PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Jon Kitna and the Cincinnati Bengals are Bungles no more.
Kitna tossed an 18-yard touchdown to tight end Matt Schobel with 13 seconds remaining to lift the Bengals to a 24-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a battle of AFC North rivals.
Kitna completed 18-of-32 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns for the Bengals (7-5), who won a fourth straight game for the first time since 1989. Cincinnati kept pace with Baltimore atop the division and visit the Ravens next week.
Pittsburgh trailed at halftime, 14-3, but rallied to take a 20-17 lead on a 16-yard pass from Tommy Maddox to Hines Ward with 1:05 remaining. Maddox picked apart the Bengals' prevent defense on the drive, completing 9-of-10 passes.
But Brandon Bennett returned the ensuing kickoff to the Cincinnati 48, and Kitna completed a pass to Peter Warrick on the next play to the Pittsburgh 34. After a 16-yard run by Bennett, the Bengals called timeout with 24 seconds left. Following an incomplete pass to Warrick, Kitna found Schobel in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score.
"After the draw play worked, you're thinking, 'Let's take a shot at the end zone,'" said Kitna, who has 18 touchdown passes and one interception in Cincinnati's seven wins. "It's a safe play, the same one the Steelers scored on. The first time, the play was there but didn't work. The next time, it was kind of the way that you draw the play up.
"Kitna has been a hell of a leader," said Bengals rookie coach Marvin Lewis. "He showed a little frustration at one point, then to come back and play the way he did, the things he does, it's just an endless list as far as directing our guys. Obviously, our guys believe in him."
After catching the ball, Schobel was leveled by Steelers safety Chris Hope and the ball came loose. But after a review, Schobel was deemed to have taken three steps with possession of the ball, and the touchdown counted.
"Kitna made a great throw and I was able to hold it long enough," Schobel said.
Maddox went 28-of-42 for 313 yards and one touchdown with an interception for Pittsburgh (4-8), which lost for the seventh time in nine games. Ward had 13 catches for 149 yards and Plaxico Burress had eight for 112 for the Steelers, who had won six of seven against Cincinnati.
"I don't know what to say about this game, the guys played well, they played hard," Maddox said. "After halftime, everybody was focused, everybody played until the final whistle. They never stopped believing and that is what we have to do the rest of the season."
Kitna tossed a 51-yard touchdown to rookie Kelley Washington six minutes into the contest and a four-yard pass to Chad Johnson with 1:54 left in the second quarter to give the Bengals a 14-3 lead. Johnson had six catches for 117 yards.
