The Bengals recorded their first ever victory at Three Rivers Stadium to complete an unexpected season sweep of the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.
Cincinnati limped into the game as 13-point underdogs with a 1-4 record against the 4-1 Steelers. But the lone win on the Bengals’ slate and sole loss on Pittsburgh’s came three weeks earlier in a 30-28 upset at Riverfront Stadium.
The Bengals didn’t wait for the Steelers to issue any payback, jumping on the hosts for a 17-0 halftime lead on touchdown runs by Charles Alexander and Pete Johnson and a 24-yard Ian Sunter field goal.
But Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers to 16 points in the third quarter and put together what should have been a game-winning drive late in the fourth.
Pittsburgh marched from its own 2-yard line to the Cincinnati 22 in less than two minutes, but Steelers kicked Matt Bahr missed a 39-yard field goal with four seconds to go.
The Bengals went right back to their losing ways after the upset, dropping six of the next seven games on the way to a 5-11 season.
Oct. 12, 1969 – New York Jets 21, Cincinnati Bengals 7 at Nippert Stadium. Making his first of four appearances in Cincinnati, Hall of Famer Joe Namath threw for 163 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score to deal the Bengals their first loss after a 3-0 start. Emerson Boozer added 129 yards on the ground for New York. Cincinnati's lone score came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Sam Wyche to Eric Crabtree.
Oct. 12, 1975 – Cincinnati 27, New England 10 at Riverfront Stadium. Boobie Clark and Essex Johnson ran for touchdowns and Ken Anderson threw a 37-yard score to Charlie Joiner as the Bengals improved to 4-0 in what was the first of two victories the Cincinnati posted against the New England region that day. A few hours later in Boston, the Cincinnati Reds scored two runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Red Sox 3-2 in Game 2 of the World Series.
Oct. 12, 1997 – Tennessee Oilers 30, Cincinnati Bengals 7 at the Liberty Bowl. Cincinnati avoided the shutout with 2:08 remaining when Corey Dillon scored the first of his 50 touchdowns as a Bengal. The score run foreshadowed what was to come two months later on a nationally televised Thursday night game when Dillon ran for an NFL rookie record 246 yards and four touchdowns in the rematch with the Oilers.
Oct. 12, 2008 — New York Jets 26, Cincinnati Bengals 14 at The Meadowlands. The Bengals managed just 195 yards of total offense and fell to 0-6. Their two scores came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and a 15-yard fumble return by Chinedum Ndukwe. Brett Favre threw for 189 yards and a touchdown to lead the Jets.
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