his was an Australian team plenty confident in its own abilities, a team that has played together in various incarnations for years.They battled for

CINCINNATI -- No trying to put a positive spin on it. The Bengals defense got run over during a season-opening win over the Jets, and theres an awful lot to fix heading into a matchup against a team thats been known to run all over them.The Steelers (1-0) had one of the best rushing games against the Bengals last season during their 18-16 playoff win at Paul Brown Stadium, piling up 167 yards.Their rematch in Pittsburgh on Sunday will come down partly to how well Cincinnatis defense handles DeAngelo Williams.Its the same old DeAngelo Williams, said linebacker Karlos Dansby, who joined the Bengals as a free agent from Cleveland.Aint nothing changed. The man is consistent. Hes been explosive ever since hes been in the league. Ive had an opportunity to play against him a lot of times and I havent seen anything change.In the opener, it was the Bengals defense that looked very different.The Jets ran 30 times for 152 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per carry. Matt Forte had 96 yards on 22 carries. During a 12-play drive that set up a field goal in the second half, the Jets ran nine times for 73 yards.We just gave up some runs that we dont typically give up, defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. Again, we had a lot of new guys playing. So some of those things are going to come.Last season, the Bengals finished seventh in run defense, allowing 92.3 yards per game. They held opponents under 100 yards rushing in 10 of their 16 regular-season games.Guenther said there were problems with players staying in their assigned spots in the run defense, which created holes for Forte. During that second-half drive, the Jets had runs of 13, 16 and 16 yards. The showing left Cincinnati ranked No. 29 against the run.Its nothing that were going to sit there and say, `Oh, we got overpowered here, Guenther said. Its a quick fix, thats what its going to be.Williams had a big game on Monday night during Pittsburghs 38-16 win at Washington . He carried 26 times for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and had six catches for 28 yards. Given how the Bengals struggled to stop Forte, they expect the Steelers to try to test their run defense early.Weve just got to have a great start to the game, linebacker Rey Maualuga said. We need all 11 people to do their job basically, first and foremost. Just do that and I think well have a good chance of stopping them.Game notes TE Tyler Eifert said his surgically repaired left ankle is getting stronger every week. He hasnt been cleared to practice. Its uncertain how many more games hell miss. Its progressing well, Eifert said. No setbacks or nothing thats made the process slow down. Each and every week its feeling better. ... DT Pat Sims (ankle) was held out of practice on Wednesday. LT Andrew Whitworth got to rest. DE Carlos Dunlap (shoulder) and CB Adam Pacman Jones (back) were limited. ... CB Darqueze Dennard, who missed the Jets game with a sprained ankle, fully participated in practice for the first time, an indication hell be ready for Pittsburgh.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Hulk Brazil Jersey . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Renato Augusto Brazil Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. http://www.soccerbrazilonline.com/Blank-Copa-America-Jersey/ .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Douglas Santos Jersey . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Dani Alves Jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Up until Wednesday night, life in Rio was pretty good for players on the U.S. mens basketball team.They stayed on a luxury ship, and cruised past a couple of badly outmatched opponents. They played tourist at the Christ the Redeemer statue, and went on a field trip to watch Michael Phelps win yet another gold medal.Then an Australian team with a little pedigree of its own served notice that maybe the Olympic gold medal isnt such a foregone conclusion after all.Banged about and taken out of their game, the U.S. had to rally in the fourth quarter to salvage a 98-88 win that was even closer than the score indicated. Sheer talent -- and some timely 3s from Carmelo Anthony -- saved the Americans, but the Boomers from Down Under exposed some weaknesses even if they were not able to get the final job done.The look afterward of relief on the faces of some U.S. players told the story as well as anything.It got real, Paul George said. It definitely got real.This was supposed to be another romp in the park for the collection of NBA stars that is the U.S. Olympic team. Australia is good -- starting five NBA players of its own -- but no one expected it to be terribly close.That included the bookies in Las Vegas, who installed the U.S. team as a 27.5 point favorite after two laughers to open the tournament.What the bookies didnt realize was this wasnt just another opponent that was going to be intimidated. This was an Australian team plenty confident in its own abilities, a team that has played together in various incarnations for years.They battled for rebounds, fought over loose balls. They played hard and they played physical, refusing to give any possession away.Mostly, though, they played like they belonged on the same court as the U.S. players.I think its the Australian culture, said Joe Ingles, whose day job is playing for the Utah Jazz. Were not afraid of anyone. Were not going to back down to anyone. Were going to play the same way if its the top team or a low-ranked team.Andrew Bogut had warned his teammates before the game not to fall into the trap of paying too much respect to the Americans. Thats hard for most teams to keep from doing, even though the U.S. is full of new players and missing past Olympians like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.Once things got physical, though, it was anyones game. The Australians led by five at half, and still clunng to a 2-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Anthony and Kyrie Irving combined to turn the tide.ddddddddddddHe was special tonight, George said of Anthony, the four-time Olympian who scored 31 points. Hes the reason we won tonight.The U.S. wouldnt have been eliminated had it somehow lost, but there is a certain pride factor when it comes to U.S. Olympic basketball teams. Theyve won two gold medals and 19 Olympic games in a row after the culture of the program was changed by USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo in the wake of the Olympic debacle of 2004 and the loss in the 2006 World Championships.Colangelo was watching courtside as the team he built on the theory that chemistry is just as important as talent struggled to contain Australia defensively and was taken out of its offensive flow by the aggressive play of the Australians.There were only two possible scenarios after the first half tonight, Colangelo said. One is the streak is over. The second is that theyre not invincible because we had a close game.Thanks to Anthony and Irving, who combined for all but the last 2 points of the fourth quarter for the Americans, the second scenario was the one that played out. Afterward, almost everyone connected to the U.S. program tried to take a positive out of it, saying a close game will prove good for the team as it chases the gold.Its pretty obvious why its good for us, said coach Mike Krzyzewski, who screamed at an official after Boguts hard foul on Irving in the third quarter. You beat one of the best teams in the tournament. You beat a team thats going to vie for a gold medal. You beat a team that was undefeated and has played together for years, a really good basketball team so I dont know how that could not be good for us.It was good for Australia, too, though the Boomers had to wonder if anyone can beat the U.S. after just falling short in their best effort.Asked if the Americans could be beaten, longtime NBA player and assistant Australian coach Luc Longley didnt exactly offer a lot of hope.Not tonight, he said. We rolled all our dice tonight and couldnt beat them.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '