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        It was probably inevitable. The Bengals' defense, after a relatively decent year, broke down in Sunday's 48-28 loss to Pittsburgh.

        “The defense has been carrying us for 12 weeks now,” offensive tackle Willie Anderson said. “I told the guys today we had to help them, that we might have to score 30. But the dam just broke, and it just started flooding all over.”

        Anderson was talking about the whole team. The defense was strafed for 24 points and 261 yards in the first half. Then, the Bengals made three second-half turnovers that led to Steeler scores, breaking open a tight game.

        “That was one of our poorer games on defense in the last several years,” coach Dick LeBeau said.

        In 1999, the Bengals allowed a franchise-worst 460 points, or 28.8 per game. This year, they had been allowing only 21.2 points per game and had been truly embarrassed only once, the 37-0 loss at Baltimore on Sept. 24.

        Sunday, the Steelers rushed for 185 yards. No surprise there, since the Jerome Bettis-led attack was No. 5 in the NFL in rushing.

        But, the bad part was allowing the Steelers 209 yards and three TDs passing. Pittsburgh entered as the league's 29th-ranked passing team.

        The Steelers' 372 total yards were a season high.

        Quarterback Kordell Stewart gained a temporary reprieve from Steeler fans — thousands of whom were scattered throughout Paul Brown Stadium. Stewart passed for 182 yards and three TDs, and rushed for 31 yards and another TD.

        Stewart entered with a passer rating of 63.7, second-worst in the AFC. Only Akili Smith (50.1) was worse.

        Stewart was sacked three times, a high figure for a Bengal team that was averaging under two sacks per game. But the takedowns obviously did not change the fact that Stewart enjoyed a day reminiscent of his “Slash” era, when he was one of the league's most elusive players.

        “We had blown coverages and missed tackles,” Bengal linebacker Adrian Ross said. “We weren't getting enough pressure ... ”

        Linebacker Takeo Spikes, the captain and emotional leader of the defense, said the defense usually shows more resiliency.

        “If you make a mistake, you come back,” Spikes said. “We just didn't come back, and I don't understand it. We made Kordell Stewart.”

        There were several bad plays, none more damaging than a big third-down run by Stewart midway through the third period.

        The Bengals had just cut the Steelers' lead to 24-21 on a 4-yard TD run by Dillon with 9:45 left, then forced Pittsburgh into a third-and-10 at the Steelers' 37. But then Stewart ran 13 yards for a first down, and threw a 45-yard TD pass to Bobby Shaw three plays later.

        That made it 31-21, and Cincinnati never recovered.

        “We knew that's what he did well,” defensive end Vaughn Booker said of Stewart's scramble. “When you're in that situation, your job is to get off the field, and we didn't do it.”

        It wasn't the only time. The Steelers converted 9-of-15 third-down situations, a 60 percent ratio. The NFL average is 38 percent.

        “They ran very effectively, and we also allowed Kordell to play-action us and beat us deep,” Booker said.

        In other words, they did it all.

Steelers 48, Bengals 28 LeBeau undecided at QB Dillon shocker: 'I'd love to stay here' Steelers slash apart defense Mitchell's knee keeps him out Bengals-Steelers Statistics Giants 31, Cardinals 7

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