The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals have been rivals in the same division since the 1970 merger of the AFL and NFL. This ensures the two teams meet twice in the regular season except for 1982, which was the year of the players’ strike. It was also the year that football began to be shown in the United Kingdom and when I began to take an interest in the game and the Steelers.
Pittsburgh has dominated the rivalry and has a 66-35 record over their opponents.
After the heady days of the seventies, the beginning of the eighties was a challenging time for both the Steelers and the NFL.