By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

No NFL quarterback is hotter than the Bengals' Jon Kitna.

He has six touchdown passes and no interceptions in his past two games and has led the Bengals to five victories in their last six games.

He is tied for the AFC lead with 19 touchdown passes and is directing the NFL's 10th-ranked offense.

With rookie Carson Palmer waiting in the wings, not many media workers or fans expected Kitna to be starting and playing through November. But Kitna enters Sunday's game with the Steelers as the only NFL quarterback to play every offensive down for his team this season.

He fielded five questions in this Enquirer interview:

Question: You've gone through a lot of downs in your career. How do you look at those now that you're winning and playing well?

Answer: "The way I deal with it, you have to understand that everything comes from the Lord. A lot of us only want to accept the good things in our eyes that come from God. But God allows trials and adversity to come our way because that's what shapes us.

"None of us, if we had our choice, would put ourselves in a hard situation. None of us would put ourselves through a 2-14 season and having fans try to boo you off the field and being benched.

"All that does, when you handle it correctly - and that is keeping your eyes focused on God - is teaches you and builds your perseverance and gives you maturity."

Q: You've been criticized for being a quarterback who will make one big mistake to lose a game. How do you now deal with the positives?

A: "That's the great thing about not reading the papers. I'm not going to lie: When you're winning and things are going well, you want to watch ESPN and these shows because they are going to say positive things about you.

"But it's never as good as they say or as bad as they say. For anybody who has been around here (for) my first year here - 12 touchdowns and 22 interceptions - if you look at how I played then and how I am playing now, there's not a huge difference. The difference is we're better as a football team. The guys around me are better."

Q: Still, are you playing better?

A: "I am seeing the field better. I am able to get the ball to guys who are open. But my decision-making isn't night and day. Is it better? Of course, it's better. But a lot of that comes with experience and just playing the game and knowing ... if we had started the year the way we did (0-3), and we still had the old coaching staff, I wouldn't even be in the game.

"But it's a testament to (coach) Marvin (Lewis) and knowing we're going to stick to our guns and get this thing done. He is a very loyal coach. And it's great to play for a coach who doesn't care what (the media) say. None of the pressure you guys put on him to play Carson or Shane (Matthews) or to play Rudi (Johnson), he doesn't care about that. He's going to do what's best for this team, and that's the greatest thing for a player to know."

Q: Now you are being mentioned as a possible MVP candidate. Does that affect you?

A: "That's all speculation. I just want to be the best quarterback for this team. There are a lot of things I take on my shoulders for this team. I take it personally to get people lined where they're supposed to be and make sure routes are where they're supposed to be. That's all I want to do. I don't care about all that other stuff because all that stuff is the product of being on a good team.

"Two weeks ago, we were playing Kansas City and not doing anything good on offense, and our defense stepped up and played huge for three quarters. Then we got rolling as an offense and made some big plays and won the game, but the thing is we're in football games this year and I don't feel like I have to go out there and score every time. For me, all that stuff, it's nice to hear those (MVP) things, but those things are not what you focus on as a player. If you do, you're not going to be the best player you can be on that team."

Q: Given it is Thanksgiving week and coming up on Christmas, what you are thankful for?

A: "This first thing is that whenever I breathe my last breath, the next moment I am going to be looking at Jesus. I don't know how you can go through this world not knowing whether you're going to heaven or hell. I'm just thankful that 10 years ago, in October 1993, God grabbed my heart and changed my heart and opened my eyes to what life is really meant to be.

"Then I have a beautiful family. I have a wife - there is a popular term in the locker room that a lot of guys out-punt their coverage when it comes to their wife - I'm not even in the same stadium. My wife (Jennifer) is beautiful and has the best spirit and is supportive of me.

"I have three beautiful kids of my own - 6, 5 and 8 months - and there is something new every day. You come home and they jump in my arms. There are so many things to be thankful for.

"That's what has gotten me through the last couple of years, the last four years football-wise, is knowing that every other aspect of my life has been a huge blessing. Why am I going to allow the 10 percent of my life, which is football, to steal the joy from the 90 percent of my life that is unbelievably blessed. That's the balance everybody has to find. I guess that's the goal. I'm sitting here at eight years in the NFL, and I can't believe it. Those are the things that get you through when things are bad."

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