SALON

Monday, Oct 22, 2012 2:03 AM UTC

Bengals lead Steelers 7-3 after 1st quarter

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Bengals lead Steelers 7-3 after 1st quarterPittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) passes under pressure from Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson (93) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)(Credit: AP)

CINCINNATI (AP) — BenJarvus Green-Ellis got Cincinnati’s running game going and led the Bengals on a touchdown drive for a 7-3 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers after the first quarter on Sunday night.

Green-Ellis carried eight times for 44 yards on the Bengals’ first possession, converting a third down and a fourth-and-1 to keep the 80-yard drive alive. Cedric Peerman carried the final 5 yards against the NFL’s fifth-ranked defense.

It was a breakout drive for the Bengals, who haven’t been able to get anything consistently on the ground this season.

Both teams needed a win to stay close to AFC North leader Baltimore (5-2, which lost 43-13 at Houston earlier Sunday. The Steelers and Bengals both came in with three losses.

The Steelers were in a bad way with injuries that cost them their top running backs and two offensive linemen. The NLF’s 31st-ranked running game was missing Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, as well as center Maurkice Pouncey and right tackle Marcus Gilbert. Rookie Mike Adams made his first start in Gilbert’s spot.

Plus, safety Troy Polamalu was inactive for the fourth time in the last five games with a calf injury.

That put a lot on Ben Roethlisberger, who usually does well in his home state — 14-2 all-time in Cleveland and Cincinnati — but has rarely been so short-handed. He completed his first three passes in a game-opening drive that ended when Mike Wallace dropped a perfect third-down throw inside the Cincinnati 15-yard line. Shaun Suisham’s 42-yard field goal made it 3-0.

The Steelers compensated for their depleted running game by throwing short receiver screens and running a reverse with Wallace. Jonathan Dwyer started at running back and had 8 yards on two carries in the drive.

For the Bengals, it was a chance to show they can finally match up against the division’s best. They lost to Baltimore 44-13 in the season opener on Monday Night Football, leaving them 0-5 the last two seasons against the Ravens and Steelers.

Like the Steelers, the Bengals have struggled to run the ball, but came out committed to getting Green-Ellis going. He had carries of 12 and 14 yards to get the drive going. Coach Marvin Lewis went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 21, and Green-Ellis got a yard up the middle.

Cincinnati also got a break on the drive when Andy Dalton’s pass went off the hands of A.J. Green and deflected off two Steelers defenders before falling incomplete, avoiding an interception.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

More Joe Kay.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations