The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting ready to kick off the 2022 season tomorrow against the Cincinnati Bengals. It'll be the first-time future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger isn't a part of this divisional game in some capacity since the 2004 season began. But that isn't stopping the former quarterback from talking about the rivalry.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is carted off the field after injuring his shoulder in the 2016 Wild Card game against Cincinnati. / ESPN
Roethlisberger had some epic games against the Bengals. It didn't seem to matter how bad of a game he was having, or the team was having by the end of the game the Steelers would somehow find a way to win. Roethlisberger finished his career with a 24-10 record against the Bengals. You can think back to the epic 2005 wild card game that saw Carson Palmer go down injured early and the Steelers come back from an early deficit to win. Or the next year when Santonio Holmes went the distance in overtime to knock Cincinnati from playoff contention in Bill Cowhers final game as coach. Then you can fast forward 10 years to the 2016 AFC Wild Card game. Without a doubt the wildest of them all.
On Saturday Roethlisberger released the second episode of his new podcast 'Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger' and with the Steelers set to play Cincinnati on Sunday he and co-host Spence talked about the most brutal game ever between the two teams.
"Every time we played Cincinnati -- those games were brutal. So physical," Roethlisberger said.
This game was especially brutal. Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier blew up Bengals running back Giovani Bernard late in the first half. It was a borderline clean hit, and that set the Bengals sideline and their fans into a frenzy.
CBS Game Footage
In the third quarter Roethlisberger would be driven into the ground by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict and as a result would injure his shoulder.
"I was in the locker room throwing and I couldn't even throw the football. So that's when I remember going on the field, coming out of their tunnel you kinda had to cross the field to go over to the other side. So, you could just feel the stadium go 'sigghhhhh'. I promise you; I promise you. They thought 'ah he's coming back out'. "
Then everyone remembers the Burfict hit on All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown. It was as dirty as it comes. Burfict literally tried to take Brown's head off after an errant pass from Roethlisberger. The culture in Cincinnati was developed by Burfict, and then cornerback Adam 'Pac-Man' Jones who couldn't stay out of trouble off the field. It was a culture of disrespect, and dirty football from a franchise that was desperate to win. And they'd try to do whatever they could to win. Even if it was cheap.
"I just always hated playing in Cincinnati because when you played Baltimore you knew it was going to be a physical game, but it was going to be physical in the sense that two teams were going out and were going to pound and grind. Clean, just physical," Roethlisberger continued. "When you played Cincinnati during a stretch, there was a stretch of games there or years there where you played them you almost didn't want to play. I'll be honest there were times when I was fearful to play because I was going to get hurt because of something dirty, something cheap, something whatever. So, that something always made it interesting. So now we're going in there thinking lets find a way to win this thing and get out of here. Saying let's get this win and go home. "
It's something that likely crossed many Steelers fans minds when the team would play the Bengals. Especially in those games where the Steelers were heading to the playoffs, and the Bengals were playing for nothing. What was going to stop them from taking a run at Roethlisberger. Their season may have been over, but they would love nothing more than to see Pittsburgh's season end too. It wasn't the same concern as when they'd play the Baltimore Ravens. You knew someone might get hurt in that game, but it was because of the reckless abandon both teams played with against each other.
Roethlisberger said exactly what many were thinking. He was afraid of a cheap shot injury. That isn't something any athlete should have to have on their mind when preparing for a game. Luckily for the Steelers, and Roethlisberger he was usually able to escape those games against the Bengals unharmed.
