The young Bengals came of age on the day they handed the four-time-champion Pittsburgh Steelers one of the worst defeats of coach Chuck Noll's career.

        The Bengals, winning before a sellout crowd of 57,090 at Riverfront Stadium, improved to 5-2 and took sole possession of first place in the AFC Central. The victory was the third of four in a row for the Bengals against the Steelers in the shadow of Pittsburgh's Super Bowl run.

        Rookie wide receiver David Verser, the club's first draft pick that year and today a Cincinnati Police officer, caught a 72-yard touchdown pass from Ken Anderson in the third quarter as the Bengals took a 20-0 lead. Cincinnati scored two more touchdowns to take a 34-0 lead before Pittsburgh scored on a Terry Bradshaw touchdown pass.

        Fullback Pete Johnson caught one touchdown pass and ran for another.

        In the first season of wearing their new uniforms - which the Bengals still wear relatively unchanged - defensive lineman Gary Burley ushered in another era in Cincinnati football.

        “The pumpkin helmet is dead,” Burley said after the game of the plain orange helmets. “It's the stripes.”

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