By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For six weeks, victory eluded the Bengals by miles. On Sunday, it was a matter of an inch or two.

The Tennessee Titans preserved their 30-24 victory by stopping tailback Corey Dillon just shy of the goal line.

Actually, Dillon was cut down by a teammate. He fell over left guard Matt O'Dwyer, who was pulling to the right to lead Dillon through an already huge hole. O'Dwyer's feet got tangled with quarterback Jon Kitna's.

Right tackle Willie Anderson and tight end Levi Jones, with an assist from fullback Lorenzo Neal, had cleared Dillon's way.

"The hole was fat. I could have taken my wife and daughter through there," Dillon said. "I would have walked in. Walked in."

Dillon, who ended up 138 rushing yards on 30 carried, said it was a touchdown.

"Before I hit the ground, I thought I was in," he said.

Officials reviewed the play. Their decision? "Not enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field."

"They're the officials. We're Cincinnati," Dillon said. "We don't get a call."

The Bengals are 0-7, the NFL's only winless team. They will play Sunday at Houston, where the expansion Texans are favored for the first time in their eight-game franchise history.

The loss to Tennessee was highlighted by some offensive firsts in 2002. The Bengals had their highest point production of the season. They gained 384 yards of total offense, achieving the desired mix of pass efficiency (193 yards) and running production (191 yards).

Quarterback Jon Kitna played one of his best games with the Bengals, throwing for two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The offensive line played well, too. It allowed no sacks. Anderson dominated Titans left defensive end Kevin Carter, who came in with an AFC-leading six sacks.

"I'm proud of the way we fought," said coach Dick LeBeau, now 2-14 since last year's bye week. "The game could have gone either way. We won't be happy until we start winning."The Bengals jumped out to a 14-0 lead, their largest since Oct. 28, 2001, when they led 21-6 in the second quarter at Detroit.

Kitna's 1-yard touchdown pass to Neal was the Bengals' first offensive touchdown in the first quarter this season.

The offense did its job, holding an eight-minute edge in possession time.

This loss can be pinned on the defense. After falling behind by two touchdowns, the Titans scored on four consecutive possessions.

And three familiar faces - quarterback Steve McNair, wide receiver Derrick Mason and running back Eddie George - did most of the damage.

McNair, winning for the ninth time in 11 starts against the Bengals, threw 32- and 39-yard touchdown passes in the third quarter to Mason and Kevin Dyson. McNair threw another TD pass to Mason in the fourth quarter.Mason had seven receptions for 98 yards.

George, coming back from toe surgery, had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. He averaged five yards on 21 carries (106 yards) and was just enough of a threat to open up the pass offense.

The Bengals gave up 30 points for the fifth time in seven games. The defense also made several mistakes to help Tennessee rally.

In the second quarter, after forcing the Titans into a third-and-4 play, Hawkins got to McNair on a blitz but was called for a 15-yard facemask penalty. The foul gave Tennessee a first down on the Bengals 16-yard line, and a 28-yard Joe Nedney field goal made the score 14-6.

On Tennessee's opening drive in the third quarter, Bengals linebacker Canute Curtis was penalized 15 yards for slapping McNair in the head on a blitz. Those yards were added on to a 13-yard completion to Dyson and gave the Titans a first down at the Bengals 38-yard yard line. One play later, McNair connected with Mason over Kevin Kaesviharn for the 32-yard TD.

Down 20-17 late in the third quarter, the Bengals took the lead on an 8-yard pass from Kitna to rookie tight end Matt Schobel, his first NFL score.

It capped a 91-yard Bengals drive. They also had an 89-yard drive in the first half, which ended with Dillon's 4-yard TD run.

In the end, it was the yard Dillon didn't get that mattered most.

The Bengals had moved 67 yards to the Tennessee 1. It was fourth down. Just a little over a minute remained. They gave the ball to their best player. Anderson and Jones pushed their blocks 5 yards deep into the end zone.

O'Dwyer got a good jump coming around, almost too good, and clipped Kitna's heel. Dillon made a good play not to fall on top of O'Dwyer and said he thought the ball landed on the goal line.

"The calls (the referees) called today were kind of horrific," Dillon said. "We know that; we know they're not going to give us calls in our favor."

Said Kitna: "The refs get caught up in the game, too. They're human. So you think it would go our way, but not when you're us."

• Game statistics

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