Steelers, Bengals keep it clean as Pittsburgh wins rematch of ugly playoff game
No chaos this time. No meltdowns either.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals stuck to football this time.
And Ben Roethlisberger's sharp second half gave the Steelers an early leg up in the race for the AFC North title by shaking off a pair of first-half interceptions to finish with 259 yards and three scores and Pittsburgh held on for a 24-16 win on Sunday.
DeAngelo Williams churned out 94 yards on a career-high 32 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown grab with 6:48 remaining to give the Steelers (2-0) all the breathing room they would need.
Tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble also caught scoring passes from Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh kept Cincinnati in check at rainy Heinz Field.
The rematch of the Steelers' ugly 18-16 win in the wild-card round in January was downright tame by comparison. The teams combined for just 10 penalties and only one personal foul, a marked departure from that messy night in Cincinnati nine months ago that included more than 220 penalty yards and a series of nasty hits that cost the players involved thousands in fines and Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict the first three games of the 2016 season.
"I think they're all civil," Williams said with a laugh. "Sometimes you have civil disputes. We just didn't have any of those."
Andy Dalton passed for 366 yards and a touchdown but needed 31 completions to reach that total, working almost exclusively on dump offs to running backs and tight ends while Pittsburgh clamped down on star wide receiver A.J. Green, who finished with just two receptions for 38 yards.
"We were able to take (Green) out of the game," Steelers safety Mike Mitchell said. "We knew if we could minimize his impact, the outcome was going to be good for us and it was."
Pittsburgh controlled the tempo throughout and after Roethlisberger shook off a so-so first half in which he tossed two interceptions and the Steelers pulled away.
Roethlisberger hit Sammie Coates with a pretty 53-yard pass to set up a 9-yard toss to James. The quarterback later used a 14-yard scramble -- his longest run in three seasons -- to set up a flip to Williams that put Pittsburgh up 24-9.
