Steelers hold edge over Bengals in-must-win for both sides – NFL Peview
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will be looking to solidify their lead in the American Football Conference (AFC) north division as they meet each other in a must win situation for them this Sunday.
In all AFC north showdown both teams are desperate for win to consolidate their lead from one point behind the divisional leader Baltimore Ravens.
The Cincinnati Bengals are 7-4 in north division, just behind the division leader Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens however maintain the tiebreaker and the lead because they have beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers twice in the current season of National Football League (NFL), the premier American football league.
Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will try to inflict a defeat to other to consolidate their lead to catch up with the Ravens.
The game however is more crucial for the Bengals. They will not only aim to improve their lead in the division but also to improve their overall record against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers have the historical edge to have beaten the Bengals three times consecutively in a row. The Bengals therefore will be aiming to avoid their fourth consecutive loss to their divisional rivals.
The history of matchups between the two sides is also in favour of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have defeated the Bengals eight times out of their total ten meetings.
One of the keys to Bengals' success, which also comes to their advantage of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is their ability to bounce back in later part of a game. They have most of the time staged victories after having gone down considerably in first half of the game.
They in their last game against the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to tie the score to 17-17 in second half. At one point, the Pittsburgh Steelers took a lead of 14-0 and it looked it would be all easy for them score a victory against the Bengals. However, they only managed to succeed to record a win to their credit in closing minutes of the game.
"We went toe-to-toe with them," Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green said. "We belong in that league."
Bengals’ win in the game against the Cleveland Browns on past Sunday had also come in the similar fashion, when they with a deficit of ten points scored 13 points just before end of the game.
Tags: