Thanks to their Sunday home win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers will enter the third week of the 2016 NFL season as co-leaders of the AFC North division with the Baltimore Ravens.
The Steelers overcame two interceptions by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday to beat the Bengals 24-16 at Heinz Field. Despite his struggles throwing the football in the rainy conditions on Sunday, Roethlisberger still managed to throw three touchdown passes in the game with two of those going to young tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble.
The Steelers defense came to play on Sunday against the Bengals and while that unit only manage to sack Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton just once during the game on their way to allowing 366 yards passing, they only allowed the opposing offense to convert 4 of their 16 third down opportunities. Additionally, Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green only managed to catch two passes during the game for 38 yards and shut down the Cincinnati running game as well.
While not a perfect performance by the Steelers on Sunday, it was good enough for a win and that’s all that matters.
As for the Ravens, they also won a divisional game on Sunday as they beat the Cleveland Browns on the road 25-20.
After falling behind the Browns 20-0 in the first quarter, the Ravens offense and defense finally got on track. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw for 302 yards in the game with two touchdown passes to wide receiver Mike Wallace, who now has three on the young season.
While the Ravens defense did give up 145 yards rushing to the Browns on Sunday, they did intercept Cleveland quarterback Josh McCown twice in addition to sacking him three times in total.
In Week 3 AFC North action, the Steelers will play the Philadelphia Eagles on the road while the Bengals will host the 2-0 Denver Broncos. The Ravens will go on the road to play the winless Jacksonville Jaguars while the Browns will play in Week 3 on the road against the winless Miami Dolphins.
