PITTSBURGH -- The bar wasn't set all that high -- if Ryan Fitzpatrick was still walking at the end of Thursday's game, the Bengals' patchwork line performed relatively well in Thursday's 27-10 loss to the Steelers.

With Andrew Whitworth and Levi Jones not even making the trip to Pittsburgh, the Bengals started rookie Anthony Collins at left tackle and first-year player Nate Livings at left guard. Collins had played all of nine plays heading into Thursday's game and Livings was making his debut.

Although the Steelers came in tied for the league lead in sacks, Pittsburgh got Fitzpatrick only once on Thursday. The Steelers recorded seven sacks in the teams' first game.

"Collins did a great job today and Nate Livings as well," Fitzpatrick said. "Pretty much the whole game I stayed clean and that's a testament to those guys up front and they pass blocked. It's not an easy thing. We learned that the last time we played these guys with all the sacks. I thought they did a good job out there."

The Steelers' lone sack was by LaMarr Woodley. Collins shut out James Harrison, who came in with 12 sacks on the season.

"He talked to me after the game, he said 'just keep on working, AC.' He knew my nickname," Collins said. "You can tell he did his research on me. All week the vetrans were telling me what to do, and to work on it and watch film, and I got better like I was a seven-year veteran. They just stressed to me to watch film, watch film, and I watched film and it helped me out a lot."

Collins, drafted in the fourth round this season, said he wasn't nervous at all.

"It's football," Collins said. "You go out there to have fun, and that's what's been told to me allmy life -- go out there and have fun, go out and do what you do. Do what you practice every day to do and I did it."

PITTSBURGH -- As I was headed down the elevator to the Bengals' locker room, I was on the same elevator as some Steelers' coaches.

I was talking to someone else and said, "that's the dumbest call I've ever seen in a football game."

The Steelers coach looked at me and said, "what's that?"

I said, "kicking a field goal down 13 with six minutes left in the game."

He smiled and said, "It was interesting."

I laughed.

"It was interesting," he said again, chuckling. "That's all I'm going to say."

I don't remember what I said next, but he said, "I thought the same thing."

Then I asked him why he didn't just go down from the coaches' box to the field after the field goal, because Marvin Lewis had obviously given up on the game. The Steeler coach just laughed.

PITTSBURGH -- If Marvin Lewis was trying to send a message to his team by sending wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco home before Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he sent a much different message in the fourth quarter of the team's 27-10 loss at Heinz Field.

With 6:50 left in the game and the Bengals trailing by 13 points on the Steelers' 8-yard line, Lewis elected to kick a field goal instead of going for it -- keeping a two-possession game two possessions away, despite Shayne Graham nailing a 26-yard field goal to pull Cincinnati within 10 points, 20-10.

"I thought it would be difficult to score the touchdown there, so I took the points with the ability to kick the football off and we had an opportunity for a play there that didn’t materialize itself within the kickoff and then have the chance to stop them and get the ball back," Lewis said. "But obviously we ended up having to kick the football deep (on the kickoff) as we did and at that point we never stopped them, they go down score a touchdown and basically the ball game is over."

Although not many gave the Bengals a chance before the game, they were in the game with Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter, based on stout defensive play and a first-quarter touchdown drive. A patch-work offensive line with a left-side that came into the game with a combined six offensive snaps in the NFL, allowed just one sack of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick against the NFL's sack leaders.

Glenn Holt, who started in the palce of Ocho Cinco, capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch, giving the Bengals a 7-0 lead with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

The lead stood until the Steelers' first possession of the second quarter, when the Steelers scored a touchdown and then followed that with an 11-play drive to just after the two-miunte warning resulting in a 37-yard field goal by Jeff Reed.

The Bengals drove to the Steelers’ 34 at the end of the half, but on fourth-and-5 from the 34, Lewis elected a fourth-down shot instead of the 51-yard field goal attempt into the swirling winds and snow at Heinz Field.

Despite 10 more Steeler points in the third quarter, the Bengals had a slim shot before Lewis elected to kick the field goal and for a moment cover the point spread. However, Pittsburgh converted a third down and then drove the length of the field for the game-sealing touchdown on an 8-yard Ben Roethlisberger scramble.

Following the game, Lewis was asked about not only his questionable field goal, but also comments to the league’s official website on Wednesday in which he said "there have to be some changes for the future for me to return here."

When asked about those comments following Thursday's game, Lewis downplayed them.

"We need to change how we get things done," Lewis said. "And I'm talking about playing, I'm not talking about anything other than that. I don’t think when I spoke with Thomas (George of NFL.com), I didn't mean anything other than that context. We need to make sure we develop our guys, we need to do a better job of coaching and playing."

Lewis said he has not given thought to not returning to fulfill his contract that runs through the 2010 season.

"No, I have not," Lewis said.

Lewis wouldn’t comment further on the violation of team rules that had him send Ocho Cinco home. He did say he expected Ocho Cinco to be back with the team and practicing this week.

Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had four catches for 20 yards, was coy about his answers to questions about the Wednesday night incident that led to Ocho Cinco's deactivation. Houshmandzadeh said Ocho Cinco did not fall asleep in a team meeting.

"They did what they thought was best, whether I agree or disagree, it doesn't matter," Houshmandzadeh said. "He's going to do what he wants to do, he's the head coach. Mike Brown owns the team and they did what they wanted to do. It doesn't matter if anyone disagrees with it or not. It happened, and we still had to come out here and play."

When asked if Ocho Cinco walked out of the meeting, Houshmandzadeh said, "he went to have a discussion with the coach, I don't know if he walked out of the meeting."

In the end, though, Houshmandzadeh said Ocho Cinco's absence didn't help the Bengals against the Steelers, but it didn't mean their doom.

"I'm sure he would have helped," Houshmandzadeh said. "But we've lost eight games with him, so I don't know how much."

Traffic in PIttsburgh sucks. Good god, it took a while.

The Bengals confirm Chad Ocho Cinco flew back to Cincinnati this morning and he'll snap his 113 consecutive game streak. Not that it matters that much anyway. With Chad, without Chad, they're gonna get killed.

Bengals inactives

QB Carson Palmer (third quarterback)

S Chinedum Ndukwe

DE Eric Henderson

G Scott Kooistra

OT Levi Jones

G Andrew Whitworth

WR Chad Ocho Cinco

DE Antwan Odom

Bengals lineup changes

Glenn Holt starting for Ocho Cinco, Anthony Collins at LT, Nate Livings LG.

On defense, David Jones will start at left cornerback for Johnathan Joseph, who is expected to play. Chris Crocker will start at strong safety and Frostee Rucker at right end.

Steelers inactives

QB Dennis Dixon (third QB)

CB Bryant McFadden

CB Deshea Townsend

CB Roy Lewis

LB Bruce Davis

OL Tony Hills

OT Marvel Smith

DE Orpheus Roye

Steeler lineup changes

Max Starks will start at LT in place of Smith and William Gay will start at RCB in place of Townsend