By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Expectations and excitement are again running high on the eve of the Bengals' game Sunday with the Steelers.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis wants his players to have fun and avoid the emotional tightness that hurt them in their opening game. Here's how.

"If you know what you're doing, you have fun doing it and it enables you to be intense," Lewis said after Thursday's practice. "When you don't know what you're doing, you become more tentative and you have to guess."

Many Bengals players admit they were tight for the opener, and it showed in the 30-10 loss to the Broncos. "We were all tense," defensive tackle Oliver Gibson said.

Said Lewis, "We kind of lost our heads a little bit against Denver."

Last week at Oakland, facing the Black Hole and rowdy Raiders fans, the Bengals struck the right balance of intensity and fun. "They had all their new costumes on and all that, fresh makeup," Lewis said of the infamous Raiders fans.

The Steelers are likely to bring thousands of followers.

"We've got to handle it this week because there's going to be a surge," Lewis said. "It's going to be an energetic day again on Sunday. It's going to be a jazzed-up crowd. Our guys have to keep their wits about them, stay focused on their jobs and play football."

Lewis was loose before practice Thursday, laughing with players while they stretched.

"We can joke when joking is appropriate, during stretch and so forth," Lewis said. "But when it's time to go to work, we go to work."

Lewis has stressed preparation to players.

"He's harping on us that we can't pick up where we left off," defensive tackle John Thornton said. "He wants us to relax when we're off, but to work hard during the week."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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