The game began auspiciously enough for the Bengals.
Andre Caldwell fielded the Steelers' opening kickoff and returned it to the Pittsburgh 49 where he was tackled by Keiwan Ratliff.
On the very first play of this twice-a-year Cincinnati litmus test against division arch-rival Pittsburgh, the Bengals of old collided with the new Bengals, right at midfield in the time-slot centerpiece of a nationally televised football game.
Ratliff, three years removed from Bengal stripes, was run out of Cincinnati because he was no longer a factor in the secondary while falling off the table returning punts. He was with Indianapolis the last two seasons. Now he's with Pittsburgh, a place where former Bengals come back to haunt current Bengals, and the line forms behind Kimo von Oelhoffen and Dick LeBeau.
But this wasn't one of those games where the Steelers rip the hearts out of the Bengals as Terrible Towel-waving fans outnumber Bengals fans at the end of yet another Pittsburgh victory over the men in stripes in Cincinnati.
No, no.
This was something else altogether. This was a 23-20 Bengals win over the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, a team that's had not only the Bengals' number, but their minds.
Ratliff has to be shaking his head.
He couldn't win with the Bengals. Now that he's with the Steelers, he can't beat the Bengals.
That's because the new Bengals - call 'em the Kardiac Kitties - beat Pittsburgh on Sunday. While doing so, they beat the old Bengals out of themselves, while not beating themselves in a game that featured a third-straight heart-pounding conclusion in the final minute.
At the rate the Bengals are slaying inner and outer demons, they could introduce a line of self-image action figures to coincide with the movie release of an on-the-edge-of-your-seat psycho-thriller, and look the part.
"(It was) nothing inspirational. There was nothing from a book or movie," Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. "We just talked about each situation, as far as when we were going to get into a two-minute offense and when we were going to clock it after certain first downs. Just a lot of communication as far as what we were thinking on the next play. But no pumped-up speech needed. We knew what we needed to do, and we got it done."
Cincinnati played on a pretty big stage Sunday against its nemesis, for all of the nation's afternoon television viewers to see. The Bengals did not cower. They did not fold. They did not get physically pushed around. They did not get outwitted, out-juked, outclassed, and outed as another Bengals tease - a would-be band of talented wanna-bes fraudulently positioning themselves as contenders.
The Bengals beat the Steelers.
(Say it again, Bengals fans. It's good therapy).
The Bengals beat the Steelers, despite building precious few statistical advantages in the contest.
The Steelers had the ball almost 10 minutes longer than Cincinnati against the Bengals' bend-but-don't-break defense. The Steelers outgained the Bengals by 100 total yards (373-273). The big edge was in the passing game (271-173). The Steelers outrushed the Bengals, though by just two yards. The Steelers did better on third down (50 percent vs. the Bengals' 20 percent). Pittsburgh had 152 total yards in the first quarter, compared to the Bengals' minus-10 yards of offense.
The Steelers had more explosive plays, especially in the first half when the tone was set with four Pittsburgh plays of 24 yards or more compared to one Bengals play of 20 or more yards. Willie Parker looked fast and had nearly 100 yards rushing with 93 yards on 25 carries, and he caught a 27-yard touchdown pass to help put the Steelers ahead, 10-0. Hines Ward averaged 20 yards on four catches and once again was murder as a downfield blocker. The Steelers were better on special teams following Caldwell's opening kickoff return. The Steelers led virtually the entire game.
But the Bengals led the Steelers in game-winning drives. There's only one in a game. On Sunday, Cincinnati had it.
Against the NFL's No. 2 defense, Carson Palmer directed a mammoth 16-play, 71-yard go-ahead touchdown drive that took a precious 5 minutes off the game clock, leaving mere seconds and just one opportunity for Ben Roethlisberger to pull a Kyle Orton and reset the universe to normal - a place where the Bengals never win important games.
There was no Immaculate Reception from the team that helped invent the turn of phrase when Franco Harris corralled a deflected pass to help beat the Raiders in a famous NFL game during the long-ago 1970s. If the Bengals learned anything from their only loss of the season in that Brandon Stokley-stoked Denver heist in the opener, it was, "Knock the pass down!"
Big Ben's final heave on Sunday from the Pittsburgh 34, in the direction of speedy rookie receiver Mike Wallace (7 catches for 102 yards), fell harmlessly to the turf and did not wind up bouncing into the air and turning into a 66-yard Hail Mary, and another dagger in the hearts of everyone connected to Bengaldom.
That's when it sunk in.
The Bengals beat the Steelers.
“Hanging in there was obviously a test for the guys. We didn’t get off to a good start today, penalties on offense, and not being able to stop them on third down defensively. We kind of dug ourselves in a hole," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "But I thought, as the game went on, the guys settled in and played. We were able to make enough plays to keep the third quarter going, and then get in the fourth quarter and get our legs underneath us. The third-down (and fourth-down) conversions on offense were huge in the fourth quarter, and that made the difference in the game."
The Bengals beat Pittsburgh at home in Paul Brown Stadium for the first time in eight years. The Bengals beat the Steelers with a rebuilt offensive line that's still finding its way. They beat Pittsburgh with no real tight end. The Bengals beat the Steelers despite long-snapper Brad St. Louis's recent penchant for hiking the football too high on field-goal attempts.
The Bengals beat the Steelers with what could be a season-turning drive. And, for good measure, they converted the ensuing two-point conversion pass to make up for the botched extra-point attempt caused by St. Louis following Johnathan Joseph's 30-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Bengals back in the game, 13-9, with 13:35 to go in the third quarter.
It was all Steelers, 13-0, until Shayne Graham's 34-yard field goal on the final play of the first half put the Bengals on the board.
Joseph's pick-6 kept momentum at the Bengals' backs. But, 10 minutes later, Roethlisberger's 1-yard keeper and Jeff Reed's kick completed an 11-play, 75-yard drive that put the Steelers back in control 20-9.
The Bengals owned the fourth-quarter, a historically unkind final frame in a football game for the Cincinnati side.
They set up The Drive with a quick little preview, a six-play, 85-yard series capped by Cedric Benson's 23-yard touchdown run with 9:14 to go in the game, the Bengals' longest play of the day. The Bengals went for 2, but the pass failed.
Even so, the Bengals had whittled the Steelers lead to 20-15, and found themselves in a tight ball game for the third Sunday in a row, with some new-found respect and prestige, a 2-1 record, and a second-place standing behind the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens on the line.
The Steelers got the ball back at their own 27, but seven plays later, the Bengals' much-improved defense forced a punt. Quan Cosby, Cincinnati's new punt returner three years after the Bengals took the job away from Ratliff, ignited the rally with a 17-yard return to the Bengals' 29.
Benson (16 carries for 76 yards) ran for 3. Palmer found Laveranues Coles for 17 yards, the drive's longest play, and a first down. Benson took a Palmer pass to near midfield, then ran eight yards to the Pittsburgh 46. Palmer's strike to Caldwell moved the ball to the 38. Palmer's 1-yard keeper got the first down.
Caldwell, Palmer's primary receiving target on the final drive, caught a pass for eight yards following a Palmer incompletion thrown Caldwell's way. The Bengals called timeout with 1:05 left to play. Palmer misfired to the receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson on third-and-2 from the Steelers' 20. But Palmer found Coles on fourth down at the Pittsburgh 15 for a first down, then Palmer spiked the ball to stop the clock with 48 seconds left.
Palmer misfired twice, to Chad Ochocinco (5 catches for 54 yards), then to Chris Henry. The teams traded timeouts as the Bengals prepared for a fourth-and-1 play from the 15. The Bengals came back to the field and converted their second fourth-down play on the drive when Palmer connected with Brian Leonard on an 11-yard pass completion to the 4. Palmer spiked the ball on the next play to stop the clock with 19 seconds left.
The Bengals went back to the line in shotgun formation. Then Palmer hit Caldwell (6 catches for 52 yards) right in front of him in the middle of the end zone for Caldwell's first NFL touchdown and a 21-20 Bengals lead.
Palmer (20-for-37 for 183 yards) found Leonard on a crossing pattern in the end zone for the successful two-point conversion, setting the final score, and PBS turned into a rocking joint with an atmosphere befitting winners shedding their losing skins. The roar reached a crescendo when Big Ben's big fly fell incomplete on the game's final play.
And with that, the new Bengals beat Pittsburgh (1-2) and pulled a game ahead of the Steelers in the division standings. It was Roethlisberger's first loss as a Steelers quarterback in his native state of Ohio. He had been 5-0 in Cleveland and 6-0 Cincinnati.
"We don’t want to make this a habit, but it appears to be for the second week, we are unable to make significant plays at the end of the football game to secure a victory," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Let me start by complimenting the Cincinnati Bengals, because they did (make the significant plays). We respect that element of them. We accept responsibility for our actions, and at the same time we want to be complimentary of our opponents when they do the job."
Help making it all possible were the Bengals' other defensive heroes, in addition to Joseph. Linebacker Keith Rivers, knocked out of last season's home game against the Steelers when Ward ended Rivers' rookie season with a broken jaw on a blind-side block, led the team with eight total tackles (a team-high 5 solo).
Linemen Robert Geathers and Pat Sims shared a sack. Safety Roy Williams (6 tackles) and rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga (5 tackles, 1 for loss) provided much needed physical presences. Maualuga re-entered the game after suffering a third-quarter knee injury on Big Ben's 1-yard rushing score. Cornerback Leon Hall defended and made two special teams tackles, and he also re-entered the game after leaving with a knee injury.
Safety Cris Crocker ran 21 yards to the Steelers' 41 on fourth-and 3 from the Bengals 38 out of a punt formation. The drive stalled when Graham missed a 52-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter.
But the Bengals' drive that counted most on Sunday could not be stopped by the Steelers, by former Bengals now with Pittsburgh and the ghosts of yesterday's Bengals.
"Priceless," Bengals offensive lineman Bobbie Williams said. "The past is the past. This is a new team and a new day."
After one of their most satisfying victories in years, the Bengals dearly hope it is a new day after 18 years of futility.
These new Bengals will find out more about their future when they take on the winless Browns in Cleveland next Sunday, with a 3-1 record and a possible share of first place in the division at stake.