By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

Trouble spots

Rush defense: The Bengals yielded 138 rushing yards to the Steelers, who came in grousing about their imbalanced offense. The Steelers ran 38 times and threw 34. The Bengals are giving up 152 yards a game on the ground.

Rush offense: The Bengals had just 57 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Granted, they played for the second consecutive week without Corey Dillon for much of the game. The lack of a running game puts too much pressure on quarterback Jon Kitna.

Playing not to lose: The Bengals coached passively. OK, don't try the 54- and 51-yard field goals, but don't punt. It was fourth-and-2, and then fourth-and-3. Punts into the end zone netted just 16 and 13 yards. The Steelers finished 2 of 2 on fourth-down plays.

Looking good

Effort: The Bengals outscored Pittsburgh 7-3 in the fourth quarter and have a 21-16 fourth-quarter scoring edge through three games. The Bengals are better. It took 12 years to make this mess. It's going to take some time to clean it up.

Shayne Graham: He was good from 44 yards, his only field goal attempt of the day. He just needs more chances. And he had one touchback in three kickoffs. His kickoffs are plenty deep and high enough to cover well.

Oh, so close: Brandon Bennett had a 33-yard kickoff return that was an ankle tackle from being a touchdown. Peter Warrick had a 31-yard punt return that might have gone the distance if not for some loose turf.

By the numbers

7 - Times in the past 13 seasons the Bengals have started 0-3, including four of the past five

4-24 - Record in past 28 games

9-39 - Record in pre-October games since their last playoff appearance in 1990

0-7 - Bengals' record in AFC North games, since divisions realigned last season

14:12 - Steelers' advantage in time of possession

29 - Steelers' advantage in offensive plays

3-of-3 - Weeks in which Jon Kitna's passer rating has bettered the opposing QB's

Up next

Bengals (0-3) play at Cleveland (1-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday

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