“I don’t have a problem with Bengals fans who are trying to recoup some of what they thought they had wasted on Bengals tickets,” said Steve Braun, of Hamilton, Ohio. “It hasn’t been much fun to be a Bengals fan for some time.”

Braun noted that Cincinnati fans who sell their tickets to Pittsburgh fans over the years have inadvertently helped turn the Bengals’ organization around.

“Perhaps seeing all of those terrible towels being waved in Paul Brown Stadium was part of (team president) Mike Brown’s motivation to hire Marvin Lewis … and bring back winning football to Cincinnati.”

Schwartz and Gray are among six Lawrence County season-ticket holders who own a “Steelers bus” together and tailgate at Heinz Field for every home game. They were seen along with the bus on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” last week during a segment on the “other” Bus, Steelers tailback Jerome Bettis.

Alas, Schwartz and Gray’s bus did not make the trip to Cincinnati, as the price of gas for the vehicle would have drained them of funds necessary to pay for tickets to next week’s game at Indianapolis.

Another of their friends, Jerry Volpe, made the trip to Cincinnati from his home in Arkansas to cheer his beloved football team on. Volpe, who went to Neshannock High with Schwartz and Gray before relocating, was jumping around on his buddies during the tailgate party shouting, “Steelers win, Steelers win, 24-13!”

Volpe’s prediction wasn’t perfect, but he surely didn’t care.

Like most Steelers fans, as long as there is another game next week — home or away — he’s happy.

IN MONDAY’S NEW CASTLE NEWS: Columnist Steve Treu says Carson Palmer’s knee injury meant little to the Steelers’ big victory on Sunday.