By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Nick Luchey does the Ickey Shuffle after scoring the winning TD. (AP/Al Behrman photo) | ZOOM |

The Bengals denied two pieces of infamy Sunday and delayed two others for at least a week.

In winning 20-13 over New Orleans, the Bengals averted their first winless home record in their 35-year history; the 2002 team finished 1-7 at Paul Brown Stadium.

The victory also prevented the Bengals from becoming just the eighth NFL team to go 1-15 since the 16-game schedule started in 1978.

Now, at 2-13, the Bengals can avoid the franchise's first 14-loss season with a victory Sunday at Buffalo.

The Bengals also failed to clinch the first overall draft pick with the victory. Detroit lost Sunday to Atlanta to fall to 3-12, and the results of the league's strength-of-schedule tiebreaker won't be known until after the final weekend's games.

Reserve H-back Nicolas Luchey ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and had 59 yards rushing in the final 13 minutes. They were his first rushing attempts in two years, and he was playing only because starting tailback Corey Dillon and backup Brandon Bennett were on the bench with injuries.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh jumps on Luchey after the winning score. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

"I had to wait for my chance for a long time," said Luchey, who ran for the final 36 yards of the winning drive on six rushes. "I wasn't going to let anything stop me."

The announced crowd was 43,544 tickets distributed - the second smallest in 24 Bengals games at Paul Brown Stadium. An estimated 30,000 fans were there for the start, and even fewer witnessed the Bengals' comeback. In the third quarter, the classic rock song "Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs was played over the PA system as a plea to fans to stick around.

"We all wanted to get a home win, that's for sure, but I don't think there was any special focus on that," said Bengals coach Dick LeBeau, whose team won for just the fourth time in the past 24 games. "It was just winning and playing the type of football I think these guys can play."

The Bengals' play Sunday followed LeBeau's desired blueprint - run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense.

The Saints couldn't stop any Bengals runner. Cincinnati had 240 rushing yards against New Orleans, which has allowed 20 or more points in every game this season.

Fans hug Chad Johnson after he jumped into the stands after the game (AP/Al Behrman photo) | ZOOM |

The Saints, now 9-6, came in fighting for an NFC playoff spot. Even if they win next week at home against Carolina, the Saints need a loss by the Giants or Falcons to make the postseason.

The costly loss was made more unsavory because it came at the hands of the Bengals.

"It's like if I were still at Ohio State and we lost to Akron or something," said Saints rookie right guard LeCharles Bentley. "We just lost to the damn Bengals."

Said wide receiver Joe Horn: "It's embarrassing to lose to the Bengals. I don't have to tell you that. Everybody in the nation and their mammas know that."

The Bengals tried to be accommodating hosts. They turned the ball over four times - three in the first half - and punted four times in the first two quarters. After scoring on their first possession, on a 30-yard Jon Kitna pass to Peter Warrick, the Bengals went 10 consecutive possessions without scoring.

But the Saints, who have played down to the level of their competition all season, could not take advantage of the gifts. They came in as the league's second-highest scoring team at 29.5 points a game. But they could manage just 13 against a Bengals team that was allowing 29.1 points a game - most in the league.

Jon Kitna walks out of PBS a winner for the first time this year. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

The Bengals defense was the biggest difference in the game. The Bengals held the Saints to a season-low 36 rushing yards.

In the final three quarters, the Bengals allowed just 52 yards and three points - on a 43-yard John Carney field goal following a Kitna interception.

New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks missed on his final 11 pass attempts, and the Bengals had an impressive eight passes defensed - four by maligned cornerback Jeff Burris.

"I don't understand why we weren't doing it all year," Bengals middle linebacker Brian Simmons said of the stout defensive performance. "That's the confusing part of this year."

Simmons, Smith and Kitna all declined to read more into the victory than its face value. Their attitude is a refreshing contrast to the one held in recent years by front-office management - which has used meaningless late-season victories to rationalize maintaining of the status quo.

"We're still two and whatever," Smith said. "It's good for this week."

Said Kitna: "Hopefully, this is something you can grow and learn off of. Still, at 2-13, there are a lot of things that need to be changed."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com