HEINZ FIELD Bengals hope to end skid in Pittsburgh

Cincinnati has lost its last three road games against the Steelers.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Not even Chad Johnson is brave enough to guarantee this one.
No longer the fumbling, bungling Bengals of the last dozen seasons, Cincinnati arrives in Pittsburgh today in a totally unimaginable position -- first place in the AFC North in late November. And with a highly improbable scenario awaiting it.
Not only can the NFL's longtime model for ineptitude and persistent futility run its winning streak to four games, the Bengals (6-5) could all but bury their longtime division tormentors, the Steelers (4-7), even before the calendar has turned to December.
Not even the bold-talking Johnson was prescient enough to forecast this game could be the springboard for a franchise that hasn't been to the playoffs since those wacky days of Sam Wyche and Ickey Woods in 1990.
Scenario
Yet as startling as it might seem, a Bengals team that won only 12 games the previous three seasons would be at least tied for first going into Baltimore (6-5) next week if it wins for the sixth time in seven games today.
"This game is as big as any," Bengals linebacker Kevin Hardy said. "It will put us one step closer and hopefully dims their hopes."
Dim them? For weeks now, the Steelers' playoff chances have been as gloomy as a February afternoon in Pittsburgh.
But for all their Bengals-like blundering this season, including a recent stretch of six losses in seven games, the Steelers could quietly creep within a game of Cincinnati by winning.
Maybe that's why Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, the former Steelers assistant, has been waving a yellow caution flag all week. He understands that while the Bengals are starting to turn the corner, they have yet to win a big game in Pittsburgh, which has taken six of the last nine AFC North or AFC Central championships.
Lost three in row
Cincinnati has dropped three straight in Pittsburgh and is just 3-9 there with Bill Cowher as Steelers coach, with two victories coming against out-of-the-running Steelers teams in 1998 and 1999. The Steelers also have won six of seven against Cincinnati, losing only a meaningless late-December game in 2001.
"It's Pittsburgh," Lewis said. "If we're going to go where we want to go then we have to beat Pittsburgh. ... Without us beating them, we don't have to worry about the playoffs."
Despite all that Cincinnati has going for it -- a hot quarterback in Jon Kitna, the double-headed running game led by Rudi Johnson and Corey Dillon, and a big-play receiver in Johnson -- the Steelers aren't conceding the division race.
They've already won in Cincinnati, 17-10 on Sept. 21 behind Tommy Maddox's 240 yards passing and Jerome Bettis' touchdown run.
And just when they were being compared to the worst Steelers teams since the 1960s, they've rebounded from a 2-6 start by winning two of their last three.
Sees a challenge
"They'll play as though they're 11-0, they're not going to play like whatever their record is," Lewis said. "They're going to be confident, they're going to be aggressive. What do you have to lose?"
In division games, the Steelers don't lose often at all. They're 3-1 in the AFC North and 9-1 over the last two seasons, which provides them some encouragement because they have games remaining against Cincinnati and Baltimore.
"The title still has to come through Pittsburgh," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "We know that. Cincinnati is playing with a lot of confidence right now, but we're looking forward to the challenge."