PITTSBURGH — Maybe it wasn't a concession speech, even if it sounded like one. Cincinnati spent most of the past 20 seasons chasing Pittsburgh, and now it's the other way around, and the Steelers realize it's a decidedly uphill climb.

"They're clearly the best team in the division," safety Ryan Clark said after the Bengals beat the Steelers, 18-12, yesterday to take control of the AFC North. "I'd give my left arm to play them again."

Who could have envisioned the Super Bowl champions saying that about a rival they've largely dominated and, at times, intimidated since the 1980s, especially with seven games left in the season?

Cincinnati, a lowly 4-11-1 last season, improved to 7-2. Pittsburgh fell to 6-3.

The Bengals smothered Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh's running game, yielded only four field goals by Jeff Reed and converted the game's only big play, Bernard Scott's 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter.

"That's probably the most grinding football game I ever experienced," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.

The Bengals swept both Baltimore and Pittsburgh a season after those teams played for the AFC title. They've won seven of eight and are 4-0 on the road.

"In the past, we would lose games like this," center Kyle Cook said.

The teams combined for 444 yards of total offense.

The Bengals' Carson Palmer was 18 of 30 for 178 yards.