PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers lived on the edge for the second straight week against a winless team and were fortunate this time to come out a winner to increase their record to 3-2.

Their offense was supposed to be the strength of this team and carry their reformulated defense, at least in the early going, but it was the defense that saved their cookies on Sunday in Jacksonville.

Pittsburgh’s offense managed only 10 points, three more than the defense provided when cornerback Brice McCain returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

That came two plays after quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked and lost a fumble at the Jacksonville 13.

The Steelers rank 26th in the NFL in red zone offense.

“I was a little disappointed in the way I played,” Roethlisberger said. “I want to say the line played a lot better than what the stats are going to say.

“That’s a good defensive front. They got after it. I know there are going to be some stats on sacks, but the line played a lot better than it will be written. A lot of those are on me.”

After going 1-1 against Tampa Bay at home and Jacksonville, the Steelers go on a more difficult stretch, starting Sunday in Cleveland.

The Browns nearly stunned them in the opener when they came back from a 27-3 halftime deficit to tie it, but lost 30-27, are 2 1/2 point favorites in Cleveland.

“Hopefully we learned some lessons out there for the next time out,” Mike Tomlin said.

REPORT CARD VS. JAGUARS

PASSING OFFENSE: D — Playing the worst-rated defense in the NFL in both allowing yards and points, the Steelers managed only 10 points, or three more than their defense, which bailed them out in this one. They had a first down at the four and settled for a field goal after Ben Roethlisberger threw for no gain, incomplete and then was sacked. He was sacked and lost a fumble at the Jacksonville 13 early in the fourth quarter. His stats — 26 of 36 for 273 yards, one touchdown and a 103.1 rating — did not reflect his game. He was sacked four times.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C — Le’Veon Bell ran 15 times for 82 yards, 29 on one of them, but overall there was not the kind of ground game they might have expected against the Jaguars. As a whole, they gained 111 yards and averaged 4.0 a carry with no touchdowns.

PASS DEFENSE: B — Two interceptions of rookie quarterback Blake Bortles included Brice McCain’s 22-yard return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that virtually sealed things. Bortles was 22 of 36 for 191 yards and no touchdowns with a 52.0 rating. He was sacked only once, however, after the Jaguars led the league by allowing 20 sacks through four games.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus — Jacksonville did not seem interested in running the ball and did so only 15 times for 56 yards and a 3.7 average with no touchdowns. Stormy Johnson led them with 27 yards on only four carries and had the longest run of the day for the Jaguars of 20 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Brad Wing bounced back from his 29-yard punt late in the game that set up Tampa Bay’s winning drive by punting five times for a 45.4 average, including two knocked inside the 20. Shaun Suisham made his only field goal try, from 24 yards. The Jaguars had no returns to speak of and neither did the Steelers, who did have to kick off three straight times at one point because of two offside penalties.

COACHING: C-plus — Coach Mike Tomlin vowed that the Steelers would cut down on the penalties and they did, but they still had seven and they still committed some dumb ones, such as Lance Moore spiking the ball after a catch and getting a delay-of-game penalty.