Oct 14, 2002 By Mike Ciarochi 5 min read

CINCINNATI – Even with a 24-0 halftime lead against the winless Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers knew better than to simply go through the motions or try to run out the second-half clock. Pittsburgh had seen how the Bengals can come back, both first hand and on film. Just a week earlier, the Bengals overcame a 21-0 deficit before eventually losing to Indianapolis, 28-21. And, of course, there was last Dec. 30, when the Bengals handed the Steelers one of only three regular-season losses when Jon Kitna passed for over 400 yards.

So, when the Steelers came out for the second half kickoff, the message was simple: keep playing.

That’s all Antwaan Randle El needed to hear. He took the half-opening kickoff and ran untouched 99 yards for a touchdown to stretch Pittsburgh’s lead to 31-0, thwarting any Bengals’ comeback before it could get started.

“That,” Randle El said afterward, “was the dagger.”

The 34-7 win leaves Pittsburgh 2-3 overall and 2-0 in AFC North Division games. The Steelers are now tied for first place with Baltimore, one-half game ahead of Cleveland.

The last-place Bengals fell to 0-6 and might fire coach Dick LeBeau any day now.

“We played a good solid football game,” coach Bill Cowher said. “The running game was solid, the passing game was strong and we played very well on defense. We were able to make some plays on defense, which makes it easier.”

The Bengals, of course, went to their spread offense, but the Steelers didn’t yield. The Bengals only score came on a Corey Dillon run after a Tommy Maddox interception. Dillon’s score capped a nine-yard drive.

The Steelers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. After Bengals kicker Neil Rackers came up short on a 46-yard field goal, the Steelers marched 63 yards on seven plays. The drive was capped by a Jerome Bettis plunge from the 1-yard line.

“That was really big,” Maddox said of the first touchdown. “After our defense held them and they missed the field goal, we had good field position and, all of a sudden, we moved down the field and into the end zone.”

“It certainly felt good to get off to a good start,” Cowher said. “To have a lead can mean a lot, especially on the road.”

Pittsburgh’s 7-0 lead was its first since it led the Raiders, 7-3, in the second game. The Steelers went 175 minutes, 50 seconds between leads. In fact, they achieved their largest lead of the season early in the second quarter when Todd Peterson connected on a 34-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

After a quarter, Maddox was near perfect, completing six of seven passes for 99 yards, including four to Burress for 89. His only incompletion was an interception when Burress fell on the sloppy turf trying to make a cut.

For the game, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 216 with a touchdown. His favorite target was Burress, who caught eight passes for 149 yards.

“The quarterback played very well,” Cowher said. “He threw the ball accurately and he was great in simply leading the football team.”

“Plex is a big target and it’s hard for them to matchup a big cornerback on him.”

Maddox downplayed his importance in turning this team around. “To me, it’s just playing football. It’s not about the past or anything else. We had a great game plan and we were able to stick with it today.”

Part of coordinator Mike Mularkey’s game plan was throwing to Burress when the Bengals blitzed, which they tried early and often.

“We’re just out there playing football,” Burress said of himself and Maddox. “He’s throwing it very well and I’m going up and catching it.”

The interception story of the game was Steelers safety Lee Flowers, who doubled his career interception total with two in the first half alone.

Bettis kept the Steelers moving with a 41-yard touchdown run early in the second and Pittsburgh led, 17-0.

“In the past, I’ve had opportunities to make plays, but bad hands held me back,” Flowers said. “Today, I was loose. Heck, we were 1-3, what did I have to lose? But I made the plays I’m capable of making.”

Pittsburgh’s defense stayed in the act when Joey Porter sacked Jon Kitna, who fumbled right into the hands of nose tackle Casey Hampton. The big guy rumbled all the way to the Bengals’ 7-yard line and the Steelers scored on Maddox’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Dan Kreider to stretch Pittsburgh’s lead to 24-0 6:34 before halftime.

The half ended without further scoring, although Peterson missed a 32-yard field goal attempt. The Bengals were booed lustily when they took a knee to end the half.

Of local interest, Uniontown native Chuck Muncie retained his spot as the 39th leading rusher in NFL history, at least for another week. Cincinnati’s Corey Dillon needed 87 rushing yards to pass Muncie, but was held to 57 by the Steelers. Dillon managed to pass Mark van Eeghen for 40th place, against the Steelers. Muncie finished his career with 6,702 yards and Dillon trails him by 29.