Pittsburgh Steelers defeat Cincinnati Bengals 24-16 in sloppy affair at Heinz Field

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals squared off in Week 2 NFL action, and their first AFC North division action of the 2016 season. Both teams came into the game with a sparkling 1-0 record, but only one would leave rain soaked Heinz Field with a victory.

After the two teams went back-and-forth throughout the majority of the first quarter, the conditions playing a large roll in the offensive struggles, it was the Steelers who struck pay dirt first. After a big pass-and-catch from Ben Roethlisberger to Sammie Coates, it was Roethlisberger who hit tight end Xavier Grimble for the first score of the game. The Chris Boswell extra point made the score 7-0.

It didn't take long for Andy Dalton and the Bengals offense to wake up, and on the ensuing drive they drove quickly down the field, before being stopped in the red-zone by the Pittsburgh defense. They had to settle for a Mike Nugent field goal to cut into the Steelers lead 7-3.

The two teams were locked in a stale mate until quality field position put Pittsburgh immediately in field goal range. Despite the offense not able to register a first down, the team settled for a Boswell field goal and extended their lead 10-3 with 4:00 left in the 2nd quarter. After Roethlisberger's second interception of the first half, Dalton led the Bengals into field goal range for another Nugent field goal to make the halftime score 10-6 Pittsburgh.

The second half was more of the first half to start. Both teams punted the football away several times before another deep pass from Roethlisberger to Coates put the offense within the 10-yard line. The next snap saw Roethlisberger hit Jesse James for his first touchdown of the season, and Roethlisberger's second of the game, to give the Steelers a 17-6 lead.

On the ensuing drive, Cincinnati faced several long third down conversions, converting on almost all of them except for one from the Pittsburgh 5-yard line. They, again, had to settle for another Nugent field goal cutting into the Pittsburgh lead 17-9. After another Pittsburgh defensive stop, Ben Roethlisberger led a 12-play, 68-yard 6:54 rive which resulted in a touchdown pass to DeAngelo Williams, extending their lead to 24-9 after the Boswell extra point.

Cincinnati didn't go without a fight, and an impressive drive was capped off with an Andy Dalton to Giovani Bernard swing pass which equated to the Bengals' first touchdown of the day. The Nugent extra point put Cincinnati back within one score.

With 3:25 left, Pittsburgh had a 24-16 lead, and a chance to ice out the game with a drive equating in a couple first downs. They failed to do so, and on Cincinnati's next drive Dalton hit rookie Tyler Boyd with a pass over the middle, and the rookie fumbled the football, and it was recovered by Robert Golden.

The Steelers then proceeded to run out the clock, and won the game 24-16. The win moved their record to 2-0, and more importantly, 1-0 in the AFC North. The Steelers will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 as the try to improve their record to 3-0.