PITTSBURGH -- A look at Cincinnati Bengals players who were "up" and those who were "down" in Sunday's 16-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers:
UP
Reggie Nelson: The safety had a strong second half, coming away with two crucial interceptions, including one with about two minutes remaining that gave the Bengals' offense a chance to eat up the clock. The interceptions came one game after Nelson corrected issues with missed tackles that he had early in the season. His play is beginning to turn for the better at a good time. We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that safety Shawn Williams' stock also was up. His first career interception with about six minutes left gave the Bengals the ball ahead of their clutch go-ahead score.
Jeremy Hill: After struggling with running through tackles for much of the year, Jeremy Hill did it Sunday. Looking more like the physical runner who had an impact on the Bengals as a rookie last year, Hill averaged 4.0 yards in a 15-carry, 60-yard performance. He entered the game with a 3.1 yards per carry average. Truthfully, the Bengals probably could have run the ball with him more.
Andy Dalton: It wasn't the best game of Dalton's career, but when you lead another fourth-quarter comeback drive, your stock is clearly trending in the right way as a quarterback. Dalton has come from behind to win three games this season. His two interceptions and three sacks weren't very good to see, but chalk a lot of that up to long down distances, porous offensive line play and a solid Steelers pass rush.
DOWN
Russell Bodine: Part of what affected Dalton's numbers was the way his line handled duties in front of him. In Bodine's case, a pair of botched snaps weren't very good to see. One of the center's snaps came out too hot, but Dalton was able to fall on it. Giovani Bernard recovered another fumbled exchange that Dalton and Bodine didn't handle properly. Other offensive linemen -- Andrew Whitworth, Eric Winston and Andre Smith -- had penalties that kept stalling drives.
Dre Kirkpatrick: Although he ultimately corrected his mistakes and had a relatively solid second half, Kirkpatrick didn't have a first quarter to be proud of. The Steelers converted a 15-yard chunk play thrown in his direction, and he was flagged for pass interference early in the game. As Kirkpatrick said after the game, it was clear the Steelers were targeting him and trying to exploit him as a weakness.