Forty years ago, when former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to clinch a playoff berth, Anderson said he wasn’t thinking about the quarterback storyline.
In a 17-10 win in 1981, Anderson got the Bengals past the team and the quarterback who had frustrated the Bengals throughout the 1970s. For 10 years, the Bengals always had to go through the other great quarterback in the division, former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, to make it to the postseason.
Anderson said he didn’t focus on his matchup against the opposing Hall of Fame quarterback, but it was obvious what was at stake.
“They always said the road to the Super Bowl went through Pittsburgh,” Anderson said. “To beat them in Pittsburgh and clinch a trip to the playoffs, that was special.”
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Since then, the Bengals haven’t had a quarterback rivalry in the division that matches Anderson versus Bradshaw. Carson Palmer versus Ben Roethlisberger came close in the early 2000s, but they only played a handful of meaningful games late in the season. Andy Dalton versus Joe Flacco and Boomer Esiason versus Warren Moon also left an imprint on an era of Bengals football.
On Sunday, when the Bengals face the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium, it’ll be Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s first meaningful December game against each other, as they’re both playing for an AFC North title this season.
The Bengals coaching staff is preparing for Jackson to return from an ankle injury this week, and the game will likely be the first of many season-defining matchups between Burrow and Jackson during their careers.
It’s a young rivalry that has the potential to follow in the footsteps of some of the NFL’s most notable quarterback battles.
“We don't, in the locker room, work for those storylines,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “But I do understand that it's good for the game of football to have young, exciting quarterbacks that people want to watch on TV and (that) people want to see in the stands.”
In a sport where a franchise quarterback is the most direct path toward year-to-year stability, the Bengals and the Ravens are ahead of the rest of the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers will likely have to replace 39-year old Ben Roethlisberger in the near future. The Cleveland Browns haven’t committed to Baker Mayfield as their long-term quarterback.
Burrow versus Jackson has all the makings of a classic quarterback rivalry. They’re both the same age. They both were lightly recruited for most of their high school careers and went on to win the Heisman Trophy. They’ll play each other twice a season. They’ll play for teams that project to be competitive as long as they’re playing at a high level.
“I think (Jackson and Burrow) will be next,” Anderson said. “What’s going to be meaningful for Joe will be going against that team for an extended period of time like we went through (to the playoffs) against Pittsburgh.”
During Anderson’s 16-year career, which included four Pro Bowls, an MVP award and a Super Bowl appearance with the Bengals, Anderson said he didn’t put too much stock into his “rivalry” with Bradshaw.
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Even though they were competing against each other every season for individual awards and division titles, Anderson said he didn’t pay attention to the narrative surrounding the two best quarterbacks in the division.
Between 1970 and 1986, Anderson and Bradshaw each won one All-Pro award and one MVP. Bradshaw’s defense helped lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles, but he was also always vying with Anderson for the title of best quarterback in the division.
“You’re not on the field with the other quarterback, my focus was how we handle (Steelers defensive tackle) Mean Joe Green,” Anderson said. “I didn’t get caught up in comparisons. Except the two times we played a year, I never ran into him.”
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Anderson had developed relationships with other NFL quarterbacks at offseason golf tournaments, but Bradshaw didn’t golf. They played against each other throughout the 1970s, and Anderson said their most extensive conversation came after a game in 1979.
Cincinnati's Ken Anderson and Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw bonded over beers
During one of the least consequential games between the Bengals and the Steelers in the 1970s, former Steelers defensive tackle Joe Green sacked former Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson. When Anderson was on the ground, Green told Anderson to come to the locker room for a beer after the game.
When Anderson reached the locker room, he saw Bradshaw at the first locker. Even though they hardly knew each other, Bradshaw extended Anderson an invitation.
“He stops me and takes me into the back of the locker room to the sauna to have a couple of beers,” Anderson said.
Externally, those matchups carried the most weight on the Bengals schedule.
In 1974, Anderson elevated his status in the league with a win over the eventual Super Bowl champions. Anderson completed 20 of his 22 passing attempts against the legendary defense, and former Steelers defensive line coach George Perles said at the time that Anderson showed in that game that he was “just about the best around.”
In 1976, the Bengals lost a key December game to the Steelers, which derailed the Bengals’ postseason hopes. After a few down years for the Bengals, Anderson played one of the most memorable games of his career on Dec. 13, 1981. The Bengals beat the Steelers on the road to clinch a postseason berth, and it was a milestone moment in a milestone Bengals season.
The Bengals game on Sunday against the Ravens will likely carry that type of magnitude.
“It's us against Baltimore for first place in the division,” Burrow said. “This is exactly why you play the game. Big games in December against great players and great teams, so you couldn't ask for a better game on Sunday.”
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