Good thing Marvin Lewis is a coach and not a doctor.

"We put a little penicillin on the virus," Lewis said yesterday after the Bengals rallied for a 17-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Paul Brown Stadium.

If he were a physician, his diagnosis would have done little good. Penicillin works on bacteria, not viruses. But Lewis had the right prescription for what ailed his Bengals. Losers of two straight, they limped into the locker room at halftime trailing 14-7.

Truth is, it should have been worse. The offense went three-and-out on its first four possessions. After Cincinnati finally scored a tying touchdown, its defense wilted during a quick Carolina scoring drive.

Lewis’ halftime message was blunt.

"It’s simple," he said he told his players. "If we do what we’re supposed to do and be accountable and dependable to each other, we’ll be all right. That’s how you play football. But if we’re going to keep not doing the things we’re coached to do and keep looking around at each other why it didn’t happen, then we’re going to continue to lose."

The second half wasn’t always a thing of beauty, but the Bengals made the key plays when they had to. Chad Johnson made a diving catch on a 32-yard play on fourth-and-1 to set up the go-ahead touchdown with eight minutes left. Kevin Kaesviharn then intercepted a Jake Delhomme pass in the end zone with 3:50 left when it looked like Carolina would at least tie the score.

The victory improves the Bengals to 4-2 and moves them into a first-place tie in the AFC North with Baltimore, which was off. Cincinnati is two games ahead of Pittsburgh, which lost to Atlanta, the Bengals’ next opponent.

"Huge," quarterback Carson Palmer said of the victory. "It’s only one game, but the difference between 3-3 and 4-2 is drastic. With the road ahead of us, three or four in a row against great teams, this will give us that momentum and that confidence and get us back on track."

That the Bengals would be able to celebrate seemed inconceivable given their start. It took them more than 22 minutes to get a first down. That came at the start of an 80-yard touchdown drive kept alive when cornerback Ken Lucas dropped an interception.

Trailing 14-7, the Bengals moved the ball to the Panthers 3-yard line on their second possession of the third quarter, only to settle for a field goal after Rudi Johnson was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on third-and-2.

But the Bengals wouldn’t be denied on their first drive of the fourth quarter, even when the possession began with a 10-yard sack to the Cincinnati 4. Coping with a stiff breeze, Palmer completed 8 of 9 passes on the drive for 93 yards, the biggest coming on a fourth-down pass to Chad Johnson.

"Everybody thought I was getting it," Rudi Johnson said. "Coach Lewis and coach ‘Brat’ (offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski) made a gutsy call."

When Cincinnati faced a fourthand-1 at the Carolina 43 on its next drive, Lewis opted to punt. Considering the Bengals defense had yielded only one first down in the Panthers’ four second-half possessions, it seemed like sound strategy.

But the Panthers (4-3) needed only three plays to move from their 19 to the Bengals 10. After two incompletions, Delhomme threw toward Keyshawn Johnson in the back of the end zone. Kaesviharn read the play and jumped to make the interception.

"As soon as it was up in the air, I knew I had it," Kaesviharn said.

The Bengals then kept the ball until only 16 seconds remained to seal the victory over a Panthers team that had won four straight.

And that virus?

"It’s still there," Lewis said. "When you win the close football games, you’ve got to enjoy it because it makes everybody feel a little better. But we still have a lot to coach up and correct."

Columbus Dispatch

http://columbusdispatch.com/bengals/bengals.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/23/20061023-C1-00.html