Steelers show their mettle

Roethlisberger: Starring role

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Pittsburgh Steelers bounced back from an early setback to overcome Cincinnati Bengals 27-10 on Thursday.

The Steelers have the NFL's leading defense and kept the Bengals to 208 yards - however only after conceding an early touchdown when Ryan Fitzpatrick's 10-yard pass found Glenn Holt for the opening score.

However that was as good as it got for Cincinnati as Ben Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh to their 11th victory in 14 games.

Roethlisberger, who was playing with a shoulder injury, connected with Heath Miller for their first touchdown in more than 120 minutes of play, while Jeff Reed kicked field goals of 37 and 38 yards to put the Steelers in control.

Gary Russell then finished off a 64-yard, seven-play march with a two-yard run for the touchdown.

Cincinnati did hit back with a 26-yard field goal from Shayne Graham, however Roethlisberger, who completed 17 of 30 passes for 243 yards on the night, put the game beyond doubt when he ran in for a touchdown.

Roethlisberger said: "I have to give my offensive line a lot of credit. They picked up a lot of blitzes and we looked pretty good on offense.

"We knew we had to get in the end zone and get six today."