervous leading up to the games.

Why do you think Johnson's teammates had a hard time being worry-free heading into Steelers week? Let us know in the comments below!

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