We’ve established the Steelers and the Bengals don’t particularly care for each other.
That does not necessarily preclude an exchange of bodily fluids, sort of.
In discussing this weekend’s matchup with the AFC North title and a rare Bengals sweep on the line, wide receiver Marvin Jones admitted it could get messy.
“It’s going to be bloody on both sides,” Jones said, via Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. “We expect that.”
The Bengals haven’t swept the Steelers since 2009, and they can win the division if they beat their rivals. And that’s not lost of them, even as they consider the rivalry.
When Steelers guard David DeCastro’s assessment — “We don’t like them. They don’t like us” — was mentioned to Bengals cornerback Dre Krikpatrick, he couldn’t argue.
“Facts,” Kirkpatrick said. “Facts.”
“It’s special,” Kirkpatrick said. “If anybody tells you it’s not special, then they’re lying. Because we’ve got a great opportunity to do something we’ve never [really] done, something that we can hang our hat on. It’s a special moment, a special day. It’s a day to go out there and win the division. All around, Sunday should be a special day for us.”
At least as long as the blood is figurative, and not literal.
