By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SAN DIEGO - The Bengals' offense has led the team's five-week march into a first-place tie and could pad its numbers today.

The Bengals, 12th in the NFL in scoring with a 21-point average, face a Chargers defense that's last in points allowed at 28 a game and ranked near the bottom against the rush and pass.

After struggling through the first five games with a 15.4-point scoring average, the Bengals are averaging 26.6 points a game in the past five - four of which are victories.

In all, the Bengals offense has scored 23 of the team's 24 touchdowns; the other came on a punt return. And the Bengals are on pace to score 336 points, which would be the franchise's most since 355 in 1997.

"Our job is to score points," quarterback Jon Kitna said.

Marvin Lewis laid the foundation for the offensive outburst even before he was hired as Bengals coach. During interviews, Lewis agreed to rehire coordinator Bob Bratkowski. Then less than a month after he started, Lewis announced Kitna would be the starting quarterback - even if the team used the first overall draft pick on quarterback Carson Palmer.

"Just the progress I felt they had made and were continually making," Lewis said in explaining his reasons for keeping the offense intact with Bratkowski and Kitna.

"Everyone is flexible enough to adjust and move on. (Bratkowski) has enough in his background to do different things, and we're trying to take advantage of what's good for us that day and not to force the issue."

The offense is balanced this season. The Bengals have rushed 34 or more times in four games, and they've had 30-plus pass attempts in seven games.

Another reason for the increased production is familiarity with the system and each other.

Kitna is in his third season with wide receivers Chad Johnson and Peter Warrick.

Tailback Corey Dillon is a seventh-year Bengal, and backup Rudi Johnson is in his third season.

"Two years ago, when you're that young, you can't change things," Kitna said. "We (now) do so much tinkering with our game plan from week to week. Two years ago, we just had to line up and run the same plays over and over and hopefully beat them with our athleticism.

"And now we've had a chance to grow together three years in the same system and you're seeing the fruits of that."

Johnson and Warrick rank third in the NFL with 107 combined receptions. And with three-time Pro Bowler Dillon injured and having rushed for just 229 yards, Rudi Johnson and the offensive line have pumped new life into the running game. The Bengals moved from 31st to 14th in league rankings in two weeks.

The offensive line has dominated. Lewis points to the job Rich Braham has done since reclaiming his starting job for Game 2.

"Richie was probably the smartest move I've ever made in listening to somebody," Lewis said of acting on the advice of offensive line coach Paul Alexander.

Fourth-year starter Mike Goff moved from center to right guard. An injured foot has limited former right guard Matt O'Dwyer.

"You play for a couple years in a row as an offensive line and you get to know what other people are thinking," said Goff, who has 55 starts in the past three-plus season.

Offensive success starts at quarterback. San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer said this week Kitna is the biggest difference in the offense. Kitna has 11 of his 15 touchdown passes in the past five games and just three of his nine interceptions.

"Kitna has been terrific," Schottenheimer said. "I've watched him before and he's totally, in my mind, a different player than he was several years back. He's been most impressive in his accuracy and decision making."

Kitna has started 22 consecutive games. In 2002, Gus Frerotte became the fifth different quarterback to start the opener for the Bengals. Eight quarterbacks had started games for the Bengals since Jeff Blake lost the starting job in 1997. Kitna is the only NFL quarterback to take every snap this season and could be the first Bengals quarterback to start every game since Blake in 1996.

"The longer you stick together with something," Kitna said, "the better it's going to be."

Tale of a turnaround

The offense has led the Bengals' surge in the last five games.

Category	First 5	Last 5
Record	1-4	4-1
Total points	77	133
Average points	15.4	26.6
Total yds.	1,466	1,822
Average yds.	293.2	364.4
Total rush yds.	384	741
Average rush yds.	76.8	148.2
Turnovers	9	3
First downs	88	101

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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