By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

16 game photos

The boos started early and greeted Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna often in the second half Sunday.

To many of his teammates, however, Kitna wasn't the only one at fault for a forgettable 30-10 season-opening loss to the Broncos.

"I don't think it was Kitna at all," rookie offensive guard Eric Steinbach said. "I thought it was all of us. He's the quarterback, and he's the leader; but there are 11 guys out there."

Boosted by a productive fourth quarter, Kitna was 20-of-37 passing for 264 yards and one touchdown.

But he was sacked four times, intercepted twice, fumbled two times and twice missed open receivers (once Peter Warrick, another time Chad Johnson) on potential touchdown opportunities.

"We couldn't get anything going," Kitna said. "It was a combination of things."

He continued: "It's frustrating ... You work eight months for that opening game, and when it doesn't go the way you want it to, it's a disappointment."

Coach Marvin Lewis said he didn't even think of turning to backup Shane Matthews.

Members of the offensive line, which met with coach Paul Alexander in the Bengals' locker room after the game, accepted much of the blame for the team's poor offensive performance.

"There's no secrets about it," offensive tackle Levi Jones said. "We didn't get it done up front. Kitna was touched way too much for my liking. I don't want him touched at all."

Denver, the sixth-ranked defense in the AFC last season, capitalized on a number of physical and mental errors.

Cincinnati's offensive line was penalized twice for false starts and once for holding. Missed blocks led to an interception in the third quarter, a fumble in the fourth and allowed the Broncos to hurry Kitna numerous times.

More telling than the overall numbers were the stats from the first three quarters. The Bengals were held to 127 offensive yards - 50 rushing, 77 passing - and eight first downs entering the fourth quarter.

"A lot of stuff showed a number of points we need to get better at," Jones said. "Now we've got the film. Now we've got exactly what we need to go out there and get it done, get it worked on and get it corrected."

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com

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