By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

ATLANTA - The Georgia Dome has become the Bengals' house of horrors.

On Saturday night, in the third preseason game, the traditional "dress rehearsal" for the opener, the Falcons dominated the Bengals, 37-10.

Falcons quarterback Matt Schaub (8) eludes Bengals tackle Langston Moore (60) as he passes during the first quarter. (AP photo)

Just as everything went right for the Bengals a week earlier at home against New England, everything went wrong for them at Atlanta.

The Bengals committed three turnovers - two by starting quarterback Carson Palmer - that led directly to 13 Atlanta points.

"You learn if you don't take care of blocking, tackling, running, catching, lack of penalties, you're going to get beat, the basic things," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.

"It's a step back, but it's obviously a needed step. You hate to have to repeat it, but if history repeats itself, we'll work to move forward."

The Bengals fell to 1-2, ensuring they will not have their first winning preseason record since 1988.

In September 2002, in their first regular-season, prime-time TV game in four seasons, the Bengals of coach Dick LeBeau were embarrassed at the Georgia Dome by the Falcons, 30-3.

The decision Saturday night was as convincing. The only difference was the size of the television audience.

Atlanta led the Bengals 27-7 at halftime.

Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was a last-minute scratch after experiencing tightness in his hamstring, but his absence didn't affect the outcome.

"Having a healthy Michael Vick going into the regular season is the way to go," Falcons coach Jim Mora said.

Rookie quarterback Matt Schaub led the Falcons on a four-play, 83-yard drive on the opening possession, hitting wide receiver Dez White on a post pattern from the 18-yard line. White split the zones covered by linebacker Brian Simmons and strong safety Rogers Beckett.

While Schaub started hot - 5-for-5 passing for 82 yards and one touchdown - Palmer did not.

Coming off a three-touchdown game against New England, he missed on his first three pass attempts and lost a fumble on a sack that led to Atlanta's second score, a 26-yard field goal by Jay Feely.

Palmer later threw an interception to Aaron Beasley that led to a 16-yard touchdown pass from Schaub to tight end Alge Crumpler.

For the first half, Schaub, a third-round pick from Virginia, was 14-for-20 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns.

His third touchdown pass was 53 yards to Peerless Price inside of the two-minute warning. Bengals cornerback Tory James had position on the hanging pass, but he jumped and made contact with Price at the goal line. The bump prevented James from getting any height on his jump, and Price grabbed the ball and fell into the end zone.

Palmer played two series in the second half. For the night, he was 12-for-26 passing for 171 yards, with one interception and two sacks. His passer rating was 51.9.

"We didn't do the little things," Palmer said. "It's like coach (Lewis) says, 'You can't play three out of four plays good and make mistakes on the fourth one.' "

The Bengals trailed 10-0 after the first quarter. More importantly, they lost some key players for the game: Left guard Eric Steinbach, working his way back after surgery on his left elbow July 28, re-injured the elbow and did not return. Defensive tackle John Thornton aggravated a heel injury and did not return.

Beckett suffered a blow to the head and did not return. In the second quarter, wide receiver Patrick Johnson was lost for the game with a hand injury later diagnosed as three broken bones in the back of his right hand.

Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna (3) is brought down by Falcons end Bruce Adrine (71) during fourth quarter play. (AP photo)

In the third quarter, linebacker Frank Chamberlin left with an arm injury. Running back Kenny Watson, who rushed for 33 yards on four carries, left the game with leg cramps.

In the first quarter, Lewis inserted Kevin Kaesviharn at free safety and Marquand Manuel at strong safety, and the Bengals' defense forced punts on the next two Atlanta possessions.

After the defense forced a third consecutive Falcons punt, the Bengals went 87 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 2-yard Rudi Johnson touchdown run.

Palmer was 4-for-5 passing for 80 yards on the drive.

The Bengals made four changes in their starting lineup because of injuries.

At wide receiver, Houshmandzadeh started instead of Peter Warrick (knee). Warrick has yet to play in three preseason games. Third receiver Kelley Washington (ankle) also did not play against the Falcons.

At fullback, James Lynch started ahead of Jeremi Johnson (groin), who also has yet to play in the preseason.

At tight end, Tony Stewart made his third start. Reggie Kelly (thumb) has not played in the preseason, though he has returned to practice.

The fourth change was on defense. Rookie Madieu Williams made a second start instead of Deltha O'Neal (ankle). O'Neal was injured on a special teams play in the opener at Tampa Bay.

Cincinnati	0	7	3	0-10
Atlanta	10	17	7	3-37

First Quarter

Atl-White 18 pass from Schaub (Feely kick), 12:58.

Atl-FG Feely 26, 8:25.

Second Quarter

Cin-R.Johnson 2 run (Graham kick), 8:33.

Atl-FG Feely 27, 5:28.

Atl-Crumpler 14 pass from Schaub (Feely kick), 2:51.

Atl-Price 53 pass from Schaub (Feely kick), 1:25.

Third Quarter

Atl-Duckett 6 run (Duval kick), 10:44.

Cin-FG Graham 45, 6:33.

Fourth Quarter

Atl-FG Duval 29, 14:52.

A-70,331.

	Cin	Atl
First downs	19	15
Total Net Yards	340	364
Rushes-yards	28-84	30-113
Passing	256	251
Punt Returns	3-20	5-47
Kickoff Returns	6-97	3-83
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	1-32
Comp-Att-Int	23-43-1	18-25-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	4-43	1-7
Punts	7-47.4	6-44.2
Fumbles-Lost	3-2	1-0
Penalties-Yards	12-108	8-85
Time of Possession	30:37	29:23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Cincinnati, Watson, 4-33, R.Johnson 9-24, Perry 10-22, Goodman 3-10, Broussard 1-7, Kitna 1-(minus 12). Atlanta, Dunn 9-53, Detmer 4-24, Duckett 5-14, Wilson 7-9, Griffith 3-9, Rivers 1-6, Schaub 1-(minus 2).

PASSING-Cincinnati, Palmer 12-26-1-171, Kitna 11-17-0-128. Atlanta, Schaub, 14-20-0-214, Detmer 4-5-0-44.

RECEIVING-Cincinnati, Broussard 5-45, C.Johnson 4-45, P.Johnson 3-38, Goodman 2-47, Watson 2-24, Houshmandzadeh 1-52, Stewart 1-25, Lynch 1-10, Perry 1-(minus 3). Atlanta, Crumpler 4-88, Price 3-52, White 2-31, Griffith 2-25, Jenkins 2-22, Duckett 2-21, Finneran 1-14, Layne 1-3, Dunn 1-2.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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