Game against Cincinnati not as easy as it looks

The Steelers travel to Cincinnati this Sunday to take on the Bengals.

This is a statement… The Steelers travel to Cincinnati this Sunday to take on the Bengals.

This is a statement that annually causes great joy and hearty celebration in the pubs and streets of the Steel City. But for those of you Steelers fans who have already scribbled a “W” next to this game on your pocket schedules, you may want to start shaking the White-Out.

These aren’t the same old Bungles.

Sure, they are 0-2, to nobody’s surprise. And yeah, they still wear those hideous black and orange jerseys. But new head coach Marvin Lewis has made his presence felt immediately on the defensive side of the ball, as the Bengals have shut down two gun-slinging quarterbacks in the first two games of the season. And the Bengals’ offense, which has been on the verge of explosiveness over the last two seasons, finally seems to be clicking on all cylinders.

Against Denver in the first week of the season, the Bengals picked off Jake Plummer three times, and held him to only 115 yards passing in his Broncos debut. Clinton Portis ran wild for the Broncos, and it’s obvious that Denver won that game in spite of its passing offense, not because of it.

And just to prove that their performance against the Broncos was no fluke, the Bengals’ defensive backfield proceeded to shut down the Oakland Raiders’ vaunted passing attack on the road in week two.

Cincinnati held last year’s Most Valuable Player Rich Gannon to just 103 passing yards and no touchdowns through the air, as the defending American Football Conference champs were visibly frustrated by Cincinnati’s stingy defensive schemes and refusal to give up a big play.

Like it or not, the 2003 Steelers, much like the 2002 Raiders, have a big-play offense. Pittsburgh ranks first in the AFC in passing offense and first in total offense after two weeks, and has shown an affinity for airing it out early and often. Unlike the Broncos, however, the Steelers don’t have a Clinton Portis who can carry the load offensively if the passing game falters. The Steelers currently rank fourteenth in the AFC in rushing, and continuous failure to establish the run early could cause some serious matchup problems for Pittsburgh against the Bengals.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bengals finally seem to have some weapons at all of their skill positions. Chad Johnson is a legitimate deep threat for the Bengals. His 154 yards receiving against the Steelers last season at Heinz Field is surely something that Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott won’t forget when they line up against him this weekend. Peter Warrick showed flashes of brilliance last week in his 109-yard receiving day against the Raiders, and his weekly development could provide a speedy compliment to Johnson’s skillful route running.

Corey Dillon doesn’t hit the hole as quickly as he once did, and he is coming off of an injury suffered against the Raiders. But his 118 yards on the ground and one touchdown score are plenty impressive considering his limited action, and Brandon Bennett provides a more-than-capable second option at running back.

And then there’s quarterback Jon Kitna.

Kitna has flat-out owned the Steelers the last two seasons. He has executed former Steelers assistant Bob Bratowski’s dink-and-dump offense to perfection against Pittsburgh’s confused defensive backs and over pursuing linebackers, and his biggest games of each season come against Pittsburgh.

Many forget that in 2001, when the Steelers went 13-3 and reached the AFC Championship game, one of their losses came late in the season against the Bengals. Kitna certainly doesn’t, as he had a career day in front of a home crowd, throwing for 411 yards and two touchdowns in the Bengals’ shocking upset victory. What’s even more impressive is that Kitna found nine different receivers in the game, refusing to lock in on his first or second options.

Kitna picked up where he left off in 2001 against the Steelers at Heinz Field last year. His 290-yard, one touchdown pass performance was efficient enough to almost bring the Bengals back from sure defeat, but not explosive enough to seal the victory. And Kitna doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of rust this season, as he threw for over 300 yards against one of the best secondaries in the NFL last week in Oakland.

The Steelers are traditionally slow starters under Bill Cowher, and they’ve yet to establish an identity this season. Against Baltimore, their passing game looked unstoppable, their run defense impenetrable, and their secondary just as bad as ever, committing dumb interference penalties against a rookie quarterback. Against Kansas City, Pittsburgh’s passing game looked suspect, especially within the redzone. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ secondary was solid, and their run defense was as thin as spaghetti against Priest Holmes and the hogs up front for the Chiefs. In fact, the only constants for the Steelers through two regular season games have been an ineffective running game and horrible special teams play.

Combine this identity crisis with Lewis’ familiarity with the Steelers’ offense, having prepared for them for years as a defensive coordinator with Baltimore, and you’ve got the potential for a heart-wrenching loss for the Steelers and an intense demand from the Steelers faithful to see Charlie Batch get in ‘ere an ‘at.

But, then again, I mean, c’mon… we are talking about the Bungles, aren’t we?

Michael Cunningham is a senior staff writer for The Pit News, and he loves to do the Ickey Shuffle.