Bengals-Steelers in slugfest

WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict wasn’t expected to start Sunday’s game at Heinz Field against the Steelers but, as expected, he was active to play in his first game in more than a year.

PITTSBURGH _ A blown snap on third-and-one prevented the Bengals from taking a half-time lead and the Steelers’ opening-game touchdown drive held up in first 30 minutes Sunday for a 7-6 halftime lead.

The Bengals came into the game second in the NFL converting third down and whiffed on all five of their shots in the first half, largely because they couldn’t keep the Steelers blitz off of quarterback Andy Dalton. The Bengals tried to spread out the Steelers banged-up secondary with 16 passes compared to three…