Holiday grudges 

By Mike Batista

Steelahs.com grinch

December 4, 2007

(Editor's note: Loyal and dedicated Steelahs.com readers will notice that this week's column is a little shorter than my other game columns. That's because I want to devote most of my time and energy this week to writing a lookahead to Sunday's game against the Patriots. I will have that up later in the week. Stay tuned!)

Just in time for Christmas, the Steelers have some teams on their schedule that I hate. It gets me in the holiday spirit.

It goes without saying that the Patriots are evil. But the Bengals, who were defeated 24-10 by the Steelers on Sunday night, have earned a lot of Steelers Nation hate points over the years as well.

The only positive thing I have to say about the Bengals is that Carson Palmer didn't blame Kimo von Oehlhoffen for injuring his knee on that infamous play during the Steelers' win over the Bengals in the 2005 playoffs. But my credit for Palmer and the Bengals ends there.

During the offseason after the Steelers won the Super Bowl, the Bengals just kind of assumed that they were on the cusp of that same kind of glory, that their day was coming. It seemed to me that they felt they deserved a championship after suffering the heartbreak of Palmer's knee injury in the 2005 playoffs.

Hasn't quite happened that way.

The Steelers' win over the Bengals at the end of last season was probably their sweetest non-playoff victory that I can remember. It felt so great to watch Santonio Holmes score that overtime touchdown to foil the Bengals' chance to make the playoffs.

And this season, the Bengals are in the Steelers' rear-view mirror. The Steelers are likely to move on to bigger and better things this season while the Bengals are due for a day of reckoning.

My hatred of the Bengals doesn't begin with Palmer and the 2005 playoff game. One of my earliest childhood memories as a Steelers fan is seeing Bengals players, with their new tiger-stripe helmets, whooping it up at Three Rivers Stadium after clinching the AFC Central in 1981. The Steelers, two years removed from their fourth Super Bowl title, finished 8-8 that year. The glory days were over.

The Steelers can forge a new era of glory now. A win like Sunday's is just what the doctor ordered.

The Steelers needed some momentum heading into Sunday's showdown against the unbeaten Patriots. After their manhandling of the Ravens on Nov. 5, the Steelers went 2-1, with neither win very convincing. But on Sunday, everything came together. The secondary looked very imposing, the offensive line didn't allow a sack, and special teams actually made a positive impact. The Steelers are still committing too many penalties, and Willie Parker needs to hold onto the football, but I'm thinking that maybe half of his 77 fumbles could be attributed to the wetness. I hope it doesn't rain Sunday in New England.

Actually, I wouldn't mind some crappy weather. That might keep some of the other standing-room ticket holders away from Gillette Stadium and give me a better view!