The Cincinnati Bengals beat the sense out of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. They beat the since out of them too.
As in most points against them since 1988, and largest margin of victory since 1989, and longest winning streak since 1990. It was also the first season sweep since 2009, and on and on and on with a list that is as long as it is staggering.
The 41-10 victory at Paul Brown Stadium was a physical mismatch and thorough dismantling of a Steelers franchise that has tormented the Bengals almost since their inception, from ruining some of Paul Brown’s best early teams with one of the greatest dynasties of all time to the crushing playoff upsets of this century, in this same building, to everything in between.
“A changing of the guard,” said Cincinnati cornerback Mike Hilton, who is arguably the most qualified individual in the locker room to assess the magnitude of the series shift, as someone who had played in 10 Bengals-Steelers games and come out on top nine times — seven during his four years in Pittsburgh and two this year.
Hilton was the catalyst to the 24-10 win in Week 3 that marked the Bengals’ first double-digit win in Pittsburgh. He gave an emotional speech the night before the game about how much it meant to him to go back and face the team that essentially told him his services were no longer needed when they let him walk in free agency.
Hilton stayed quiet this week and let his teammates and the crowd of 63,238 make all the noise when he returned a Ben Roethlisberger interception 24 yards for a touchdown.
