Four and out: Surprises from the NFL in Week 2
By Dani Bostick
3. The Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers stayed cordial
The last time the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers met, Antonio Brown was knocked out cold after a head-to-head hit by Vontaze Burfict, and the Bengals self-destructed, transforming a near-victory into a humiliating loss to a division rival. After the fact, Adam “Pacman” Jones accused Antonio Brown of malingering. It turned out Brown wasn’t faking. He missed the next playoff game against the Denver Broncos.
From the way the teams trash-talked each other after that epic matchup, it was a near-guarantee that the Week 2 battle between the two rivals would be volatile and nasty.
Instead, the game was so calm that analysts Dan Fouts and Ian Engle were left chatting about the weather between plays. Instead of, “Wow! Did offensive line coach Mike Munchak just pull Reggie Nelson’s hair?” Fouts and Engle made comments like, “It sure is raining” and “Look at that rain coming down. The field is wet.”
Going into the game, Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams referenced the two teams’ professional hatred, but there was definitely more professionalism than hatred on display Sunday.
While the sportsmanship may have been surprising, the final score was not. After a terrific performance in Week 1 against the Washington Redskins, the Steelers’ on-fire offense and increasingly efficient defense pulled out a 24-16 victory over their division rivals.