National Football League Capsule for Thursday.
PITTSBURGH 27, CINCINNATI 10

PITTSBURGH While the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has shown some cracks over the past month, the teams defense has served as a steady foundation.

Thursday, it was an absolute brick wall.

The top-ranked Pittsburgh defense put together one of its most dominant efforts, lifting the Steelers to a 27-10 win against the hapless Cincinnati Bengals.

Ben Roethlisberger completed 17-of-30 passes for 243 yards and touchdown in helping the Steelers to their fifth straight win over the Bengals and 11th win in the last 14 meetings. He also ran for another, and did not throw an interception for the second straight game.

Roethlisberger and the Steelers failed to score an offensive touchdown in an 11-10 win over San Diego on Sunday, and the drought reached five quarters until he hit Heath Miller for a 3-yard score early in the second quarter.

However, the one thing that has been constant is the defense, which was on top of its game again.

Pittsburgh (8-3) limited the Bengals to 208 total yards and 4-of-15 on third-down conversions. It tied for the lowest yardage total the Steelers have surrendered this season.

It had little trouble stopping Cincinnati (1-9-1), which played without enigmatic wide receiver Chad Johnson. The five-time Pro Bowler was deactivated earlier in the day for violating team rules.

Johnson replacement, Glenn Holt caught a 10-yard touchdown pass on the Bengals second possession. The Steelers held Cincinnati to six first downs the rest of the way.

Roethlisbergers TD pass to Miller tied it at 7-7 with 10:16 left in the second, and Jeff Reed kicked a 37-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Steelers a 10-7 lead.

Reed booted a 38-yard field goal midway through the third, and a 2-yard score from Gary Russell made it 20-7 with 16 seconds left in the period.

Cincinnati cut the gap to 20-10 on a 26-yard field goal from Shayne Graham with 6:47 left, but Roethlisberger sealed the win with an 8-yard TD run with 2:15 to play to make it 27-10.

Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 20-of-37 passes for 168 yards for the Bengals, who were involved in the NFLs first tie in more than six years Sunday against Philadelphia.

Posted on November 21st, 2008 by admin
Filed under: NFL football news