PITTSBURGH -- The Tennessee Titans began the season with an embarrassing step back. It merely set the stage for a significant leap forward. Chris Johnson eschewed his usual flash for 70 clock-chewing yards, new defensive assistant Gregg Williams wasted little time working some of his old magic, and the Titans smothered the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-9 on Sunday. Jackie Battle ran for a 3-yard touchdown in the second quarter and Rob Bironas kicked three field goals. Tennessees revamped defence did the rest. "Yes, we were a little sloppy at spots, yes we wish we scored more points," Tennessee coach Mike Munchak said. "And well fix some of those things. But we did what we had to do to win the football game." Pittsburgh managed just 195 total yards and lost Pro Bowl centre Maurkice Pouncey, likely out of the year with torn ligaments in his right knee. Linebacker Larry Foote is also done after rupturing his right biceps. "Weve got a lot of work to do," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Nobody cares about our problems. Theyre glad weve got them. We need to understand that. We need to stick together and persevere." Pouncey is the linchpin of a retooled offensive line; Foote is the wise sage for one of the NFLs best linebacking groups. "Anytime you lose guys that are key contributors to your game, its frustrating, but thats the business were in," Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said. "Someones got to step up." Better hurry. The Steelers hadnt lost a home opener in a decade and figured to have little trouble against the Titans, who gave up more points than any team in the NFL last season and brought in Williams as an assistant. A year removed from his role in the bounty scandal with the New Orleans Saints that to a league suspension, the former defensive co-ordinators impact was immediate. While Munchak stressed co-ordinator Jerry Gray is in charge of the play calling, theres little doubt Williams presence has keyed an attitude shift in a unit that took the brunt of the blame for a 6-10 season. Aggressive from the opening snap, Tennessee forced two turnovers, limited the Steelers to 32 yards rushing and didnt allow a touchdown until garbage time. "Were working much more together now," defensive tackle Jurrell Casey said. "Nobodys pointing fingers at anybody else and nobodys being selfish. We have to work as a unit, and thats what we did today." The Steelers came in with 10 straight victories in home openers, the longest streak in the league. They went winless in the preseason, but stressed they were fine. Doesnt look like it. Following a bumpy off-season in which Mike Wallace, James Harrison and Casey Hampton departed, Pittsburgh insisted it was not rebuilding. Maybe, but the refurbishing project is going to take some time. Running back Isaac Redman fumbled twice, including once deep in Tennessee territory. The defence limited big plays, but failed to generate a turnover or a momentum-swinging sack. The Titans didnt dominate. They didnt have to. Content to work between the tackles with Johnson and Battle, Tennessee controlled the clock. The Titans held the ball for over 34 minutes and asked quarterback Jake Locker to do little more than avoid mistakes. Locker completed 11 of 20 passes for 125 yards, but led Tennessee on a lengthy scoring drive early in the fourth quarter that gave the Titans a 13-2 lead and sent most of the crowd streaming toward the exit. The Titans needed 42 carries to run for 112 yards, but what their runs lacked in pop they made up for in persistence. "I think coming in we were going to run it, we felt we had to," Munchak said. "We had to get a lot of touches. Its like a boxing match. Its a lot of (little) runs, but we felt we were wearing them out by doing that." The subdued ending hardly seemed possible after one of the more memorable opening weekend flubs by Tennessee kick returner Darius Reynaud. Shaun Suishams squib kick was fielded at the Tennessee 1. Reynaud shuffled into the end zone and dropped to a knee. Officials originally called the play a touchback, but referee Jerome Boger signalled a safety after ruling the ball never actually crossed the goal line. "I know I was in the end zone," Reynaud said. "I did not know where the ball was. Thats something I need to work on." Pittsburghs euphoria lasted all of eight plays. The Steelers were driving following the free kick when guard David DeCastro fell on Pounceys right knee. Pouncey laid on the ground for several minutes before being taken off on a golf cart. Kelvin Beachum stepped in for Pouncey, but the drive ended when Redman -- the de facto starter with rookie LeVeon Bell sidelined by a sprained right foot -- fumbled into the end zone. The unusual 2-0 lead held up for until safety Alterraun Verner intercepted Ben Roethlisberger at the Pittsburgh 49 and the Titans reeled off a 12-play drive. Battle finished it by plowing 3 yards with 46 seconds left in the half. NOTES: Roethlisberger became the 35th quarterback over 30,000 career yards passing. Hes now at 30,035 yards in 10 seasons . Tennessee RB Shonn Greene left with a knee injury in the second quarter . Pittsburghs last loss in its home opener came in 2002 against Oakland. cheap china jerseys . He had great success against them during his days in the NL. And he really enjoys Wrigley Field. http://www.cheapjerseyschina.cc/ . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. cheap jerseys from china .R. Smith hasnt had a run like this since high school. cheap jerseys from china paypal . -- The Anaheim Ducks have activated defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky from injured reserve after a month-long absence with a broken finger.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A disputed call went the Bengals way -- not that they absolutely needed it. Getting Andy Dalton back in form was quite enough. Dalton regained his passing touch in time to keep the Bengals perfect at home and in control of the AFC North on Sunday. He threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in a 42-28 victory over Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals (9-4) kept their firm grip on first place, two games ahead of Baltimore with three to play. "Were on a roll," middle linebacker Rey Maualuga said. "At the beginning of the year, we had three goals. We wanted to be undefeated at home, win the AFC North and eventually be world champions. "Were close to the goals we wanted to get to. Weve got to be good from here out." It had been a while since Dalton was this good. He was the AFCs offensive player for October, but hadnt put together a consistent game since. He was as good as ever on Sunday, helping the Bengals improve to 6-0 at Paul Brown Stadium on a cold, windy day -- 28 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of 19. "We know what were capable of, and weve got some momentum now," said Dalton, who was 24 of 35 for 275 yards without a sack or interception. "But weve got to keep it going." BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs -- one of them on a review that overturned a call -- as the Bengals got ahead 21-0 and held on. The Colts (8-5) had another slow start in the cold, falling behind 21-0 before Luck threw four touchdown passes to keep them close. They never caught up as Dalton got the better of a head-to-head matchup of up-and-coming quarterbacks from Texas. Despite the loss, the Colts clinched the AFC South later Sunday when Denver beat Tennessee 51-28. Indianapolis is in the playoffs but has some major concerns. The Colts were drubbed 40-11 in Arizona two games ago and needed Adam Vinatieris five field goals to beat Tennessee 22-14 last week. "Weve got some things to clean up, but we certainly came down here with the mindset that we wanted to win this football game and certainly win the division that way," coach Chuck Pagano said. The Bengals are having their best season at home since 1988, when they won all eight regular-season home games and two playoff ggames on the way to a second Super Bowl appearance and loss to San Francisco.dddddddddddd. Theyre in position to clinch their first AFC North title since 2009 with two home games in the last three weeks. Dalton was sharp from the outset, completing 6 of 7 for 81 yards on the Bengals first drive, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones. The Colts have been outscored 49-9 in the first quarters of their past six games. The Bengals got a pivotal touchdown on a reversed call with 1:06 left in the first half. They went for it on fourth down from the Colts 1-yard line. Green-Ellis took the handoff and appeared to get tripped by nose tackle Josh Chapman, who dived into the backfield and swiped at his feet. "I hit his foot when he came through," said Chapman, who started celebrating his play. Green-Ellis said he felt someone trip him. He stumbled ahead, avoided a couple of defenders, landed at the 1-yard line and slid into the end zone. He was initially ruled down, but the Bengals were awarded a touchdown after a review. The review focused only on whether a defender touched Green-Ellis as he fell near the goal line, not whether Chapman had tripped him in the backfield, referee Jeff Triplette said. "We looked at the goal line, (those) were the shots that we looked at," Triplette said. Trailing 21-0, Luck finally rallied the Colts. He completed a slant pass that DaRick Rogers took 69 yards for a touchdown and another short pass that LaVon Brazill turned into a 19-yard touchdown, slipping through the hands of six defenders. Dalton and the Bengals never let the Colts get closer than seven points. Notes: The Bengals moved 2012 Pro Bowl tackle Andrew Whitworth to left guard, and right guard Kevin Zeitler was out of the lineup for the third straight game because of injury. The Colts were missing guards Hugh Thornton and Jeff Linkenbach. ... Colts RB Chris Rainey will get an MRI on an injured ankle. ... The Bengals have scored 49, 41 and 42 points in their past three home games, the first time theyve scored at least 40 in three straight at home. ... RB Giovani Bernard had 99 yards on 12 carries, coming up a yard short of the first 100-yard rushing game by a Bengal this season. He also had 49 yards on four catches. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '