Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Tony Stewart comes up with a fumbled punt return by the Steelers' Ricardo Colclough in the fourth quarter yesterday at Heinz Field.

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Steelers yesterday put on a clinic how not to defend a Super Bowl championship. They lost five turnovers, lost their composure, lost a lead and lost for the second time in a row as the Bengals thanked them on their way out of Heinz Field for their parting gift, a 28-20 Cincinnati victory.

The defending champions moved to 3-0 -- that's the defending AFC North Division champion Bengals. The Steelers slipped two games behind at 1-2 and appear to have another long climb the rest of the season to try to catch up with them.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Marvel Smith (77) comforts Ben Roethlisberger after losing to the Bengals yesterday. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Colclough willing to take heat for muffing punt Steelers Notebook: A rarity: 100-yard rusher but no win Game 3 Report Card: Steelers vs. Bengals Slideshow: A mistake-filled loss in Game Three Photo Journal: Steelers vs. Bengals Ron Cook: Colclough's miscue is Cowher's mistake Bob Smizik: Palmer-Big Ben matchup hardly a classic Gene Collier: 'Classy' Bengals quietly take control Game 3 Stats : Steelers vs. Bengals Ed Bouchette's Daily Question Cincinnati mayor arrives loser, leaves winner Listen In: Postgame commentary following the Steelers 28-20 loss to the Bengals: Bill Cowher Entire press conference "Self-inflicted" loss On Ben Roethlisberger's performance What the Steelers did right Willie Parker The Bengals couldn't stop the Steelers "The better team didn't win" Handling the workload of 30 carries per game Alan Faneca Talks to Ed Bouchette about the offensive line's play Heath Miller Talks to Jerry Micco about the running game

"It's no time to panic right now," receiver Cedrick Wilson said.

They might want to consider pushing some other buttons, though, because the ones they pressed yesterday blew up on them.

Even though Willie Parker ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns, though they outgained the Bengals, though the Steelers held leads in the first, third and fourth quarters, the team and the lead disintegrated from a series of mental and physical errors that prompted coach Bill Cowher to use the word "stupid."

"It's going to eat at you for a couple weeks because there were a lot of self-inflicted plays out there," Cowher said.

Now they know how the Bengals felt in their AFC playoff loss to the Steelers in January.

Cincinnati's Carson Palmer, carted off with a knee injury the previous time they played, threw four touchdown passes -- two on the first play after a Steelers' turnover -- while Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions. But the biggest turnover came when the Steelers' coaching staff inserted Ricardo Colclough to return a punt in the fourth quarter.

Colclough, a cornerback who has had trouble handling the football on returns in his three seasons as a pro, nevertheless replaced rookie Santonio Holmes in the fourth quarter. Leading 17-14, the Steelers' defense snuffed the Bengals on four plays and Colclough went back to field the punt. He promptly fumbled, the Bengals recovered at the 9 and Palmer came out firing on first down.

He found T.J. Houshmandzadeh wide open in the middle of the end zone for the score that put the Bengals in front for good, 21-17 with 7:59 left in the game.

Two plays later, Verron Haynes fumbled at the Steelers' 30. On the next play, Palmer hit Houshmandzadeh in the left corner of the end zone for a 28-17 Bengals lead.

Among the other plays Cowher cited as "stupid" was a 15-yard celebration penalty on Verron Haynes and Parker, and a 10-yard taunting penalty on safety Mike Logan, both in the second half.

"There is no reason for those things," Cowher said. "... It will not happen again."

The Steelers made it interesting at the end when Jeff Reed kicked his second field goal, from 36 yards, and they got the ball back with 2:42 to go. But safety Kevin Kaesviharn intercepted a Roethlisberger pass in the end zone with 10 seconds left.

"It's frustrating because we felt we were in control of it," Steelers receiver Hines Ward said. "We came out in the second half and we went right down and scored some points and continued doing that."

They also wasted a decent effort by the defense, which held Rudi Johnson to 47 yards rushing on 19 carries and forced three turnovers.

The Steelers scored first when Parker ran 3 yards for a touchdown on their opening drive. They were in position to make it 14-0 but Roethlisberger's pass on first down at Cincinnati's 6, intended for tight end Heath Miller, was intercepted by Madieu Williams in the end zone.

"It was almost like they knew it was coming," said Roethlisberger, who threw it into a crowd. "... I didn't see the guy coming the other direction."

Roethlisberger completed 18 of 39 for 208 yards with no touchdowns, three sacks and a poor 30.7 passer rating, his second consecutive game in the 30s.

That interception by Williams started a run for the Bengals that gave them a 14-7 lead. They completed a 97-yard drive to score on Palmer's 16-yard pass to Chris Henry, his first of two to the former West Virginia University receiver. They connected again from 3 yards just before the half.

"That was a big drive," coach Marvin Lewis said of his Bengals' first score. "At that point, we hadn't had a lot of success moving the football."

The Steelers turned things around in the third quarter to reclaim the lead, 17-14. Reed kicked a 37-yard field goal -- his first of the season -- on the opening series to close the Bengals' lead to 14-10.

Ike Taylor then intercepted a Palmer pass when safety Tyrone Carter smacked into Henry and the ball popped into the air. Taylor returned it 34 yards to Cincinnati's 7.

Parker then scored from the 1 on fourth down to put the Steelers back on top, 17-14. After three quarters, Parker had 123 yards rushing. The Steelers ended up outgaining the Bengals, 365-246.

"Could they stop us?" Parker wondered. "I ask you the question. I don't think they could, but so be it."

Palmer was not as dominant as his four touchdowns made it appear. Taylor and cornerback Deshea Townsend each intercepted passes, and the Steelers sacked him six times, causing fumbles on three of them, one of which they recovered. Palmer was 18 of 26 for 193 yards.

Linebacker Clark Haggans had two of those sacks and a fumble recovery, but he took no solace in the way he or his defense played.

"We lost, point blank. We just didn't make the plays when we needed to make them. You can look at it that way. Hindsight is 20-20, but we came out with a loss and we're 1-2."