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View Full Version : Pittsburgh's Forgotten Classics: Steelers vs. Bengals, 2006



polamalubeast
04-22-2012, 10:32 AM
The Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Paul Brown Stadium for their first-ever playoff game against the rival Cincinnati Bengals on January 8, 2006. The game is certainly not a forgotten classic, thus not quite meeting the qualifications necessary to be features in this series.

However, the events that unfolded during that contest reshaped the landscape of a rekindled rivalry, both between two division opponents and two peer quarterbacks that the public and mass media couldn't resist comparing.

Many factors allowed the wild-card playoff classic to have such meaning on both sides.

Carson Palmer was the big-armed quarterback alumnus of the prestigious University of Southern California, and his arrival in the NFL saw a certain early aplomb quite possibly only rivaled by his peer passer in the AFC North. With the down-for-the-count Bengals revived from putridity to mediocrity to contention, the hyped Palmer was largely considered one of the finest quarterbacks in professional football.

In fact, many considered the Cincinnati kid to be the superior field general to Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, despite Big Ben's record-breaking winning streak during his rookie season.

"Eh, he's just a game manager, winning on the heels of the team around him," people would emphatically respond, as if forgetting the Steelers' 6-10 record in 2003 and 30-13 blowout loss in Baltimore just prior to his arrival—the last defeat the Men of Steel would suffer in 2004.


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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1153982-pittsburghs-forgotten-classics-steelers-vs-bengals-2006