The Steelers are 8-3 after winning a closer-than-expected game against the Cincinnati Bengals , and they'll head into the stretch run of their season with no worse than a one-game lead in the AFC North.

It took a while for the Steelers to warm up on a snowy, frigid night at Heinz Field, but they shook off a slow start to beat the upstart Bengals, 27-10, in front of a crowd of 59,854.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 17-of-30 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown, and the defense didn't allow much in between Cincinnati scores in the first and fourth quarters.

Roethlisberger's 3-yard scoring toss to Heath Miller in the second quarter marked his first touchdown pass in four games. He also threw downfield considerably more than he had in the Steelers' previous two games.

The Steelers moved the ball primarily through the air as Willie Parker (37 yards on 14 carries) never got going and didn't finish the game after pulling up at the end of a 15-yard run in the third quarter.

Parker "tweaked" the knee he had hurt in the third week of the season, coach Mike Tomlin said. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes sustained a concussion after he was drilled on a catch over the middle. A knee injury sustained by defensive end Brett Keisel is potentially serious, Tomlin said.

"When somebody's laying on the ground and they're checking their knee it's not a good thing," Tomlin said.

Getting rested and healthy isn't the only thing the Steelers hope to get out of this weekend.

Tomlin said the team will address its punting situation, which means there could be a change. Paul Ernster struggled for the second consecutive game and after he averaged 28.4 yards per punt. Tomlin said that aspect of special teams was "horrible."

Tomlin was much more generous in assessing the Steelers' overall play.

"I thought that we stumbled out of the gate a little bit both offensively and defensively," Tomlin said. "They got up on us, but the guys didn't blink. We stuck to the plan got some execution and we were able to get a victory."

The Bengals looked like anything but heavy underdogs during the opening quarter.

They held the Steelers to two first downs and took a 7-0 lead after Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Glenn Holt.

Fans that had started to get anxious felt considerably better after Roethlisberger directed an 8-play, 54-yard drive in the second quarter, which he capped with his first touchdown pass in 12 quarters.

The Steelers took a 10-7 lead after a couple of Roethlisberger completions to Holmes set up Jeff Reed's 37-yard field goal with less than two minutes to play in the second quarter.

The Steelers looked like they might get another score before the half as the Bengals went three-and-out. The ensuing punt, however, bounced in front of Holmes at the Steelers' 40-yard line and hit an unsuspecting Limas Sweed on the hand.

The Steelers' defense stiffened and kept the Bengals off the scoreboard.

The Bengals went for it on fourth-and-five from the Steelers' 34, and William Gay nearly intercepted Fitzpatrick's pass allowing the home team to take a narrow lead into halftime.

The smattering of boos that followed the Steelers to the locker room suggested they were doing anything but winning.

The Steelers opened the second half with a 12-play drive, but they had to settle for a 38-yard Reed field goal after Ward dropped a third-down pass.

The offense finished what it started on the following drive as Roethlisberger passes of 22 and 19 yards to Mewelde Moore and Miller, respectively, set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Gary Russell.

A 26-yard field by Shayne Graham midway through the fourth quarter cut the Steelers' lead to 20-10, but the Bengals could get no closer.

"We just stacked another divisional win," wide receiver Hines Ward said after the Steelers improved to 4-0 in the AFC North. "It's good to be 8-3 right now. We're going to enjoy this."