Bengals at Steelers: Highlights, score and recap
By James Dudko
The Pittsburgh Steelers handled bitter AFC North rivals the Cincinnati Bengals in a 24-16 win at Heinz Field in Week 2.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was among the stars as he overcame a shaky start to throw three touchdown passes against a tough Bengals defense.
Speaking of defense, the Steelers own unit kept Cincy quarterback Andy Dalton out of sorts all day. They also took away his running game, limiting the one-dimensional Bengals to a mere 46 yards on the ground.
A dour defensive battle saw the Steelers take a 10-6 lead at the half. But Pittsburgh opened things up somewhat in the third quarter.
Roethlisberger found his groove and hit tight end and Jesse James and veteran running back DeAngelo Williams for scores. He’d already connected with tight end Xavier Grimble for six in the first half.
All Dalton could manage was a 25-yard TD pass to Giovani Bernard, his leading receiver on the day, in response. It was Cincinnati’s lone touchdown to go with three Mike Nugent field goals.
Highlights
Highlights will be posted as they happen.
Three Stars
1. Ben Roethlisberger
Roethlisberger took more than his share of big hits from a fired up Cincinnati D-line early on. Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther also wasn’t shy about sending pressure.
He notably rushed eight to force Roethlisberger into an interception by Adam Jones during the first half.
But as he often does, Pittsburgh’s man under center rallied. More than once, Big Ben kept plays alive with his move skills in the pocket.
He also spread the ball around. Roethlisberger connected with nine different receivers, per the league’s official site, to keep an aggressive defense off balance.
2. Giovani Bernard
Bernard was the closest thing the Bengals had to an offensive star on the day. He reeled in nine of Dalton’s passes for 100 yards and his team’s only touchdown.
Always an obvious mismatch against Pittsburgh’s linebackers, Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Zampese didn’t find enough creative ways to put his fleet-footed No. 25 in space.
3. Mike Mitchell
Veteran safety Mike Mitchell was everywhere for the Steelers, particularly in the first half. He didn’t waste time identifying run and rotating down from two-deep looks to stuff ball-carriers.
Mitchell was also a menace to any Bengals receivers game enough to brave crossing the middle. It was significant how the Bengals looked more dangerous when Mitchell left the field in the second half.
Dalton began to find space over the middle. He connected with promising rookie Tyler Boyd and Alex Erickson for a big plays on a scoring drive that ended with another Nugent field goal.
The Steelers missed Mitchell’s presence in the middle.
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Next Week
The defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are up next for the Bengals. It will be Cincinnati’s first home game of the 2016 NFL season.
Meanwhile, the Steelers will again pit their wits the NFC East for the second time in three weeks when they take to the road to face Pennsylvania rivals the Philadelphia Eagles.