10-10-02, 7:30 a.m.
BY GEOFF HOBSON
Bob Bratkowski and Jon Kitna are like the guys who planned the bachelor party. They're glad they did it, but they don't want to get the credit.
Ever since Bratkowski, the former Steelers wide receivers coach now the Bengals offensive coordinator, spread out the Steelers and Kitna threw 68 times for 411 yards in the Bengals' victory last Dec. 30, Pittsburgh foes have been taking a page from Bratkowski's book. Both sides deny the Bengals started a trend and say it was a product of the Bengals being down 13 points with six minutes left.
"They definitely didn't come into the game trying to spread it out," said Steelers free safety Brent Alexander.
"Anytime you go into Cincinnati, it's run Corey Dillon. They found different ways to get him the ball, and they just kind of expanded on it."
Still, Bratkowski figures teams did look at how the Bengals got 16 points so quickly against a top-rated defense.
"We went with a little different approach because we needed to score in a hurry," Bratkowski said. "If you try to run at them out of the I formation, they're going to make it very difficult for you. Their run blitzes make it very hard. You always try to
take the path of the easiest resistance. With their fire zones and run blitzes, they have the athletes who can fill the gaps real fast on you, especially in a condensed area."
Kitna, working without tight ends because of injuries, ended up throwing the third most passes in NFL history.
"We did throw the ball about 68 times, but that was out of necessity," Kitna said. "It had nothing to do the game plan. At that point in our season, we had no tight end, and we were forced to have three wide receivers on the field a lot. I know how you guys like to overanalyze things and find a reason for why people are doing this and that, but it's not because of us,-believe me. We had to throw it 68 times because we were losing."
New England beat the Steelers in the opener with quarterback Tom Brady throwing 25 straight passes in one stretch and often used five receivers, something the Bengals never did. Oakland threw 65 passes, but the Browns only tried 29 and nearly beat them in overtime. And in their last game, the Saints beat them with running back Deuce McAllister running the ball (23) one fewer time than quarterback Aaron Brooks threw it.
"They've figured out ways to combat that." Kitna said. "The first two teams they played were New England and Oakland. New England rolls out a lot of speed on the field, and because it was the first game of the year, they just weren't ready for that. When you play Oakland, you're dealing with guys that have been around this league for a long time. They have two future Hall of Fame receivers (Tim Brown and Jerry Rice). To say that we had a lot of success with it is true, because we did end up winning the game.
"But we barely completed 50 percent of our throws, so I don't think that we just opened up a gaping hole in them or anything. It's not our game plan this week to go out and throw the ball 60 times. We understand that this has been a little bit blown out of proportion, and I don't appreciate the media throwing my name around like I'm the one."
100 FOR WILLIE: Right tackle Willie Anderson knows there are two reactions when he plays in his 100th career game Sunday. The first one is, "Wow, that's great. 100 games." The other is, "100 games for the Bengals?"
"I don't care what people say," Anderson said. "I'm proud to have played in 100 games and play them for the Bengals. They gave me two starts,
one when they drafted me and one when they signed me (to a six-year, $30.6 million extension) the contract."
He has missed just two games, both losses in 1999. That puts his career record at 32-67 and he would dearly love to jack that winning percentage to 33 with a victory over the Steelers.
"That would be nice. Kind of a mini-celebration for playing in 100," Anderson said. "It hasn't gone the way I wanted it, but I take pride in what I've done," Anderson said. "I feel like I'm a guy the Bengals could rely on game after game. It's a blessing from God to go this long with no major injuries and to reach 100 games at 27 years old."
Asked if he wanted to play 100 more, Anderson isn't all that sure: "If it's in God's plan. Maybe I will, maybe I won't."
Anderson goes into this game like the 99 others. With nicks. He had an MRI on a stiff neck Monday and he's fighting a sore hamstring and a battered shoulder. The Bengal closest to 200 games, fellow tackle Richmond Webb, is at 184. But the nicks may have caught up with him. His season-ending pectoral injury against the Bucs last month could be the last play of his career.
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WARRICK WONDERING:** No more punt returns for Peter Warrick after last Sunday's bobble inside his five-yard gave the Colts seven points. Yes, he was wearing his contact lenses, but he still doesn't see eye-to-eye with the coaches on the decision.
"No one has talked to me about it. I guess they don't want me doing it and that's cool," Warrick said. "I like returning punts, but I'm not doing that anymore so I can focus on offense now."
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STEELY CROWD:** The Bengals figure to announce a sellout Thursday, which won't surprise quarterback Jon Kitna this time after last year: " We had to go to the silent count at home, that was a first for me. I just didn't understand the following Pittsburgh had as someone from the West Coast. The only thing I could relate to that was 1996 when Green Bay came to Seattle, and it was loud for them. It won't surprise me this week, and we'll prepare accordingly in practice."
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DIGS AND DRAGS:** The Bengals are on the wrong end of the NFL's scoring spree. The league is experiencing its most points in the first five games of the season in 44 years with games averaging 45.7 points.
The Bengals are dead last with 8.8 points per game, which computes to 140.8 for the season. That would be an extra point better than Seattle's record low for a 16-game season of 140 in their 2-14 season in 1992. The defense is giving up 29.4 per game. Round that off to 30 and that projects to 480 points, which would be a touchdown away from the third most points ever allowed. The 1980 Saints allowed 487 during a 1-15 season. . .
Corey Dillon's 164 yards Sunday
in Indy were significant for a variety of reasons. It was the most yards rushing by a Bengal in a loss and was the first time in 10 games Cincinnati lost when Dillon rushed for more than 130 yards. It's hard to lose when a back goes for that much. You have to go back to the Bengals' first season in 1968 for something comparable. Paul Robinson rushed for 159 yards in the Bengals' 31-10 loss in Oakland. . .
Speaking of Oakland, the game vaulted Dillon to 36 yards shy of the Raiders' Mark van Eeghen at No. 40 on the NFL's all-time rushing list at 6,651. On Sunday, he moved past Lydell Mitchell and Lawrence McCutcheon, and he's now 593 yards away from becoming the fourth player in history to rush for 1,000 yards in his first six seasons, joining Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson and Curtis Martin. . .
MLB Brian Simmons (neck) is questionable with a pinched nerve and isn't so sure he can stand up to contact. . .RG Mike Goff is out again with a deep cut on his knee. The problem is that the gash runs across his kneecap and splits open every time he bends it. . Right tackle Willie Anderson (neck), and cornerback Artrell Hawkins (knee) had negative MRIs and are probable. . .
