Share

Steelers defeat Bengals 24-16 in big AFC North battle

In many ways, this latest AFC North battle between the Steelers and Bengals at Heinz resembled the one from Week 8 of previous year, when Cincinnati overcame a late 10-6 deficit and escaped with a 16-10 victory, thanks mainly to two late Roethlisberger interceptions.

Advertisement

As for the Bengals, most of their scoring came from kicker Mike Nugent, who converted an extra point and three of his three attempted field goals.

(AP Photo/Jared Wickerham). Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams (34) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Sept.

Missing games to start the season because of off the field issues is nothing new for Bell, who was sidelined for the first two games of 2015 after he took his own high road – McKnight Road in this instance – on the way to a team flight.

They also don’t have a loss, a trade-off they can live with while their defensive front four searches for consistency.

Running back DeAngelo Williams ran the ball 32 times for 94 yards – and he earned every single yard the hard way. Superstar wide receiver A.J. Green was kept under wraps.

The Steelers held Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Green to two receptions for 38 yards.

“Not the perfection, obviously, that we were looking for, but good enough”, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. The win wasn’t pretty for the offense but it was attractive watching Williams’ performance. “We were able to take (Green) out of the game”. Cornerback Ross Cockrell, a waiver-wire pickup last September, followed Green and covered him for most of the game. “They’re still legends and we appreciate what they did for us, but these are the guys that play for us now”.

“But we are all human, so I have to keep sharpening my craft”.

There were many that were wondering aloud how the Steelers would respond to one of their fellow “blood thirsty” AFC North Divisional opponents after slapping the Washington Redskins around in their 2016 season opener as if they were “Indians” with the majority of their scenes cut from a bad episode of the retro television series “The Lone Ranger”. “That’s all we wanted to do”.

“That goal line stand was big”, said James Harrison, who knows what it’s like to stop offenses down there. The Steelers forced Dalton to make quick decisions, and he chose to play it safe rather than force something to Green.

“Somebody said in the locker room, ‘You’re either old or you are good, which one are you?'” Williams said. As usual, the Steelers stuffed the running game, holding the Bengals to 46 rushing yards.

I wondered at the time if they might have abandoned the idea of using an extra lineman because they felt that confident in their tight end group, which seemed unlikely to me given the relative inexperience and unremarkable qualities of the three-man group that they brought with them into the season.

Why not throw the challenge flag, Coach?

All turnovers are subject to an automatic review in the NFL, and on replay, it appeared Boyd’s knee was down just as the wet football squirted loose on a rainy day in Pittsburgh. “They didn’t see it that way overall, so that’s all that matters”. LeGarrette Blount rushed 29 times for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Carried by another sterling defensive performance, Houston improved to 2-0 as they limited Kansas City (1-1) to 291 yards. The inability to get anything going on the ground forced the Bengals into a ton of third-and-longs Sunday, a main reason Cincinnati went 4 of 16 (25 percent) on third down. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals host the Denver Broncos.

“There was not evidence to overturn”, Lewis said Monday. “We were there in a playoff game, and we were up, 13-0, and there were about six minutes left in the first half”.

Advertisement

When Johnson returned in 2013, the fullback job had been given to Will Johnson, and David instead kicked back to tight end. FALCONS 35, RAIDERS 28 Justin Hardy caught a deflected 8-yard touchdown pass to break a tie midway through the fourth quarter for visiting Atlanta. That means they are probably closer to a complete team than anyone gave them credit for.

Time and debatable plays cost Cincinnati Bengals