Is this the game that ended an era?

By Paul Daugherty

https://www.cincinnati.com/sports/bengals/

December 5, 2017

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) catches a touchdown pass against Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, center, in the fourth quarter of Monday's 23-20 win in Cincinnati.(Frank Victores/AP)

Déjà vu, Groundhog Day, same old story, same old song, and dance. The body count rose to disconcerting levels until the game became uncomfortable to watch. Two men left the field on gurneys, others limped away, still more saw a heaven’s worth of stars.

And Pittsburgh won. The Steelers beat the Bengals, again, the Cincinnati futility running now like an unbridled thoroughbred. Or, if you prefer, like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers wideout, going absolutely Burfict on Vontaze, late in the game.

In a month, we might look back at Pittsburgh 23, Cincinnati 20 as the game that ended an era. Fan patience thinned awhile go, and there is some indication the feeling is becoming mutual at PBS. To win anything in Cincinnati, you have to beat Pittsburgh. The Bengals have spent half a century leaping at that bar. And smashing their heads on it.

Monday night was, sadly, more of the same. The Bengals played a great first half. Andy Dalton attacked a weak Steelers secondary whose members were so paranoid about being whipped deep, they played two time zones off the ball. Dalton is at his Good Andy best when he has time and tempo, throwing 12- and 15-yard completions.

The defense shut out the Steelers until the last play of the half. The Bengals went into the locker room up 17-3 and darned if some of us didn’t believe this time would be different. The Bengals played with a purpose that bordered on arrogance, which is exactly the approach needed to beat Pittsburgh.

But this supposed rivalry is rarely about the Bengals overcoming. It’s about dumb penalties, missed chances and a mental hammer that bops them every time. The Bengals don’t need better players to beat Pittsburgh. They need a séance, six hypnotists and an exorcist.

“We have a no-blink group,’’ Mike Tomlin noted after the game. He was right about that. Pittsburgh lost its best defensive player, Ryan Shazier, to an injury so frightening Tomlin refused to talk about it. Pittsburgh had a kickoff return TD called back.

The Steelers still trailed by 10 at the beginning of the 4th quarter. By the end of the 4th quarter, Ben Roethlisberger was connecting with receivers while filing his nails and checking his text messages. Pittsburgh’s winning field goal drive was an exercise in inevitability. The Steelers knew the Steelers would win. The Bengals did, too.

We could discuss the particulars, but why bother? The Bengals are not the Steelers. I say this with all due respect and even a little compassion. They’re not a no-blink group. They rarely have been.

“We needed to make critical plays at critical moments and we didn’t do it,’’ Marvin Lewis said. He was right, technically, but that dodges the heart of it. When you lose as often to the Steelers as the Bengals have – with comparable talent most years – it’s not just about making critical plays. It’s about knowing you will make critical plays.

You think the Bengals managed to keep their heads. Then you see 13 penalties, for 173 yards. You think they played with confidence. Then you see Roethlisberger’s numbers in the 4th quarter: Thirteen-for-19, 131 yards and a touchdown. You note the Bengals had zero first downs that quarter and controlled the ball just three minutes.

“We definitely took our foot off their neck,’’ linebacker Mike Minter said, before adding, “Ben Roethlisberger is, you know, Ben Roethlisberger.’’

Andy Dalton in the first half: 173 passing yards, two TDs and a rating of 120.4. Dalton in the second half: 5-for-13 for 61 yards. At home.

Meantime, the carnage was real. Shazier, neck and back injury. Burfict, head injury. Joe Mixon, concussion. Pacman Jones, groin injury. Everyone else was falling on swords. The violence went from acceptable to unsettling to hard to watch.

The league can’t do much more to tame the savagery. It’s up to players to self-police. The helmet-to-helmet crashes practiced Monday by Smith-Schuster, George Iloka and others can’t be explained away as “just football.’’ It’s too senseless and deliberate for that.

The Bengals have nine toes out the January door. They’ve had an underachieving season for the second year in a row. Apathy is undefeated around here. Only 56,000 (10,000 short of PBS capacity) showed up. Good things aren’t happening.

The players have talked all year about looking in the proverbial mirror for answers. It’s time for ownership to do the same. The results are the same, the madness varies only slightly Steelers Week! to Steelers Week! The fans have seen enough.

As Elvis Costello sang, “I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be amused.’’

Keep your sense of humor out there. Four games to go.