STEELERS VS BENGALS PLAYOFF PREVIEW

January 6, 2006 4:00 AM ET

Sunday, January 8, 2006, 4:30 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) at Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)

These two long-time AFC Central (and now AFC North) rivals have met 71 times before, but never in the postseason—in part because the Bengals haven't been to the dance since 1990. The duo split this year's season series, with Pittsburgh winning in Cincy in week seven 27-13 and the Bengals returning the favor at Heinz Field in week 13 38-31. There will be few surprises here, as the Bengals will try to outpoint Pittsburgh while the Steelers would prefer to slow the tempo down and grind out a victory. The Steelers hold a 42-29 edge in the series, but a Bengals' win here would just about balance that out, at least in the minds of playoff-starved Cincy fans.

When the Steelers have the ball: All you need to know about the Steelers' game plan can be summed up by this number: 152. That's how many rushing yards the Steelers as a team have averaged against Cincinnati in their past eight meetings.

In fact, look no further than the last time Pittsburgh came to town to see the ideal blueprint: Ben Roethlisberger threw just 14 passes for just 93 yards… but two touchdowns. Willie Parker led the ground parade with 131 yards and a touchdown; Jerome Bettis added 56; and Verron Haynes chipped in 35. The result was a convincing 27-13 Steelers victory.

It's not as if the Bengals' defense can do much to stop the Steelers. This unit allowed five 100-yard rushers over the course of the season, most recently 201 and three touchdowns to Larry Johnson. Despite all the strides Cincy has made, especially on the defensive side of the ball under Marvin Lewis, they're still unable to stop the run.

And, unfortunately for the Bengals, running is exactly what the Steelers do best. Pittsburgh running backs have scored 13 touchdowns against Cincy over the past four seasons and were not shut out during that span, so you can bank on Parker rolling up big yardage and either he or Bettis getting into the end zone.

Even worse news for Cincy faithful: after six straight games of holding Pittsburgh quarterbacks to just one touchdown pass, the Bengals secondary has softened this year, surrendering five scoring strikes to Roethlisberger in the two-game series. Big Ben matched Carson Palmer in the most recent meeting, throwing for a career-high 386 yards and three touchdowns; the saving grace for the Bengals is that he also tossed a career-high three interceptions in a 38-31 Cincy win.

Obviously, the Steelers don't want to have Big Ben throw 41 times; something between 15 and 25 would be much more in their comfort zone. However many times he throws, you can bet the majority of those tosses will be directed at Hines Ward. Not only is Ward far and away the Steelers' leading target, he also has a history of success against the Bengals. He's reached paydirt against them in five of the last seven meetings, scoring six times overall, and has topped triple-digits in receiving yardage three times over that same span; only two other Pittsburgh pass-catchers have found the end zone in those games, and his 555 receiving yards represents more than one-third of Pittsburgh's total pass-catching yardage. So, yeah, he's the go-to guy.

The only other likely candidate to do anything of note in the passing game is tight end Heath Miller. He owns one of those two non-Ward passing game scores against the Bengals and caught nine balls for 102 yards in the season series. Moreover, the Bengals were among the most tight-end friendly defenses in the league, one of only two clubs surrendering both more than 50 yards per game and an average of a touchdown every other tilt.

When the Bengals have the ball: Cincy's offense has a daunting task ahead of them, because they know full well their defense isn't going to stop the Steelers. And points have been tough to come by in this series, as the Bengals have failed to top 20 points five times in the past eight meetings.

Fortunately for the Bengals, the last time these clubs met was also the most prolific point output in recent memory. Carson Palmer tossed three scoring strikes and posted 227 passing yards for the second straight matchup, while Rudi Johnson kicked in a pair of scores and almost broke the century mark for the second time in as many seasons against the Steel Curtain.

To put those numbers in perspective, only Edgerrin James rushed for more yards in a game against the Steelers this year, only Corey Dillon matched Rudi's touchdown output, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were among just four quarterbacks who exceeded Carson's passing yardage, and no opposing quarterback bested his trio of scores.

So it's certainly possible for the Bengals to put points on the board against Pittsburgh. And seeing as the Steelers gave up 41 points in their last postseason game… well, this one's hardly a mortal lock for the Steel Curtain.

Certainly, much of what the Bengals accomplish will depend on what Palmer can do. He has steadily increased his production in each of his four career starts against the Steelers, culminating with his big game the last time out. But Rudi will be the key, and he's had as much success against the Steelers as any other back over the past two seasons, averaging 87 rushing yards per game and scoring three times.

The Bengals will need to establish Rudi against the Steel Curtain to set up the other elements of their attack, which for the most part have been inconsistent at best versus the Steelers. Chad Johnson has had just two opportunities for an end zone dance over the past eight meetings, the most recent coming in week 11 of last season. He also hasn't seen triple-digit yardage or more than five catches in a game since 2003, making it that much more important for T.J. Houshmandzadeh to step up. It was Housh who scored twice in the Bengals' recent win over Pittsburgh, and he grabbed a dozen balls for 163 yards in the season series.

Perhaps most importantly, the Bengals have been able to make the proper game-to-game adjustments against Pittsburgh. In the first meeting between these squads over the past three seasons, the Bengals have produced one passing touchdown; in the rematch, they've recorded multiple scores each of those seasons. What does a third meeting hold in store? If the Bengals offense plays to its capabilities, it could very well back up Chad Johnson's claim that the AFC North torch is being passed from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati.

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