CINCINNATI -- Willie Parker loves Cincinnati maybe even more than his teammates.

Parker ran for 126 yards on 22 carries yesterday, the third consecutive game in which he has topped 100 against the Bengals. He even scored his second touchdown of the season, from a yard out four seconds before halftime.

Parker now has 726 yards after seven games, a pace of 1,659 yards for the season that would put him close to Barry Foster's team record of 1,690 set in 1992.

It was Parker's fifth 100-yard game this season.

The Steelers opened in the I-formation with veteran Dan Kreider getting his second start in a row ahead of young Carey Davis, who had won the job as the starter. Kreider stayed in the first series, but then left the game for good with an ankle injury.

"We planned on having a physical game all day long but D.K. was down," Parker said.

It did not stop them from running, though. They mixed it up by running 13 times in the first half while throwing 18 times.

"We had a simple plan, really; it was no frills and guys executed to the letter," coach Mike Tomlin said. "We faced some adversity along the way. We wanted to feature Dan Kreider quite a bit today and he got hurt early. Carey stepped up and contributed for us."

Big numbers

Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger each passed personal milestones. Ward caught his 60th touchdown pass and followed quickly with his 61st. John Stallworth holds the team record with 63.

Roethlisberger surpassed 10,000 yards passing. He now has 10,052 and is poised to move ahead of Bubby Brister (10,104) and into fourth place next Monday night when the Steelers play Baltimore at Heinz Field.

"When you help contribute to a win and you get closer to a record, all in all it's a big day," Ward said. "We won, we came down here and beat a divisional team, we're 2-0 in our division, on the road in Cincinnati. It couldn't have been better than today."

Ward missed two games with a sprained knee before returning to play last week.

"This guy missed some time there with the injury," Mike Tomlin noted. "He experienced soreness afterward. Hines is a tremendous professional. a tremendous competitor and he responded today."

Roethlisberger also has 15 touchdown passes, three short of his career high set last season.

Back to back

Najeh Davenport played an entire series in the fourth quarter while Willie Parker watched from the sideline. The series ended with Jeff Reed's field goal for a 24-13 Steelers lead.

"We knew he was going to get a series before the game started," Parker said. "It was just when he was going to get in. We talked about it at halftime. I think Najeh changed the pace a little bit."

Davenport ran eight times for 23 yards and has 238 yards and a 6.3-yard average this season.

No sacks, no problem

The Steelers' defense did not have a sack and the Bengals were officially given one when Roethlisberger ran out of bounds for no gain instead of throwing the ball away.

"We're not concerned about the stats, we're trying to win football games," Tomlin said. "I couldn't care less if we had a sack today."

The decision

When Cincinnati faced a fourth-and-1 at the Steelers' 2 right before the two-minute warning in the first half, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis opted to kick a field goal rather than go for a first down and then ultimately a touchdown.

Lewis' decision was not popular among fans or many of the Bengals' players. But, with the Bengals trailing, 14-3, Lewis reasoned that a field goal would pull them to within one score and, if the defense could hold the Steelers before the half, they would get the ball first in the second half with a chance to tie the score.

The only problem is the Steelers drove the length of the field and scored a touchdown to take a 21-6 lead with nine seconds to play before the half and the Bengals failed to score on the first drive after the half.

"In hindsight, we should have gone for it rather than take the points," Lewis said. "But I didn't anticipate them driving down and getting a touchdown before the half. Our fans and our players always want to go for it on offense but that doesn't really play into whether we should go for it."

Season isn't over

Bengals tackle Levi Jones said the team isn't playing good football right now, but that doesn't mean they can't turn it around. At 2-5, things look bleak, but there is still enough time left to change the direction of the team and make a run for the playoffs, he said.

"We still have a lot of football left to play and that is the key -- we have a lot of football left," he said. "We are not out of anything yet, we have a lot of games left so we just need to get it fixed, get the things we need to get done as a team, get our coaches together and our players together in unison and overcome this."

No big deal

Steelers safety Anthony Smith had a good hit on Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the sidelines during a play in which Houshmandzadeh was stretching out to try and catch a pass from Carson Palmer. The hit was clean but it drew some reaction from the fans and the Bengals' sideline as they seemed to think it was a cheap shot.

"This is football, it is what it is," Houshmandzadeh said. "He should hit you. It is football, he has a free shot and he can hit you, it is nothing."

Quick hits

• The attendance of 66,188 set a record for Paul Brown Stadium, which opened in 2000.

• Jeff Reed's 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter was his first since he kicked two against San Francisco Sept. 23. He had only one other attempt since then when he missed a 65-yarder at the end of the first half in Denver last week.

• Mike Tomlin ran his record to 0-3 when he challenges a call through instant replay. Tomlin challenged a catch by Bengals receiver Chad Johnson that was upheld by replay.

• When the Steelers scored their third touchdown in the first half, it marked the 11th consecutive time they scored a touchdown when they reached the opponent's red zone.

Inactives

The Steelers: No. 3 QB Brian St. Pierre, WR Willie Reid, CB Bryant McFadden, S Ryan Clark, RB Gary Russell, C Darnell Stapleton, OT Trai Essex, DE Aaron Smith.

The Bengals: No. 3 QB Jeff Rowe, WR Marcus Maxwell, CB David Jones, RB Rudi Johnson, LB Ahmad Brooks, LB Caleb Miller, OT Willie Anderson, DE Frostee Rucker.