BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Call it the Bengals' "Don't Spike, Don't Tell" policy.
Quarterback Neil O'Donnell not only stunned his former Steeler teammates Sunday, but he also shocked his own linemen in the Bengals' improbable victory.
Instead of spiking the ball into the turf to stop the clock, O'Donnell floated it 25 yards to wide receiver Carl Pickens with 14 seconds left while the Steelers regrouped for a play they figured was a spike.
"The old Dan Marino play against the Jets," said O'Donnell, referring to the Miami quarterback's infamous trickery in 1994 -- not spiking the ball when the Jets expected it. "There was a scramble of bodies. . . . I saw half of them milling around. Just a lot of bodies. You can't practice that."
With the clock winding down and Cincinnati out of timeouts, O'Donnell, acting on his own and not on a call from the bench, sensed he could take advantage of mass confusion. He barked a code, giving him the option of spiking the ball or running a play.
"I yell a certain word and a lot of people think it's something else," O'Donnell said with a smile.
The Steelers thought spike. Bengals left tackle Kevin Sargent and other linemen assumed it was a spike because they were in field-goal range. All Sargent knew was Pittsburgh nose guard Joel Steed swatted the ball before the snap.
"We were pointing to the ref and saying, "He can't do that,' " Sargent said. "They stood up. The weird thing is there's usually some token rush, but they just stood there. They didn't have a guy over me. I don't know what happened after that. That's between the quarterback and receivers."
O'Donnell looked right and saw Steelers safety Carnell Lake shooting in front of receiver Darnay Scott. O'Donnell turned left, caught Pickens' eye, sending him one-on-one against Dewayne Washington. The 6-foot-2 Pickens high jumped over the 5-11 Washington at the Pittsburgh 5, then walked into the end zone.
"I thought it was a good play, a play that really surprised us," said Steelers linebacker Levon Kirkland. "Next time it happens, I think we'll be ready for it."
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