CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Once again, the Cincinnati Bengals fought hard under Marvin Lewis. Once again, they came up just short.
Amos Zereoue and Jerome Bettis came up with key first downs in the waning minutes as the Pittsburgh Steelers held off the Bengals, 17-10.
Tommy Maddox completed 21-of-34 passes for 240 yards and one touchdown with one interception for the Steelers (2-1), who beat the Bengals for the sixth time in their last seven meetings.
"We play best when our offense is balanced," Maddox said. "The offensive line got a good push. (The Bengals) made some plays but we kept it up. The running backs were sticking it up in there."
The Steelers seemed to be in command after Jeff Reed's 33-yard field goal gave them a 17-3 lead with 13:37 to play. But the Bengals pulled within 17-10 on a five-yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna to Peter Warrick with 5:54 to play, and after taking their final timeout with 2:52 to play, they forced the Steelers into a 3rd-and-8 play at the Cincinnati 43.
Pittsburgh called a draw play to Zereoue, which appeared to catch Cincinnati by surprise. The running back burst through a hole up the middle for 11 yards, and after Bettis picked up another first down on a 3rd-and-2 run for two yards with 1:21 left, the Steelers ran out the clock.
"Today, we were beat by a football team that made more plays than we did," Lewis said. "They made plays to win the football game. (The Bengals) fought their tails off again, but we are not making the plays in the critical situations that it takes to win football games and that is my responsibility. We are going to work on that."
"It's about getting rhythm," Zereoue said. "Jerome came in and got his engine running. There are situations when I'll be in there and situations when he'll be in there. It was big when we were running the clock out. I came in and gave them a different look."
Zereoue had 16 carries for 69 yards and Bettis, who did not play until the third quarter, also carried 16 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
"In the second quarter, I told Jerome to be ready," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "You never know when we're going to need him. Amos came out because he was tired. I just told him to stay here and let Jerome run for a while. I don't like to take them in and out."
"You do what you have to do," Bettis said. "How do you become satisfied not getting the ball? You deal with it. As a running back when you get the ball, you want to make a contribution and you yearn to get the ball. But you have to understand that at the end of the day, it all about this team. There were times when I was frustrated and times when (Zereoue) is going to be frustrated."
Kitna was 16-for-24 for 157 yards and one touchdown with one interception for the Bengals, who set a new attendance record with 64,596. Corey Dillon had seven carries for 26 yards before leaving with a groin injury in the first half. He did not return.
"Corey is a fine player for us but it happens in a football game," Lewis said. "We have to go forward and move the football. Brandon Bennett did a good job of filling in for us again."
The Bengals marched deep into Steelers territory on their opening drive of the contest, but a pass from Kitna to Warrick was tipped and linebacker Jason Gildon made a diving interception at the 7.
"It seemed like we would continuously drive down the field, and then something would bog us down," Kitna said. "We got a first down on our first drive and we were moving the ball pretty well. You throw a ball, think you have it, then a corner tips it in the air and a guy makes a diving interception. We had a few other drives in the first half where we got down there (red zone) and didn't get it done."
Neither team scored until Hines Ward, with a helpful push from fullback Dan Kreider, fought his way across the plane of the goal line on a seven-yard pass from Maddox with 1:46 left in the first half.
"It was a great effort by Hines to get in the end zone," Cowher said. "Dan Kreider hustled to get him in. He was going to hit a defender and hit Hines in the back."
"I was trying to make something happen," Kreider said. "I hadn't heard the whistle yet and started pushing the pile. Something good happened."
Cincinnati got on the board on a 44-yard field goal by Shayne Graham 4:56 into the second half before Pittsburgh extended its advantage to 14-3 on a one-yard run by Bettis with 3:26 left in the third quarter. He ran the ball on the final six plays of the drive, gaining 23 yards.
Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, who had missed the first two games of the season after suffering a gunshot wound in the buttocks, had two tackles, including one sack.
"It was like Christmas to be able to play football again," Porter said. "I am glad to put the whole incident behind me. Once I got through a week of practice and was able to do certain things, I knew I would be ready to play."
