PITTSBURGH, Pa.
Vans Shoes Clearance Sale
. - The Cincinnati Bengals looked at their prime-time visit to
Pittsburgh as a chance to make a statement about their legitimacy as AFC
contenders.
In one sense, the Bengals fit right in.
Just like Denver and New England earlier in the weekend, Cincinnati let a
chance to take firm control of its playoff fate disappear against a
scuffling rival.
Pittsburghs Antonio Brown caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt
for a score in a 64-second span in the first quarter and the Steelers
jumped on the Bengals early in a 30-20 victory Sunday night.
Given a chance to all but clinch the AFC North and move into the No. 2
spot behind Denver in the AFC, the Bengals (9-5) let Pittsburgh race to a
21-0 lead and never recovered.
"Its tough, for sure, because we had everything in front of us,"
Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green said. "We could have had ourselves
set up in a great position if we could have come out here and won
today."
Green finished with nine receptions for 93 yards, but the Bengals didnt
make much happen downfield. Cincinnatis longest play was 19 yards,
preventing the Bengals from making speedy inroads on the Steelers (6-8)
after falling behind so quickly.
Andy Dalton completed 25 of 44 passes for 230 yards and two second-half
touchdowns, but Cincinnatis only chance to draw within one score ended
when Daltons 2-point conversion was batted down with 5:51 remaining.
"Theres no panic," Dalton said. "Theres no worry about anything. Were
not frantic. We still have two games at home and have everything to
accomplish, so weve got to take care of our business."
Shaun Suisham added three field goals for Pittsburgh, which built a
24-point lead and hardly looked like a team playing out the string.
Ben Roethlisberger completed 20 of 25 passes for 191 yards with a
touchdown and an interception. LeVeon Bell added 117 yards of total
offence and a touchdown.
"I have said for a bunch of weeks now that there is going to be no quit
from me or from anybody," Roethlisberger said. "I thought tonight was a
good example of that."
Looking to move closer to a third straight playoff berth, the Bengals
were undone by a series of miscues on special teams.
Bell scored two plays after Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber dropped a snap
while standing near the goal line after the Bengals first possession.
Pittsburghs Will Allen dropped Huber at the 1 and Bell bulled into the
end zone on second down for his sixth touchdown of the season.
Cincinnatis issues continued on the ensuing kickoff.
Officials ruled Cedric Peerman called for a fair catch at the Cincinnati
9, wiping out a lengthy return. The Bengals eventually punted, setting
up the Steelers with a short field. Pittsburgh went 47 yards in eight
plays, with Roethlisberger buying enough time for Brown to get open for a
12-yard touchdown strike to make it 14-0.
Browns early work wasnt done. Cincinnati punted yet again and Brown took
it 67 yards right up the middle, breaking a tackle at midfield on his
way to the second punt return for a score in his four-year career for
Pittsburghs third touchdown of the quarter.
Huber took a hard hit from Pittsburghs Terence Garvin during the return.
Huber was down on the field for several minutes before walking straight
to the Cincinnati locker room with a fractured jaw. Cincinnati kicker
Mike Nugent took over Hubers punting duties.
Pittsburgh extended its lead to 24-0 before the Bengals steadied
themselves with a 47-yard touchdown drive capped by Giovani Bernards
1-yard run. The Steelers responded late in the half with Suishams
45-yard field goal by to give them their biggest halftime lead of the
season.
Suishams third field goal pushed Pittsburghs advantage to 30-7 before
the Bengals responded with Daltons 1-yard touchdown pass to
Tyler Eifert.
Dalton later found Marvin Jones for a 13-yard score on fourth-and-5 with
5:51 to play, but Pittsburgh rookie linebacker Jarvis Jones got his
hands on Daltons conversion attempt to keep it a two-score game.
The Bengals got the ball back one more time, and Daltons long heave to
Green on fourth down fell incomplete.
"It was a snowball effect," Cincinnati centre Kyle Cook said. "Its tough
when youre all bundled up like that to start the game, and then the
next thing you know youre down 21-0. So, that makes it tough to get
going and come back from that deficit."
NOTES: The crowd of 45,873 was the smallest in the 13-year history of
Heinz Field. ... Brown caught five passes for 66 yards and a score and
now has 95 receptions on the season, tied for second-most in team
history. ... Bengals linebacker James Harrison, making his first
appearance in Pittsburgh since leaving the Steelers to sign with
Cincinnati in the off-season, left in the first quarter with a
concussion.
Vans Old Skool Cheap
.
According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders
were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of
$4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4.
Vans Old Skool Clearance
. And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little
bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its
first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number
of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it
seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have
been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand.BOSTON - After the
Celtics watched promising rookie Marcus Smart go down with a frightening
injury, Jeff Green preserved their victory with the biggest rebound of
the night.Bostons lead was down to one when Avery Bradley missed a
jumper with about 6 seconds remaining, plenty of time for the
short-handed Pacers to take it the other way for a potential
game-winner. All that was in Indianas way was Green, perfectly
positioned in the lane to pluck the ball out of the air, draw a foul and
sink two free throws that sealed a 101-98 win Friday night.That was a
great play, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. He kept his position off of a
cut, which allowed him to get the offence rebound.Green finished with
15 points and seven rebounds, and Jared Sullinger led Bostons
fourth-quarter push by scoring 11 of his 17 points in the final
period.It was Bostons first victory since beating Brooklyn in the season
opener, but the celebration was tempered by Smarts injury.Smart was
carted to the locker room after crashing to the floor on a hard foul as
he drove to the basket with 11:07 left. Smart never got up and his
teammates gathered around as medical personnel attended to the injury.
Boston fans chanted Smarts name and gave the guard a standing ovation as
he was taken off on a gurney with his left leg elevated.It was very
difficult. You hate to see a teammate go down, especially when hes
playing well, Green said. That game was for him. We had to win it for
him.Stevens said he was waiting on X-rays to see whether Smart sprained
his ankle or broke it. After taking the speedy Oklahoma State guard with
the sixth overall pick in the draft, the Celtics were collectively
hoping it was a sprain.You think about how he feels. Your team is
clearly affected by it because they care about him, which is a good
sign, Stevens said. And then you have to go play and thats hard.Kelly
Olynyk scored 12 points and Bradley had 11 for Boston.The Pacers (1-5)
dressed only 10 players and used nine of them while losing their fifth
straight, matching Indianas worst start since opening 1-5 in 1996-97.Roy
Hibbert had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers. Chris Copeland
scored 17, Donald Slloan added 15 and Luis Scola finished with 11 points
and eight rebounds.
Vans Old Skool Sale.
In the past we were able to close out games. Weve just got to learn how
to do that again with a whole new group of people, Hibbert said. You
kind of take that for granted sometimes — to be able to have closers out
there. But I believe in this group of guys. We have to turn it
around.Despite the depleted lineup, Indiana rallied from a 13-point
deficit in the first half and held a 75-73 lead after three quarters.
Boston opened the next period with a 9-2 run and made 10 of its first 14
shots in the fourth, taking the lead for good at 79-77 on Sullingers
jumper.The Pacers stayed within range down the stretch and had a chance
to pull ahead after Rajon Rondo missed a putback attempt with Boston up
97-96. Sloan drove for a layup that missed and Bradley pulled down the
rebound with 19 seconds to play.After a timeout, Bradley missed his
jumper but Green was there for the clutch rebound.___TIP-INSPacers:
Indiana has six players out with injuries. C.J. Miles became the latest
one when he was scratched before the game because of a migraine. Miles,
Rodney Stuckey (sore left foot) and David West (sprained right ankle)
were all on the active roster but not available to play.Celtics: After
committing 28 turnovers Wednesday in a loss to Toronto, the Celtics were
considerably better at protecting the ball. Boston had no turnovers in
the first quarter, three in the first half and 12 in the game.___CENTURY
MARKThe Celtics topped 100 points for the first time since beating
Brooklyn 121-105 in their opener. Boston also had its best defensive
game, holding an opponent under 100 points for the first time. The
Celtics had allowed at least 104 points in their first four
games.___PESKY PACERSBoston took a 55-42 lead with 2:50 left in the
second quarter, but Indiana closed the half on a 10-0 run and scored the
first seven points of the third period to take a 59-57 lead. Indiana
led 75-73 entering the fourth, but could not hold off the Celtics down
the stretch.___UP NEXTPacers: At home against Washington on Saturday
night.Celtics: At the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
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