By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals fans unfurled a banner before today's game that read, "In Marvin We Trust." But the Bengals lost Marvin Lewis' first game as a head coach this afternoon, 30-10, to the Denver Broncos before a sold-out crowd of 63,820 at Paul Brown Stadium.

PHOTO GALLERY

16 game photos

The Bengals wore black uniform pants for the first time in their history. Despite the new all-black look, the Bengals played a lot like they did in their 2002 opener when the lost 34-6 to San Diego.

Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna threw two interceptions, including a shovel pass that Denver linebacker Ian Gold returned 12 yards for a touchdown on the Bengals' first possession of the second half.

On third down and seven from the 10, Kitna tried to shovel pass the ball to Corey Dillon. Kitna faced heavy pressure from defensive end Trevor Pryce, who blew past right guard Matt O'Dwyer.

WHAT THEY SAID

• Marvin Lewis: "I'm disappointed for the fans. Everybody had jumped on board with both feet, and we appreciate the support. All I can say is, we'll be back." • Jon Kitna: "As a quarterback, sometimes you start feeling uneasy and you try to do something that's not there. You have to be a little bit more careful because when you do something wrong, it's usually disastrous." • Shannon Sharpe: "Right now you can tell Kitna's kind of looking over his shoulder because you know any time you take a guy first in the draft, it's not going to be long before they put him in the ballgame. • Clinton Portis: "We knew that if they had their nickel (defense) on the field, we had to run the ball down their throats, and that's what we did." • Jake Plummer: "(My) numbers will improve as the year goes along. I've had great numbers and lost games, and I didn't feel as good as I feel now." - The Associated Press

Dillon, who set the NFL single-game record with 278 yards rushing against the Broncos, was held to 34 yards on 14 carries by a Denver defense that came in hungry for vindication.

The Bengals didn't get a touchdown until Kitna threw a 41-yard scoring pass to Chad Johnson with 3:04 remaining in the game. Johnson stretched out to catch the ball at the 4, hit the ground hard and rolled into the end zone untouched.

The Bengals trailed 20-3 at halftime. In last season's opener against San Diego, when the Bengals were pushed all over the field, the Chargers led 20-0 at the half.

The Bengals did intercept Denver quarterback Jake Plummer three times but couldn't stop running back Clinton Portis, who ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

The Broncos scored on two Portis touchdown runs and two Jason Elam field goals in the first half.

Denver's first score came on a 51-yard field goal by Elam. Denver drove 27 yards on seven plays to set up the kick. The Bengals got a big break on the drive when Denver left tackle Ephraim Salaam was penalized 10 yards for illegal hands to the face of Bengals defensive end Justin Smith. The penalty negated a 24-yard Plummer pass to tight end Shannon Sharpe that would have put the ball on the 7-yard line. Plummer threw for Sharpe again on third and 2, but cornerback Tory James knocked the ball out of Sharpe's hands. Elam's field goal slid inside the left upright.

With 10:54 remaining in the second quarter, Portis scored his first touchdown on a run to the right side of his line from the 2. The Bengals had the Broncos third down and 7 from the 11, but Portis ran for nine yards to the 2.

After Shayne Graham kicked a field goal to make the score 10-3, the Broncos drove 56 yards on five plays for a 17-3 lead. Portis ran 8 yards for the score after running 23 yards on the previous play.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brandon Bennett fumbled at the 29-yard line with 1:07 remaining in the half. Denver linebacker Jashon Sykes stripped the ball from Bennett. Denver drove to the 9-yard line, and Elam made a 27-yard field goal.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

• Daugherty column: Still the same old Bengals
• Offensive line takes the blame

Denver	3	17	7	3-30
Cincinnati	0	3	0	7-10

First Quarter

Den-FG Elam 51, 9:04. Drive: 7 plays, 27 yards, 3:55. Key play: Portis 10 run. Denver 3, Cincinnati 0.

Second Quarter

Den-Portis 2 run (Elam kick), 10:54. Drive: 8 plays, 46 yards, 3:51. Key plays: R.Smith 12 run; Portis 9 run on 3rd-and-7. Denver 10, Cincinnati 0.

Cin-FG Graham 26, 3:13. Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 5:57. Key plays: Simmons 13 interception return to Bengals 47; Kitna 16 pass to Dillon on 3rd-and-9; Kitna 22 run; Warrick 14 run. Denver 10, Cincinnati 3.

Den-Portis 8 run (Elam kick), 1:13. Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards, 2:00. Key plays: Plummer 23 pass to Sharpe; Portis 23 run. Denver 17, Cincinnati 3.

Den-FG Elam 27, :11. Drive: 7 plays, 20 yards, :56. Key plays: Sykes recovered Bennett's fumble at Bengals 29; Portis 5 run on 3rd-and-1.

Denver 20, Cincinnati 3.

Third Quarter

Den-Gold 12 interception return (Elam kick), 10:18. Denver 27, Cincinnati 3.

Fourth Quarter

Den-FG Elam 39, 4:16. Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards, 4:00. Key plays: Hayward fumble recovery at 50; Portis 8 run to Bengals 39; Anderson 6 run to Bengals 28. Denver 30, Cincinnati 3.

Cin-C.Johnson 41 pass from Kitna (Graham kick), 3:04. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:12. Key play: Kitka 20 pass to Schobel to Broncos 41.

Denver 30, Cincinnati 10.

	Den	Cin
FIRST DOWNS	19	15
Rushing	14	1
Passing	5	12
Penalty	0	2
THIRD DOWN EFF	6-14	3-12
FOURTH DOWN EFF	0-0	0-3
TOTAL NET YARDS	293	294
Total Plays	66	63
Avg Gain	4.4	4.7
NET YARDS RUSHING	184	51
Rushes	40	22
Avg per rush	4.6	2.3
NET YARDS PASSING	109	243
Sacked-Yds lost	1-6	4-21
Gross-Yds passing	115	264
Completed-Att.	12-25	20-37
Had Intercepted	3	2
Yards-Pass Play	4.2	5.9
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB	7-1-0	3-2-0
PUNTS-Avg.	5-47.0	4-40.3
Punts blocked	0	0
FGs-PATs blocked	0-0	0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE	116	176
Punts Returns	3-26	2-3
Kickoffs Returns	3-75	7-135
Interceptions	2-15	3-38
PENALTIES-Yds	5-58	4-25
FUMBLES-Lost	0-0	3-2
TIME OF POSSESSION	32:18	27:42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Denver, Portis 24-120, R.Smith 3-23, Anderson 7-15, Lelie 2-12, Plummer 3-7, Beuerlein 1-7. Cincinnati, Dillon 14-34, Warrick 2-11, Kitna 3-5, Bennett 3-1.

PASSING-Denver, Plummer 12-25-3-115, Beuerlein 0-0-0-0. Cincinnati, Kitna 20-37-2-264.

RECEIVING-Denver, R.Smith 5-43, Portis 5-39, Sharpe 1-23, Carswell 1-10. Cincinnati, C.Johnson 6-95, Schobel 4-97, Warrick 4-31, Washington 2-18, Dillon 2-7, Bennett 1-10, J.Johnson 1-6.

PUNT RETURNS-Denver, O'Neal 3-26. Cincinnati, Warrick 2-3.

KICKOFF RETURNS-Denver, Cole 2-64, O'Neal 1-11. Cincinnati, Bennett 7-135.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Denver, Gold 7-1-0, Wilson 5-2-0, Mobley 4-1-0, Herndon 4-1-0, O'Neal 4-0-0, Brandon 3-1-0, Kennedy 3-1-0, Berry 3-0-2, Hayward 3-0-1, Walls 3-0-0, Pryce 2-1-1, Burns 1-2-0, Droughns 1-2-0,Ferguson 1-1-0, Spragan 1-1-0, Anderson 1-0-0, Fatafehi 1-0-0, Portis 1-0-0, Spencer 1-0-0, Middlebrooks 0-1-0. Cincinnati, Kaesviharn 6-0-0, Gibson 5-1-0, Clemons 5-0-1, Beckett 4-1-0, James 4-1-0, Burris 3-2-0, Roman 3-1-0, Simmons 3-1-0, J.Smith 2-2-0, Ross 1-3-0, Manuel 3-0-0, Powell 3-0-0, Hardy 1-2-0, T.Williams 2-0-0, Hawkins 1-1-0, Levels 1-1-0, Bennett 1-0-0, L.Jones 1-0-0, Schobel 1-0-0, Abdullah 0-1-0, Edmonds 0-1-0, Steele 0-1-0, Thornton 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS-Denver, Gold 1-12, Herndon 1-3. Cincinnati, James 1-24, Simmons 1-13, Roman 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.

OFFICIALS-Referee Gerald Austin, Ump Roy Ellison, HL John Schleyer, LJ Carl Johnson, FJ Scott Edwards, SJ Rick Patterson, BJ Jim Howey, Replay Ken Baker.

Time: 3:04.

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