Both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers might be 0-3. It might be a grossly one-sided rivalry favoring the latter, too.
That doesn’t mean the nastiness of it all has faded.
As both teams have prepped for the Monday night affair, a few interesting quotes have flown from both directions. Perhaps the most interesting come from Bengals end Sam Hubbard, a newer face to the rivalry with local roots in the area.
Here’s Hubbard, per Teresa Varley of Steelers.com: “I think it’s still the same rivalry. It’s Pittsburgh versus Cincinnati, I have no love for those guys.”
“It’s been a long time since we beat those guys and I want this game so bad,” Hubbard also said, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I think a lot of guys in this locker room want this game so bad. We’re not focusing on the records.”
Hubbard, who was seen wearing a boot this week and is otherwise enjoying a breakout year, went to high school at Moeller in Cincinnati before going on to Ohio State, then back to Cincinnati as a third-round pick — so he’s always been closely tied to the rivalry.
It is players like Hubbard and a new wave of young talent alongside a new coaching staff that has a firey attitude aimed at turning this rivalry around after the Bengals only won eight games against the Steelers over the course of Marvin Lewis’ 16-year tenure.
While most games between winless teams in Week 4 don’t mean much, Hubbard and the Bengals have an immeasurable amount riding on its outcome and aren’t micing words about it.
