When the Pittsburgh Steelers went to Paul Brown Stadium to face the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday, tensions certainly flared. The two teams, who are the top two teams in the AFC North, seemed to be doing more pushing and shoving than actual playing.
All rivalries in a specific division in football are intense, but the AFC North have some of the more intense ones. Many experts in the league call the Steelers versus the Baltimore Ravens rivalry the best in football. However, after the two meetings between the Steelers and the Bengals this season, fans of the game might think otherwise. The tensions between the Bengals and Steelers have heated up, but is it coming to now be the biggest rivalry in the AFC North?
Mike Mitchell, a safety for the Steelers, doesn’t think so. In an interview with Sport’s Illustrated’s Melissa Jacobs he noted that the Ravens/Steelers rivalry is more special.
“There’s nothing like being in Baltimore for that rivalry. That’s very special and on another level. But the game we just played last Sunday got pretty close, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it get like that. We’ll see how it goes moving forward,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell isn’t wrong about how Sunday’s game against the Bengals came close to being like a Ravens/Steelers game. Usually the player in the AFC North going for Ben Roethlisberger’s legs has been Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs. However, Suggs is out this year with a torn Achilles tendon injury.
Now taking the cheap hits to Roethlisberger has been Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was fined today for his hit on Roethlisberger’s legs on Sunday. Burfict claimed he was pushed into Roethlisberger’s legs, but the veteran quarterback wasn’t buying the excuse.
“I don’t buy he was pushed,” Roethlisberger said on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan. “I think he was definitely diving low for my legs.”
So where does the rivalry now stand? Some people say it’s better than the Ravens/Steelers and others believe that nothing can top the Ravens/Steelers rivalry. The two teams do face each other on December 27 in Baltimore at 1:00 p.m., since the game was moved from prime time to an earlier slot. Time will tell to see which rivalry will come out on top.
