Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna threw his fifth interception of the season Sunday, and he took the blame for this one.

        It came on a second-and-15 from the Chicago Bears' 15-yard line. The Bengals trailed only 3-0 at the time. They went on to lose 24-0, their first shutout in Paul Brown Stadium.

        Kitna threw across the field toward Peter Warrick, but Chicago cornerback R.W. McQuarters stepped in front of the ball and returned it 43 yards to midfield.

        “That's one I'm going to be kicking myself for a while,” Kitna said. “That's one of the things we've been working on — that I've been concentrating on all year down in the red zone. But you just have to be smarter than that and throw it away, but your competitiveness kind of takes over.”

        The Bengals drove 66 yards to the Bears' 6 at the end of the first quarter. The Bengals had first down after Kitna and Darnay Scott hooked up on a 23-yard pass play down the sideline.

        Kitna slipped on the next play and was sacked for a 9-yard loss. The interception play started with a high snap that threw off timing.

        “The throw was a little bit late, and (McQuarters) got a good break on it,” Kitna said. “If it's 7-3 or 3-3 there, it's a totally different ballgame. I'm very disappointed in myself.”

        Kitna was 19-for-46 passing for a season-high 244 yards. He is 113-for-207 passing for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns.

Bears 24, Bengals 0 Cynicism rears its ugly head Bengals notebook Ground game never got going Pickoff ticks off Kitna Rackers still struggling Report card Game statistics

• Return to Bengals front page...