Revenge. Payback. Respect. These are the words commonly describing Sunday's Bengals/Steelers game. Personally, it's going to be great. There's motivation on both sides. The Steelers need to win because game #2 in the series will likely be a night game, at Cincinnati, on New Year's Eve. The Bengals need to win to respond to the incomplete Wild Card game and the brilliant "we-dey" chants -- thanks coach Cowher for that motivational speech for my team.
But as much as emotion could rule this game, so could injury and the state of recovery. Big Ben is very rusty coming off one of the worst bad luck off-seasons of all-time. Will the Bengals receivers be healthy? Specifically, will T.J. Houshmandzadeh play? However, injury is giving others a chance to prove themselves.
Sunday's game will be phyiscal. And as Kevin Goheen says, the key will be the running game.
Put down Ron Cook as a writer that's not impressed with Chad Johnson's touchdown celebrations. But Cook, for all his mentions on how Chad hasn't had the success against Pittsburgh like other teams, does a good job exploring Johnson.
So why the charade?
"I'm just trying to have fun," Johnson said. "None of it means anything. But trust me, once the game starts, I'm all business. I truly believe I can't be stopped."