Showdown becomes a letdown

Today's Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game isn't as exciting as it was last year.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- When the NFL schedule was released last April, the top two teams in the AFC North quickly scanned down the list to find the final game. Then, they smiled.
Perfect.
There was no better way to end than with Pittsburgh making another visit to Cincinnati. The defending Super Bowl champs against the defending division champs. The team that knocked Carson Palmer and the Bengals out of the playoffs coming back to town to try to do it again.
It has turned out too good to be true.
The Steelers (7-8) are already out of playoff contention heading into their final game today at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals (8-7) are all but out, needing a victory and a helping hand to get a wild-card berth.
Instead of ending the year with a high-stakes showdown, this one has turned into a letdown.
"Coming into this year, we were supposed to be the two teams battling it out," said Super Bowl MVP receiver Hines Ward. "It didn't work that way."
All about endings
Instead, it's about endings.
Will this be Bill Cowher's final game as Steelers coach? Will the Bengals recover from a botched extra point in Denver and prolong their season for at least a few hours? Or will it end on the same field for the second season in a row?
It's all so bittersweet.
"We've underachieved and let games go by the wayside that have put us in the position we're in right now," Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson said. "It's not a terrible position, but it's not a great position as well."
Still have hope
At least the Bengals still have a little hope.
They had a chance to lock up an AFC wild card berth by winning at Indianapolis or Denver the last two weeks. Instead, they got beaten by Peyton Manning's precise passing, then fell in Denver with one of the most exasperating endings in franchise history.
After Palmer led the Bengals to a touchdown with 46 seconds left, a bad snap aborted the extra-point try and handed the Broncos a 24-23 victory.
Now, the Broncos and the New York Jets are in line for those two wild card berths.
"If I play my best football, I can put us in position to win those games, and I didn't do that," said Palmer, who has played his worst back-to-back games of the season. "It's frustrating and disappointing and a lot of negative feelings going toward that. It's been tough to get over and tough to get past."
Playoff scenarios
The Bengals have to beat Pittsburgh to stay in contention, then have at least one other game go their way. The Jets would have to lose at home to lowly Oakland. Or the Broncos would have to lose to San Francisco, and Jacksonville would have to lose to Kansas City.
The topsy-turvy last few weeks in the NFL provided some solace that Cincinnati might yet make the playoffs for a second straight season.
"You have to keep thinking that way," Anderson said. "You keep thinking that way, keep pushing, keep fighting. But it is disappointing. I think that we have underachieved."
Just as they did last season, the Steelers could bring the Bengals' hopes crashing down on their home field. Kimo von Oelhoffen's low hit blew out Palmer's left knee on his first pass of their playoff game, and Pittsburgh's 31-17 win started its run to the Super Bowl title.
There will be no playoff run for the Steelers this time. Instead, the motivation is to make sure the Bengals can't have one, either.
"You try to win every football game you're in, and you want to end on a good note," linebacker Joey Porter said. "And there'd be no better way than knocking them out. If we can't go, they can't go."
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