By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Bengals' special teams twice had the wrong number of players on the field Sunday.

And one of the plays, a five-yard penalty for having 12 men on the field on a punt return, was fatal. The penalty extended a drive on which Jacksonville scored the go-ahead touchdown in its 29-15 victory.

The Bengals led 15-14 midway through the third quarter and forced the Jaguars to punt from the Bengals' 43-yard line. Chris Hanson's punt went into the end zone, and the Bengals had the ball on the 20.

Wrong.

The penalty on the Bengals gave the Jaguars a fourth-and-1 play on the 38. Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin decided to go for the first down, and Stacey Mack ran for eight yards. On fourth-and-6 from the 26, quarterback Mark Brunell hit Jimmy Smith for a touchdown pass over Bengals cornerback Jeff Burris, and the two-point conversion gave the Jaguars a 22-15 lead.

"That was a major error," Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said of the special teams penalty. "We got coaches counting. We got players counting. And we can't count to 11. That kept them alive."

Bengals safety Cory Hall, who unsuccessfully tried to run off in time, said a teammate missed the coaches' call from the sideline for the defense to stay in. The unidentified player is a member of the punt return team who missed the call, Hall said.

In the first quarter, when lining up for Neil Rackers' 51-yard field goal attempt, the Bengals had to call a timeout because they had just 10 men on the field. Guard Mike Goff ran from the sideline to take his position, but the timeout had been called.

Rackers did make the kick.

The miscount is nothing new.

Against Tampa Bay in Game 4, the Bengals had 12 men on the field twice on punt plays. In the third quarter, the Bengals had 12 players on the field and still allowed a 36-yard punt return to Karl Williams. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals again had 12 on the field when they were receiving a punt, and the penalty gave the Bucs a first down.

At Atlanta, in Game 3, the punt-coverage team had 10 men on the field for a short punt.

Even when they've had the correct number playing, the Bengals special teams have problems this year. They've allowed three punt returns for touchdowns, one kickoff return for a touchdown, and one blocked punt was returned for a touchdown.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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