PITTSBURGH _ There was heavy hitting and old-fashioned football but little ugliness in a series that has seen too much of it as the Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-16, at Heinz Field on Sunday.
Relying heavily on the ground game, Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes, none to a wide receiver. Tight ends Xavier Grimble caught the first for 20 yards and Jesse James the next for nine. DeAngelo Williams, starring for the second straight week on offense, caught another for four yards that put the Steelers rather comfortably in front 24-9 with 6:48 to go.
That comfort level dipped when the Bengals drove 75 yards to their only touchdown with 3:25 left, Giovani Bernard took a short pass from Andy Dalton and squirmed out of two tackles by rookies Artie Burns and Sean Davis for a 25-yard touchdown.
Until then, the Steelers defense had held the Bengals to three field goals.
The Bengals had a last chance when they got the ball back with three minutes left on their 25. They moved to a first down at the Steelers' 39 when rookie Tyler Boyd caught a short pass over the middle, where he was met by James Harrison. Boyd fumbled; Robert Golden picked it up, and the game was secured with 1:50 left.
The victory lifted the Steelers to 2-0 and the Bengals fell to 1-1.
Williams, the AFC offensive player of last week, rushed for 94 yards on 32 carries and caught four passes for another 38.
The Steelers led 17-9 after three quarters.
The Steelers struggled on offense early in the second half right up until Roethlisberger threw deep to Sammie Coates, who caught it at the Cincinnati 13 and landed at the nine for a 53-yard pickup. It took one more play to score when Jesse James made a nice catch in the middle of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown, the second of the game, both by tight ends.
With 6:16 left in the third quarter, the Steelers led 17-6. The Steelers struggled on offense early in the second half right up until Roethlisberger threw deep to Coates, who caught it at the Cincinnati 13 and landed at the nine for a 53-yard pickup. It took one more play to score when Jesse James made a nice catch in the middle of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown, the second of the game, both by tight ends.
With 6:16 left in the third quarter, the Steelers led 17-6.
Cincinnati's Mike Nugent kicked his third field goal, from 21 yards, to make it 17-9 with 2:10 left after a huge goal-line stand by the Steelers.
After rookie Burns' pass interference penalty gave the Bengals a first down at the one, Ryan Shazier over top and Jarvis Jones underneath pinned Jeremy Hill for a 2-yard loss on first down. Two pass plays were incomplete, bringing on Nugent.
The Steelers led, 10-6, at halftime.
Sticking mainly to the ground on a rainy day, the Steelers managed just a field goal in the second quarter, a 49-yarder by Chris Boswell.
The Bengals also managed their second field goal of the game, from 33 yards by Nugent on the last play of the half. That was made possible when Roethlisberger, throwing deep from his 20 with barely a minute left, was picked off for the second time in the game, Dre Kirkpatrick grabbing it to start a 53-yard drive.
The biggest upset of the first half? Only one minor personal foul, called against a backup Bengals safety, Clayton Fejedelem, who is a rookie so wasn't around for all the fun from last season between these two rivals.
The Steelers led, 7-3, after one quarter.
Grimble caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger with 3:46 to go on the Steelers' third series of the quarter.
The Bengals responded with a drive that petered out at the 7 and Nugent kicked a 25-yard field goal.
As it did last week, the Steelers' offense started slowly. They opened with five straight running plays, only three on the first series because on third-and-one, Williams was stopped for no gain.
They moved form their 16 on their second series rather well until, in a driving rain, Roethlisberger threw two poor passes. The first slipped out of his hand for an incompletion. The second did not come near a wide open Antonio Brown and PacMan Jones picked it off at the Bengals' 21.
Grimble's catch at the five was a sweet one over tight coverage by safety George Iloka. He then stretched out and bounced into the end one for the score.
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