NEU » his 26th save in 27 opportunities. Thur

PITTSBURGH -- No chaos this time. No meltdowns either.The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals stuck to football this time.And Ben Roethlisbergers sharp second half gave the Steelers an early leg up in the race for the AFC North title by shaking off a pair of first-half interceptions to finish with 259 yards and three scores and Pittsburgh held on for a 24-16 win on Sunday.DeAngelo Williams churned out 94 yards on a career-high 32 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown grab 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 win 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 theyre all civil, Williams said with a laugh. Sometimes you have civil disputes. We just didnt 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.Pittsburgh controlled the tempo throughout and after Roethlisberger shook off a so-so first half in which he tossed two interceptions and the Steelers pulled away.Roethlisberger hit Sammie Coates with a pretty 53-yard pass to set up a 9-yard toss to James. The quarterback later used a 14-yard scramble -- his longest run in three seasons -- to set up a flip to Williams that put Pittsburgh up 24-9.SLOPPY FINISH: Dalton found Giovanni Bernard for a 25-yard touchdown with 3:25 left, but each of Cincinnatis last two drives ended in turnovers. Tyler Boyd fumbled after getting hit by James Harrison in Pittsburgh territory with 1:50 to play even though replays appeared to show Boyd -- who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh and played collegiately on the same field for Pitt -- was down well before the ball came out.I should have done a better job with ball security, said Boyd, who finished with six catches for 78 yards. I still believe I was down but the call didnt say so. All I can do is go out there and keep playing.Cincinnatis second turnover came on a last-ditch lateral by Bernard that ended up in Pittsburgh defensive end Cam Heywards hands after time expired.NO SHOW: Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the relatively conservative game plans or maybe it was just pretty solid defense. Whatever it was, the expected duel between superstar wide receivers Antonio Brown and A.J. Green never materialized .Brown caught just four passes for 39 yards and even had a rare drop while running free in the middle of the field in the first half.Green, guarded almost exclusively by Pittsburgh cornerback Ross Cockrell at the line, struggled to find much room to move. The only impact play Green made came on drawing a pass interference play against Cockrell that set up Mike Nugents field goal. A week after dominating Darrelle Revis for 12 catches and 180 yards and a touchdown against the Jets, Green was a nonfactor and one of the reasons Cincinnati went just 4 of 16 on third down.We converted one or two, but not enough of them that mattered, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said.THEY SAID IT:We were never planning on our role being diluted down, but we feel good about where we are now. James on the contributions of the reserve tight ends following the retirement of Heath Miller and a lingering injury to free-agent signee Ladarius Green.There were times when A.J. Green would catch 12 balls and there are other times when other guys will get involved. Thats just how it is. -- Dalton on Greens lack of production.UP NEXTBengals: Welcome Denver to Paul Brown Stadium in their home opener.Steelers: Travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Barclay Goodrow Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Adidas Aaron Dell Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. http://www.cheapsharksjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-timo-meier-jersey .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Joel Ward Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Adidas Brent Burns Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. CHICAGO -- Carlos Beltran had a forgettable 2,000th game in the majors on Thursday. His 2,001st might stay with him for a while. After going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts one day earlier at Wrigley Field, Beltran bounced back Friday with three hits -- falling a home run short of the cycle -- and an RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. "Yesterday wasnt a good one and today was better, for sure," said Beltran, who had a run-scoring triple, double and single. "Thats baseball. Some days you feel like you come to the ballpark and you try and nothing works out your way, and today it seems like everything worked out my way." Beltrans offence bolstered a second straight spot start for reliever-turned-starter Joe Kelly (1-3), who won his first game of the season. "I just attacked with everything -- slider, curve ball, change-up, four-seam, two-seam (fastball)," Kelly said. "When you throw a couple of those for strikes, you make it easier on yourself. If youre throwing some off-speed and command both sides of the plate with the heater, it makes for a little better time out there." It was the second straight start for Kelly, who had a no-decision against Miami last Saturday. Hes unsure if hell get another start soon or will head back to the bullpen. "I dont look too far ahead about anything," said Kelly, who allowed three hits and a run in 5 1-3 innings, struck out four and walked two. "I go out there and when they tell me to pitch, I pitch. Thats whats good about being versatile, and Im just still happy to be here." Edward Mujica pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 opportunities. Thursdays 3-0 loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cardinals. An added bonus was a seventh inning pinch-hit triple by Rob Johnson, whose contract was purchased Tuesday from Triple-A Memphis. Johnson then scored on Matt Carpenters go-ahead double. "We needed it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Johnsons clutch hit. "Its a feel-good for a guy whos been doing a lot of things right for us in our system. In a situation, he helped us produce and we wound up getting a run out of it.dddddddddddd" St. Louis jumped on Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva (2-5) for two runs in the top of the first inning. Carpenter singled and scored on Beltrans triple, followed by Allen Craigs RBI single. The Cubs cut St. Louis lead to 2-1 in the third. Luis Valbuena walked, went to second when Starlin Castro was hit by a pitch, Anthony Rizzo hit into a fielders choice that pushed Valbuena to third and then Alfonso Sorianos single scored Valbuena. After Carpenters double scored Johnson in the seventh to make it 3-1, Castro closed the score to 3-2 with a leadoff homer in the eighth -- but the Cubs would get no closer, stranding seven runners in the game. Even with Villanuevas shaky first inning, Cubs manager Dale Sveum still liked what he saw from his starter. "Six innings, 90 pitches, obviously settled down after the first inning," Sveum said. "Everything got much sharper and he did a great job." The Cubs are 12-8 in their last 20 games, and are 3-5 against St. Louis this season. They faced the best team in baseball for the second straight week. Last weekend, they took two of three from Pittsburgh, which had the best record in the majors at the time. NOTES: Cardinals LF Matt Holliday was held out Friday with right hamstring tightness and is day-to-day. ... In addition to signing first round draft pick Kris Bryant, the Cubs also inked 12th round RHP Trevor Clifton and 19th round C Will Remillard. ... Saturdays pitchers will be the Cardinals Lance Lynn (11-3, 3.67 ERA) and Matt Garza (5-1, 3.22). Garza has been the subject of trade rumours in recent days. "Hes obviously throwing extremely well and hes very healthy and there are teams out there looking for pitching who are going to call and try to acquire him," Cubs president Theo Epstein said before Fridays game. "Hes helping us win games right now, theres a chance to possibly retain him beyond this year, so well just balance all that out and do whats best for the organization." ... The Cubs have used 42 players this season, a pre-All-Star break team record. ... The Cubs came into Fridays game leading the National League with 293 extra-base hits. ' ' '