CINCINNATI — The Pittsburgh Steelers missed the playoffs the past two seasons. The best chance for the Steelers to avoid a third straight postseason absence is to win each of their remaining games.

“Every week is kind of a playoff week for us,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “It doesn’t get any easier for us moving forward. We need to give it everything we’ve got every week.”

One down, three to go.

Roethlisberger passed for 350 yards and three touchdowns as Pittsburgh bolstered its playoff chances with a 42-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.

Running back Le’Veon Bell rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns for Pittsburgh (8-5), which trailed heading into the fourth quarter, but scored 25 points in less than 10 minutes to take control.

“I don’t care about style points,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “It was a significant win for us today. We’re just trying to get out of there with wins. We knew what we needed from everyone today.”

The Steelers also got 100-yard receiving days from wide receivers Antonio Brown (117) and Martavis Bryant (109).

Bryant sealed Sunday’s victory in the fourth quarter with a 94-yard touchdown reception. With the Steelers backed up at their own 6-yard line following a punt, Roethlisberger checked off to a pass and hit Bryant in stride down the right sideline to make the score 35-21 with 8:31 left.

Cincinnati (8-4-1) lost despite a record-setting day by receiver A.J. Green, who had 11 catches for a career-high 224 yards and a touchdown.

The performance by Green, who missed time earlier this season with a toe injury, was among the few bright spots for Cincinnati on Sunday.

“This is the best I’ve felt since Week Two,” said Green regarding his physical status.

Quarterback Andy Dalton passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score for the Bengals, who still maintain a half-game lead over Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the AFC North despite having their three-game winning streak snapped.

“We had the game in hand at halftime, we had the game in hand in the fourth quarter, but we let it get away from us,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “I know that we have to move on from it. We have to move beyond it. We have to focus the next three weeks.”

What the Steelers said:

“That was a tough AFC North December battle. It was what we anticipated. Give credit to the Bengals. It seemed like every time we got control of the game, they made a big play and regained control. We still are not perfect. I like the resolve of the group. In a hostile environment our guys made the necessary plays.” – head coach Mike Tomlin.

What the Bengals said:

“When you’ve got a guy like A.J., you want to get him the ball. We had a lot of really good looks today, and we hit big plays. Down the stretch we have to rely on him. He’s a big play waiting to happen and showed it today.” – quarterback Andy Dalton, on wide receiver A.J. Green, who had 11 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown.

What we learned about the Steelers:

1. Running back Le’Veon Bell had a huge game against a Bengals defense that hadn’t allowed more than 75 rushing yards the previous three games. The return of LB Rey Maualuga has keyed the improvement for Cincinnati since the Browns ran for 170 yards against them on Nov. 6. But, on Sunday, Bell rushed for 185 yards and two TDs, providing the Steelers with much needed balance. “He’s doing so much in the run game, the pass game, blocking game,” said Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. “His game right now is at a very high level. It’s fun to watch. We’ll keep feeding him and riding him.”

2. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ended speculation earlier in the week that he had a wrist injury. Roethlisberger hurt his right hand in last week’s loss to New Orleans then missed practice one day this week, leading to rumors that his injury was more serious. But on Sunday, Roethlisberger proved his health by passing for 350 yards and three touchdowns, including a 94-yard touchdown pass to Martavis Bryant with 8:13 left. “I tried to tell everyone after the game (last week) and again this week that there was no issue,” said Roethlisberger.

–RB Le’Veon Bell continues to impress. Against a Bengals defense that hadn’t allowed more than 75 yards rushing in its past three games, Bell ran for 185 yards and two TDs, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. “He’s doing so much in the run game, the pass game, blocking game,” said Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. “His game right now is at a very high level. It’s fun to watch. We’ll keep feeding him and riding him.”

–CB Ike Taylor left the game with a knee contusion, and according to Bengals PR also a shoulder injury. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said it was his decision not to put Taylor back into the game. Taylor’s absence hampered the Steelers’ ability to contain Bengals WR A.J. Green, who had 11 catches for a career-high 224 yards and a touchdown.

–WR Martavis Bryant had four catches for 109 yards, including the 94-yarder that sealed the win in the fourth quarter. Bryant averaged 27.3 yards per catch. “I’ve underthrown him in practice on that play because when he gets running, he’s fast,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said about the fourth-quarter TD pass on Sunday. “I just put it out there and let him run under it. He did the rest.”

What we learned about the Bengals:

1. A.J. Green is healthy. In fact, the Bengals wide receiver says this is the best he’s felt since the second week of the season when a toe injury caused him to miss time. He was in rare form on Sunday, catching 11 passes for a career-high 224 yards and a touchdown. It was his 20th career 100-yard receiving game, which ranks second in franchise history. “When you’ve got a guy like A.J., you want to get him the ball. We had a lot of really good looks today, and we hit big plays. Down the stretch we have to rely on him. He’s a big play waiting to happen and showed it today”.

2. The question going into Sunday’s game was whether QB Andy Dalton could avoid his signature big-game mistakes in a crucial AFC North matchup with the Steelers. For a while he did. Dalton passed for 302 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. But, clinging to a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, Dalton and running back Jeremy Hill got crossed up on an exchange, resulting in a fumble recovered by Steelers LB Arthur Moats at the Bengals’ 25-yard line. The turnover led to the go-ahead touchdown. Aside from that crucial miscue, Dalton largely played a flawless game, going 21 of 29 for 302 yards and two TDs with no interceptions.

–LB Vontaze Burfict missed his sixth straight game since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery following the Oct. 26 game against Baltimore. Burfict hasn’t practiced since the procedure. Burfict also missed two games with a concussion and part of another contest with a strained neck. Burfict led the team with 204 tackles last season.

–WR A.J. Green, who missed three games with a toe injury, finally is healthy. In fact, Green says this is the best he’s felt since week two. On Sunday, Green had 11 catches for a career-high 224 yards and a touchdown. It was his 20th career 100-yard receiving game, tying him with Isaac Curtis for second-most in team history behind Chad Johnson’s 31.

–QB Andy Dalton nearly played a flawless game, going 21 of 29 passing for 302 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 20-yard touchdown run, the longest by a Bengals QB since Ken Anderson had a 19-yard TD run in 1974. But Dalton couldn’t get through Sunday’s game without one critical error, a mishandled exchange between him and RB Jeremy Hill that resulted in a fumble. Pittsburgh recovered leading to the go-ahead TD.