By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Bengals might have stumbled onto the spread offense that beat the Steelers Dec. 30, but the rest of the NFL noticed their success.

Down 23-10 in the fourth quarter last year to the Steelers, and forced to play a slow backup tackle at tight end, the Bengals went to a multiple-wide receiver set. Jon Kitna threw a franchise-record 68 passes, for 411 yards.

Kitna hit Ron Dugans and Danny Farmer with late touchdown passes to force the game into overtime, and a Neil Rackers field goal made the final 26-23.

The Steelers will play the Bengals today at Paul Brown Stadium, the first game between the teams since Dec. 30. What the Bengals pulled off in that matchup and how they did it has been a major but disputed theme heading into the rematch.

Though the Steelers would not be affected the rest of the 2001 season, a blueprint apparently had been created on how to attack their zone-blitz defense.

New England quarterback Tom Brady dropped back to pass 25 consecutive times in the Patriots' 30-14 victory over the Steelers in the 2002 opener. Oakland's Rich Gannon opened Game 2 with 10 straight passes and threw a franchise-record 64 times, for 403 yards, in the Raiders' 30-17 victory.

Oakland coach Bill Callahan said after the game that he liked what he saw from the Patriots, but he admitted he had the idea to throw on the Steelers after seeing what the Bengals did.

"We thought we could spread them out, open up the eight-man box," Callahan said after his team's Sept. 15 game. "If you do that, you neutralize the blitz."

Bengals coach Dick LeBeau, a former Steelers defensive coordinator who helped forge Pittsburgh's zone-blitz scheme, said his team's trend-setting results are overblown. Steelers coach Bill Cowher downplayed the effect of the Bengals' pass-happy second half, as did Kitna.

"It wasn't our game plan going into that game, and it won't be our game plan going into this week," Kitna said.

Although the Steelers have slowed the bleeding - Cleveland's Tim Couch had 144 yards passing and New Orleans' Aaron Brooks 207 - they still gave up a 64-yard reception to New Orleans' Jerome Pathon.

The Saints scored 32 points in their victory, which dropped the Steelers to 1-3. New Orleans had 119 rushing yards, 123 from Deuce McAllister, and the Bengals will try to balance their offense today against the Steelers in a similar way.

The Bengals had 141 rushing yards in their 26-23 victory over the Steelers last season, and Kitna finished with 411 passing yards.

"You have to be a sound offensive team to beat them," said Kitna, who, like LeBeau, thinks the media has made too much of the Bengals possibly finding a chink in the Steelers defensive armor.

"We understand that it has been a little bit blown out of proportion," Kitna said. "And I don't appreciate the media throwing my name around like I'm the one."

This week, LeBeau would not even discuss the Bengals' passing success against the Steelers with the Cincinnati media.

"We're only looking ahead," he said Wednesday.

But LeBeau, only a few minutes earlier, had opened up more with Pittsburgh beat writers in his conference call.

"If anybody uncovered a great secret, it would have shown up in (last year's) games," he said.

It's no secret that the Steelers cornerbacks have struggled through four games this season. They have a habit of aggressively biting on fakes, leaving themselves out of position for deep passes.

The Steelers are ranked 23rd against the pass, averaging 241.8 yards a game. Like the Bengals, they've allowed 30 or more points three times this season.

Cowher also discredits the theory that the Bengals exposed a weakness in his defense.

"It wasn't the case of them spreading it out from the beginning, as the first two teams (New England and Oakland) have done," he said. "Cincinnati hit some big plays and ran some play-action with Corey Dillon. You're going to be susceptible to some of those having to defend him and have the safety in the box."

The Dec. 30 loss snapped a seven-game Pittsburgh win streak, during which it allowed 160 or fewer passing yards five times.

Since and including the loss to the Bengals, the Steelers are 3-5, including a 1-1 showing in last year's playoffs. In those eight games, opposing quarterbacks have averaged 247.4 yards passing against the Steelers, with eight touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.

Opposing quarterbacks have an 82 passer rating against the Steelers this season, with five TDs and four pickoffs.

"For some reason, they got off to a rocky start," LeBeau said of Pittsburgh's defense. "And people made some yards, and people say Cincinnati made some yards. I don't think there is much to it."

The answer will show this afternoon in the Bengals' game plan and how well Kitna can throw against the Steelers defense.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Return to Bengals front page...