"Rashard Mendenhall has chugged along confidently despite being stuck in neutral much of this season.

There haven't been any long runs in the open field for the Steelers running back. He has had to work hard for every inch, every yard.

And so it was on his 9-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter Sunday that enabled the Steelers to regain the lead, 24-17, then hold on to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals before a crowd of 63,262 at Paul Brown Stadium.

On first-and-goal, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians dialed up something simple. After flipping through the playbook for two early reverse runs by wide receiver Mike Wallace, the Steelers opted to outmuscle the Bengals in the trenches in the second half.

The Bengals grudgingly conceded ground and limited Mendenhall and Isaac Redman to only 69 yards on 23 carries — including 44 by Mendenhall, who averaged only 2.8 yards a pop.

However, Mendenhall staggered the Bengals with his punishing touchdown run. He stepped out of the hands of nose tackle Domala Peko at the 5-yard line with strong safety Chris Crocker zeroing in and the end zone in sight.

"They had bodies on bodies, and some of their guys were able to break through," Mendenhall said. "I was able to fight through the tackles to get across the goal line."

Only it wasn't that simple.

The Bengals appeared to diagnose the play before the snap. Mendenhall sidestepped a wall of blockers on the right before pivoting left toward a narrow seam in the middle of the Cincinnati defense."