The Pittsburgh Steelers claimed a crucial win for their AFC playoff hopes by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 33-20 in their match at Paul Brown Stadium.

The Steelers took the lead on their first possession of the match as Ben Roethlisberger guided his side downfield before DeAngelo Williams to power through on the goalline for the score.

Cincinnati attempted to respond and made good headway into the redzone before Andy Dalton was intercepted by Stephon Tuitt to end the drive. Matters were made worse for the home side when Dalton suffered a thumb injury on the tackle, forcing him out of the contest.

Chris Boswell extended the Steelers' lead by firing two field goals between the posts to hand them a 13-point lead.

However, Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron brought his side back into the match when he lofted the ball deep downfield for AJ Green, who beat two defenders for the ball to raid into the endzone for a 66-yard touchdown.

Boswell kicked another field goal before the break to edge his team nine points ahead, and after the restart William Gay handed the visitors control when he intercepted a pass from McCarron and returned it all the way for a touchdown.

Mike Nugent notched his first kick of the game from 46 yards to keep the Bengals in the match, but Boswell matched his effort early in the fourth quarter to take the game away from the home side.

McCarron drove the Bengals to the five-yard line, but they were repelled from the endzone, forcing Nugent into action and making the match a two-score affair early in the fourth quarter.

However, McCarron was then picked off by Robert Golden which allowed the Steelers to put the game beyond the home side as Williams recorded his second score of the game by plowing through the line.

Cincinnati added a consolation score as McCarron found Rex Burkhead for a five-yard touchdown, but the Bengals dropped to a costly defeat to their AFC North rivals.

The Bengals remain top of the AFC North, but drop to the third seed in the conference, while the Steelers move to 8-5 in their season to stay just outside the playoff places in the seventh seed.