PITTSBURGH — 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 2 first-half interceptions to finish with 259 yards and 3 scores and Pittsburgh held on for a 24-16 victory Sunday.
DeAngelo Williams (Wynne) churned out 94 yards on a career-high 32 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown reception 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 victory 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.”
PATRIOTS 31, DOLPHINS 24 Jimmy Garoppolo had three, first-half touchdown passes before leaving in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury as host New England outlasted Miami. It was the Patriots’ eighth consecutiv home victory over Miami (0-2). It came at a price as New England (2-0) was dealt another blow at quarterback with Tom Brady already out his four-game Deflategate suspension. Garoppolo’s injury came in a flash. On third down with less than five minutes left in the first half, he was chased out of the pocket and got off a completion to Malcolm Mitchell. Garoppolo was driven into the ground on his shoulder by Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso.
BRONCOS 34, COLTS 20 Von Miller gave the Denver fans a reminder of his Super Bowl 50 MVP performance, sweeping in for the sack-strip of Andrew Luck that sealed the victory. With the Broncos clinging to a six-point lead with 1:51 remaining, Miller burst past right tackle Joe Reitz and swiped the ball from Luck’s grasp. Fellow linebacker Shane Ray scooped up the ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown. Miller added a sack on the last play as the Broncos (2-0) sent the banged-up Colts limping to their third consecutive 0-2 start. FALCONS 35, RAIDERS 28 Justin Hardy caught a deflected 8-yard touchdown pass to break a tie midway through the fourth quarter for visiting Atlanta. Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes, but got lucky on the go-ahead one in the fourth quarter. His third-down throw to Tevin Coleman was broken up, but the ball bounced high in the air and Hardy caught it in the end zone to put Atlanta (1-1) up 28-21. The Raiders (1-1) appeared to tie on the next drive when Amari Cooper caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr, butt officials ruled Cooper went out of bounds voluntarily before making the catch, although the Raiders contended he was pushed by Desmond Trufant.
CARDINALS 40, BUCCANEERS 7 Carson Palmer threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns and host Arizona (1-1) intercepted Jameis Winston four times. Marcus Cooper, acquired off waivers from Kansas City on Sept. 2, had two interceptions, returning the second 60 yards for a score. Winston also fumbled the ball away once. Winston, who had four touchdown passes against Atlanta in the opener and was NFC player of the week, threw 51 passes, the most in his two NFL seasons, completing 27 for 243 yards for the Bucs (1-1).
CHARGERS 38, JAGUARS 14 Philip Rivers matched his career-high with four touchdown passes, including two to Travis Benjamin and Melvin Gordon ran for one score and had his first 100-yard game. The host Chargers (1-1) bounced back from their stunning loss at Kansas City, when they blew a 21-point third-quarter lead and fell 33-27 in overtime. The Jaguars started 0-2 for the fourth time in five seasons.
GIANTS 16, SAINTS 13 Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz on a third-down 34-yard pass to set up Josh Brown’s winning 23-yard field goal as time expired. The host Giants got off to their first 2-0 start since 2009, while New Orleans lost its second consecutive. Brown’s third field goal capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive that featured two key third-down passes by Manning and a pass interference call on a throw to Odell Beckham Jr.
RAVENS 25, BROWNS 20 Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes to Mike Wallace and visiting Baltimore rallied from a 20-point first-quarter deficit. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals and the Ravens (2-0) withstood Cleveland’s final drive to improve to 15-2 against the Browns (0-2) under Coach John Harbaugh. Baltimore was a point from trailing by three touchdowns in the opening quarter before blocking an extra point and returning it for two points and igniting the comeback.
PANTHERS 46, 49ERS 27 Cam Newton threw for 353 yards and 4 touchdowns, and the host Panthers overcame 4 turnovers. Newton threw two touchdown passes to Kelvin Benjamin and one each to Greg Olsen and Devin Funchess to pass Jake Delhomme for most touchdown passes in franchise history with 122. Newton showed no ill effects from the four helmet-to-helmet hits he took in Carolina’s season-opening loss to Denver. Newton’s first pass was tipped and intercepted by Antoine Bethea, leading to a 49ers field goal.
TITANS 16, LIONS 15 Marcus Mariota converted a fourth down with a perfectly lofted 9-yard pass touchdown pass to Andre Johnson with 1:13 left for visiting Tennessee. Mariota dropped the pass over linebacker Tahir Whitehead to Johnson just before safety Rafael Bush could get to the veteran receiver. Tennessee went 93 yards on 13 plays over nearly 6 minutes on the game-winning drive. The Titans (1-1) ended a five-game losing streak, dating to last December, when Mariota threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter after trailing 15-3.
VIKINGS 17, PACKERS 14 Sam Bradford completed 22 of 30 passes for 286 yards, 2 touchdowns and no turnovers in his Minnesota debut to lead the host Vikings over Green Bay. Stefon Diggs caught nine passes for 182 yards a touchdown for the Vikings (2-0). They held the Packers (1-1) to 65 total yards in the first half, withstanding an early touchdown pass by Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson on a drive aided by two penalties by cornerback Terence Newman.
Sports on 09/19/2016