Cincinnati – For almost two quarters of Sunday’s 31-17 loss to Pittsburgh, the Cincinnati Bengals were buoyed by the emotions that accompanied their first playoff game in 15 years, an AFC wild-card contest that, adding even more fervor, was against a hated division rival, the Steelers.
Even more important, the team appeared to be blessed – in this case, with a quality backup quarterback, Jon Kitna. He entered the game after the Bengals’ second offensive play, when all-pro Carson Palmer suffered a torn ACL ligament in his left knee when he was rolled into by Pittsburgh defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen.
Cincinnati seemed poised to ride the combination right into an NFL divisional-round contest Saturday against Denver. Taking no guff from the rough, tough Steelers in the brutal early minutes of the game, the Bengals gave as good as they got.
Offensively, despite Palmer’s absence, Kitna deftly directed the team’s no-huddle offense to scores on its first three possessions, leading Cincinnati to a 17-7 lead midway through the half.
However, in the buildup to what he called a pivotal game in franchise history, Marvin Lewis didn’t say the outcome would ride on emotion. Rather, the Bengals’ coach felt victory would be dependent on execution.
He might have added patience. Like a boxer waiting to make his move in the late going, the Steelers weathered Cincinnati’s early shots, and then proceeded to deliver numerous body blows of their own. Staying the course, the visitors continued to grind away, sapping the Bengals’ spirit, and then their performance.
Unable to sustain their early passion, the Bengals eventually collapsed.
As a result, it will be the two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots making their way to Colorado and a Saturday night date against the Broncos. The Steelers will meet the top-seeded AFC team, the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday at the RCA Dome.
“They’re best team in the AFC, maybe in the whole NFL,” Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior said of Indianapolis. “The effort we had today won’t be enough.”
Farrior felt the Steelers were able to rebound from their tottering start by divorcing themselves from their own heightened emotional bent.
“We just had to settle down,” he said. “Everyone was out of sync. We were woofing and talking trash with them, taking stuff personally and letting our emotions get in the way. Once we settled down, we did a much better job of focusing.”
After replacing Palmer, Kitna finished the opening half completing 14-of-20 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. However, after intermission, he was just 10-of-20 for 88 yards, throwing two interceptions.
“They did a lot of the same things they were doing in the first half,” Kitna said. “I think they just started paying more attention to (Bengals wide receivers) Chad (Johnson) and T.J. (Houshmandzadeh). Even so, we still had our chances.”
Specifically, the Bengals felt matters turned early in the third quarter. Now clinging to a 17-14 lead, Cincinnati took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Steelers’ 19. But the team could only advance 3 yards from there. Even worse, a bad snap cost them what could have been an easy field goal.
“The momentum totally changed,” Bengals offensive tackle Willie Anderson said. “They had to be saying to themselves that they couldn’t stop us, but from that point they took control of the game.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
