A Dent in Steeler Machine

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a few things to fix before the playoffs begin.

Jon Kitna threw for 411 yards and two late touchdowns, and undependable Neil Rackers kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime Sunday as the Cincinnati Bengals rallied for a 26-23 victory over the Steelers.

Despite the loss, Pittsburgh (12-3) clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs thanks to Oakland’s loss to Denver.

The Steelers came into the game on one of the best rolls in franchise history--seven consecutive wins, a first-round playoff bye already assured. They also had the closest thing to a home-field advantage on the road. Roughly half the crowd of 63,751 was furiously twirling yellow towels.

Still, come the postseason, the Steelers need to play much better than they did against the Bengals (5-10), who had lost their last seven games.

“All of the things that we did to get to 12-2, we totally messed up today,” safety Lee Flowers said. “Thank God this wasn’t a playoff game today.”

They appeared to have the game well in hand after Kordell Stewart threw his third touchdown pass for a 23-10 lead. All that was left was for the NFL’s top-ranked defense to stop the league’s lowest-rated passer a time or two.

It didn’t even come close.

Kitna threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:46 of the fourth quarter, when most of the Bengal fans had fled the stadium. He threw 68 passes--tied for third-most in NFL history--and completed 35 for a career-high 411 yards.

Aftrer Kitna’s 18-yard touchdown pass to former UCLA star Danny Farmer with 37 seconds left, Rackers missed the extra-point attempt that could have won it in regulation. In overtime, the Bengals got the ball at their one-yard line following a Pittsburgh punt. Kitna completed four consecutive passes, and Brandon Bennett had a 36-yard run that set up Rackers’ winning kick.