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It's official The Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to Cincinnati to play the Bengals in the opening round of the playoffs. On Sunday the Steelers won their 4th game in a row while defeated the Detroit Lions by a 35-21 score. The Kansas City Chiefs on the other hand leveled the Bengals 37-3. For the Bengals it was the Bengals second straight setback that lost last week 37-27 to the Buffalo Bills. Although many of the Bengals regulars did not play, the Chiefs amassed a whopping 537 total net yards against the AFC North division champions. Pittsburgh's first score came less than two minutes into the game when Antwaan Randle El returned a punt for 81 yards for a TD. The Steelers used a punishing running attack that compiled a total of 199 yards on the day. Willie Parker finished the game with 135 yards on 26 carries, and Jerome Bettis added another 41 yards on 10 carries with 3 TDs. The game may have been the last hurrah for Jerome Bettis at Heinz Field. Bettis, the NFL’s 5th ranked all time rusher, who had 13621 coming into the game, did not disappoint the fans as he scored three TDs. He has scored 7 TD's in his past 5 games. Bettis received a standing ovation from the crowd, when after carrying the ball 4 yards to the Steelers 41 yard line; he was replaced in the backfield by Verron Haynes. The Bengals will make their first playoff appearance in 15 years. The last time the Steelers lost was 38-31 to the Bengals on December 4. The Bengals for the second week in a row gave up 37 points. Steeler and Bengals will play next Sunday at 4:30 PM on CBS. |