PITTSBURGH _ That rivalry between the Steelers and Cincinnati came out one-sided again Sunday at Heinz Field. The Steelers won, 29-14, and have now beaten the Bengals five straight times, eight of the past nine and 13 of the past 16.
The victory opened a healthy lead for the Steelers at 5-2 in the AFC North Division. Cincinnati slipped to 2-4 and the Baltimore Ravens are 3-4 after losing to Minnesota on Sunday.
Ben Roethlisberger threw touchdown passes of 7 yards to Antonio Brown and 31 to JuJu Smitch-Schuster and Chris Boswell kicked five field goals.
Andy Dalton also threw two touchdown passes but also was intercepted twice and sacked four times, all in the second half.
Le'Veon Bell gained 134 yards on 35 carries as the Steelers rode him hard for the third time in the past four games. He also caught three passes for 58 yards.
The Steelers did have difficultly again inside the Bengals' 20, which is why Boswell had so many field goals. On five trips into the red zone, they scored just one touchdown.
Boswell's fifth field goal came from 25 yards after Robert Golden connected with Darrius Heyward-Bey on a 44-yard pass from punt formation.
Both those interceptions against Dalton came in the third quarter, when Boswell kicked his third and fourth field goals to extend their lead to 26-14.
A third straight drive by the Steelers died in the red zone when they opened the scoring in the second half with Chris Boswell's third field goal, this one from 41 yards. On third and one from the 19, Bell was nailed for a 4-yard loss.
Joe Haden then made a diving catch on a pass that tipped off A.J. Green's hand for an interception at Cincinnati's 40. On third and one at the 31, Roethlsiberger threw deep and incomplete to Antonio Brown in the end zone. Boswell came on to kick his fourth field goal, from 49 yards.
The Steelers led 26-14 with 5:28 left in the third quarter.
Another Bengals series, another Steelers interception. Sean Davis broke up a Dalton pass and William Gay intercepted it to give the Steelers the ball at their 41.
However, they failed to pick up a first down on third-and-one after Marvin Lewis challenged the spot of the ball.
The Steelers led 20-14 at halftime.
After a 7-7 opening quarter tie, the Steelers outscored the Bengals 13-7 in the second.
The Steelers reclaimed the lead 14-7 on Roethlisberger's 31-yard pass to a wide-open JuJu Smitch-Schuster early in the second quarter. The 75-yard drive took just five plays. On the play before the touchdown, tight end Vance McDonald caught a 28-yard pass over the middle.
The Bengals responded with a 75-yard drive of their own to tie it 14-14. Cincinnati packed it in with their big men out of the I-formation on fourth down at the one. Dalton faked a handoff and tossed a 1-yard pass to tight end Tyler Kroft, wide open in the end zone.
Back came the Steelers with another long drive that featured one big, pretty run by Bell of 42 yards. He made at least three Bengals miss him; one was cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick when Bell stiff-armed him and knocked him to the ground.
However, after getting a first down at the 6, they reached no farther than the four and Chris Boswell kicked a 24-yard field goal to put the Steelers back on top 17-14.
The Steelers would score again on the last play of the half on Boswell's 24-yard field goal but they again failed to get into the end zone from close-in. A pass interference penalty gave them a first down at the five but an incompletion and a 1-yard loss by Bell prompted them to call time out with three seconds left and send on Boswell.
The teams were deadlocked 7-7 after one quarter.
The Steelers won the coin toss, opted to take the ball first and strung together one of the crispest series of their season. They moved 75 yards on nine plays, needing just one third-down conversion. After a pitch to Martavis Bryant got 2 yards, the other eight plays all went to Bell and Brown, who caught the touchdown pass on a 7-yard slant.
The Bengals tied it with 10 seconds left in the first quarter on Dalton's 6-yard pass to Brandon LaFell. The Bengals' 53 yard drive came after the Steelers' offense could not get past their 14 followed by a 39-yard punt.
