Bengals vs. Steelers: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers earned a 24-16 home win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Heinz Field.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 259 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 19-of-37 passing in what were wet, rainy conditions in the Steel City. DeAngelo Williams stepped up to run for 94 yards on 32 carries.

Meanwhile, Bengals QB Andy Dalton threw for 366 yards—tied for the fifth-highest single-game total of his career—but needed 55 attempts to do so.

This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Steelers beat the Bengals in the Wild Card Round of last year's playoffs. They combined to have 18 penalties for 221 yards in that matchup. Antonio Brown suffered a concussion, and Vontaze Burfict earned a three-game suspension for delivering the hit that knocked Brown out of the game.

Williams acknowledged the bad blood between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, per ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler:

"

Everybody knows the professional hatred we have for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Bengals have with us. Everybody's heard the Twitter fight and things of that nature that we've had in the offseason. Guess what? This Sunday, that comes to a head, and the cameras will be watching. It will be our will versus their will, and we will see who breaks first.

"

Sunday's officiating crew came into the game with an increased emphasis on quickly defusing any potentially volatile situations. The day largely unfolded drama-free, however, somewhat to the disappointment of Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke:

The off-and-on rain showers in Pittsburgh led to a tight first half. Pittsburgh went into halftime up 10-6 on the strength of a 20-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Grimble with 3:46 left in the first quarter. There was initially some doubt about whether Grimble completed the catch after he lost control of the ball following a dive into the end zone.

Fox Sports' officiating expert, Mike Pereira, explained why Grimble's TD stood:

Entering Sunday, the 23-year-old hadn't caught a pass in the NFL. NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala tweeted the Steelers planned on using every tight end in their arsenal against Cincinnati:

Mike Nugent and Chris Boswell exchanged field goals to wrap up the half, as neither offense hit top gear through the first two quarters. While the Bengals were down, the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Dehner Jr. didn't think it was a bad start for the team:

But the Bengals quickly found themselves down 11 points in the third quarter. A 53-yard pass from Roethlisberger to wideout Sammie Coates helped set up a nine-yard TD grab by tight end Jesse James. ESPN's Mike Clay thought the 22-year-old made for a great target in the red zone:

On their next drive, the Bengals had a great opportunity to get their first touchdown of the game. They had a 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line. A Jeremy Hill run went for minus-two yards, and two Dalton incompletions later, Cincinnati settled for a 21-yard field goal from Nugent.

The Steelers capitalized with 6:48 left in the game. Williams caught a four-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger to put the team ahead 24-9.

Giovani Bernard made it 24-16 on a 25-yard touchdown reception with 3:25 remaining, and the Bengals were driving down the field to potentially tie the score until rookie wideout Tyler Boyd fumbled the ball at the Steelers' 33-yard line.

Officials reviewed the play, and it appeared Boyd's knee was down before he lost control of the football. Despite that, the original call stood, which all but ended Cincinnati's comeback hopes. After the game, Senior Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino explained why the call wasn't overturned: 

Le'Veon Bell's three-game suspension and Markus Wheaton's shoulder injury could've resulted in a slow start to the 2016 season for Pittsburgh. Instead, the team is 2-0 through the first two weeks.

While the year is still young, the Steelers look like the strongest team in the AFC North. They still have to go on the road to Cincinnati, in addition to their two divisional games against the Baltimore Ravens. As long as Roethlisberger stays healthy, though, Pittsburgh is in pole position to finish first after ceding the AFC North crown to the Bengals in 2015.

Losing on the road to the Steelers is rarely a poor result for Cincinnati, and A.J. Green won't have many games in which he catches only two passes for 38 yards. The fact that the Bengals running game struggled for a second week in a row is concerning, though.

Hill and Bernard combined for 56 yards in a Week 1 win over the New York Jets. They gained 39 yards on 16 carries Sunday.

A home game against the Denver Broncos in Week 3 will be a big test for the Bengals, and earning a win would help fans forget about Sunday's defeat.  

Postgame Reaction

"Necessary victory today," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said, per the team's official Twitter account. "We're still at the very early stages of our journey. I believe in our group. I expect what they put on tape today."

Steelers safety Mike Mitchell identified the way in which he and the rest of Pittsburgh's secondary blanketed Green as a major factor in the win, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com): "We were able to take [Green] out of the game. We knew if we could minimize his impact, the outcome was going to be good for us and it was."

Boyd owned up to his mistake but maintained the referees erred in saying he fumbled: "I should have done a better job with ball security. I still believe I was down but the call didn't say so. All I can do is go out there and keep playing."