The Bengals looked to be left for dead early in the second half as they trailed the Steelers with a performance bordering on the horrific Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium before 64,358.

But Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph stepped in front of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s short flip to wide receiver Santonio Holmes and had green all the way for a 30-yard interception touchdown to cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 13-9 early in the first two minutes of the second half.

And then running back Cedric Benson cut the lead to 20-15 on a 23-yard touchdown run to the left perimeter with 9:15 left in the game in which Benson outran the Steelers down the left sideline.

It stayed 13-9 because for the second time this season long snapper Brad St. Louis let fly with an errant high snap on the extra point.

The Bengals dodged another bullet when wide receiver Limas Sweed got behind Joseph for a touchdown at the back of the end zone and dropped it to force Jeff Reed’s 52-yard field goal that was wide right.

But the Bengals offense couldn’t respond. A third-and-one call in which quarterback Carson Palmer gave a quick pass to wide receiver Laveranues Coles for a loss and it opened the doors for an 11-play Pittsburgh drive that took more than six minutes and exploited some soft coverage in the Bengals secondary as the Steelers took a 20-9 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

'Roethlisberger capped it with a one-yard touchdown run, but the big plays were down the field, where rookie wide receiver Mike Wallace caught a 16-yard pass on third-and-13 in front of Joseph and wide receiver Hines Ward caught a 21-yard pass after blitzing safety Chris Crocker missed a sack. 

How many times have we seen it?

The Steelers drag into PBS griping about their running game and fretting about their place in the NFL elite and they always leave by rolling over the Bengals in both trenches in frighteningly easy fashion. 

The Steelers were halfway there Tuesday when they embarrassed the Bengals every which way but up in springing to a 13-3 halftime lead before an angry flock of boo birds.

The Bengals didn’t even have a pulse until they pieced together a hurryup drive in the final 1:06 that included a 19-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Henry and ended in Shayne Graham’s 34-yard field goal at the half.

They suffered paralysis on offense, where  their best drive of the day before that one ended when right guard Bobbie Williams was called for another hold, his second in two games and the club’s fourth penalty of the half for 30 yards.

The Bengals got the ball back with 1:06 left when the Steelers opted to for it on fourth-and-four and the Bengals held when defensive lineman Jon Fanene forced a holding on Steelers tackle Max Starks.

But at that point the Bengals had just 47 yards compared to the Steelers’ 258 in a stunning response to their big win in Green Bay the week before. Quarterback Carson Palmer, hounded by the pass rush and victimized at least once by his own receivers, had just 81 yards on seven of 16 passing.

The problem was because running back Cedric Benson had nowhere to on eight carries for 18 yards and Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was loading up the rush. The only shred of offense was provided by wide receiver Chad Ochocinco’s 37 yards on three catches.

As they always seem to do, the Steelers imposed their will on the ground even though their running game came in here ripped and battered at 28th in the NFL. But Steelers running back Fast Willie Parker always seems fast against the Bengals and he appeared ready to give Pittsburgh its sixth straight 100-yard rusher in a PBS game with 72 yards on 14 carries, and the fourth of his career.

That allowed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to bob and weave at his best, completing 13 of 19 for 180 yards and a passer rating of 116.1.