PITTSBURGH — Joe Burrow threw three touchdowns, and the Cincinnati Bengals turned two Ben Roethlisberger interceptions into scores in a 24-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday.
Roethlisberger was harried throughout the game by a lack of pass protection. He was sacked four times and hit seven times. Both of his interceptions were grabbed by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson, and both turned into seven Cincinnati points.
The first came in the first quarter, when Burrow found Tyler Boyd over the middle. Boyd bounced off a Melvin Ingram tackle attempt and scored from 17 yards out.
The Steelers drew even when Roethlisberger found Pat Freiermuth over the middle with just over a minute to play in the first half, but a series of Pittsburgh mistakes allowed the Bengals to re-take the lead before the half.
The first came before the Pittsburgh touchdown, as the Steelers called timeout, preserving plenty of clock for Burrow to work with. Then, Ingram was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Bengals a crucial first down and 15 yards to work with.
On the following play, the Steelers left James Pierre isolated in coverage with No. 5 overall draft pick Ja’Marr Chase, and Chase proved his value, beating Pierre for a 34-yard touchdown.
The Bengals added a field goal on the opening drive of the second half, and then Roethlisberger’s second interception gave Burrow a short field to work with. He needed just three plays to find pay dirt, using a stellar pass protection to wait for Chase to come open across the middle in front of Joe Haden.
The Steelers’ offense proved more successful at moving the ball in the second half, but couldn’t find the end zone. Chris Boswell missed a 48-yard field goal, and then with the team trailing by 17, had to settled for a short Boswell field goal on the next drive.
The Steelers got the ball back with another chance to score, Najee Harris was tackled for a loss on a 4th and 10 from the 11-yard line with just over 2 minutes to play to secure the Cincinnati win.
Roethlisberger threw 58 times, completing 38 for 318 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for a 70.9 passer rating. He was outplayed in nearly every aspect by his counterpart Burrow, who was an efficient 14 of 18 for 172 yards, three scores and one interception and a 122.9 rating.
Harris continued to struggle to find room in the running game, carrying 14 times for 40 yards, but was dangerous in the passing game, hauling in 14 for 102 yards.
The Steelers, now 1-2, will take to the road next week to face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Stadium. That game has a 4:25 p.m. kickoff.