Mixon runs for 165 yards as Bengals rout Steelers
CINCINNATI – Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton, who played for the Steelers for his first four years, got his first pick-6 at any level of football against his former team late in the first half Sunday.
Hilton’s interception of Ben Roethlisberger put Cincinnati up 31-3 and seemed to serve as a symbolic turning point in the Steelers’ longtime domination of the Bengals and the AFC North.
“To do it against those guys in a big division game, it couldn’t be any sweeter,” Hilton said as his teammates shouted and the music thumped in the locker room next door.
The 41-10 win by the Bengals (7-4) on Sunday followed a double-digit win in September, making it Cincinnati’s first season sweep of the Steelers since 2009.
A 27-17 upset by the Bengals last Dec. 21 broke an 11-game winning streak by Pittsburgh in the series.
“Beating these guys, for me twice and for some of those other guys three times straight, is a big change of the guard in our opinion,” said Hilton, who signed with Cincinnati as a free agent before the season. “It’s given us a lot of confidence, and guys are excited to see how the rest of the season plays out.”
Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, Joe Burrow scrambled for a score and passed for another one as the Bengals crushed the Steelers (5-5-1) and kept them winless in their past three games.
And the Bengals stamped themselves as a legitimate playoff contender.
Mixon, coming off a rugged 123-yard, two-TD performance in a win over Las Vegas last week, pounded away for 117 yards in the first half.
“To be honest I feel like I’m starting to reach that point, my prime, like starting to get there,” said Mixon, who was slowed by a foot injury last season. “I know what type of speed the defense comes with, I know how to slow the game down myself. As much as it comes down to me making plays, that has to do with my teammates.”
Cincinnati scored on its first four drives, and then Hilton jumped James Washington’s route and ran it back 24 yards for a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half.