Dre Kirkpatrick: Bengals ‘know what kind of game it is’

When Dre Kirkpatrick looks back at film of last season’s playoff loss to Pittsburgh, he still can’t believe some of the after-whistle reactions that occurred.

On Wednesday, the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback echoed head coach Marvin Lewis’ earlier statements this is a new year, new team, but Kirkpatrick didn’t shy away from discussing the lessons learned in the 18-16 wild-card playoff loss – which saw the Steelers take the lead following two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the final minute.

The Bengals face the Steelers for the first time since that heated game in a Week 2 matchup Sunday at Heinz Field.

“It’s still going to be a hard-fought game, but we just have to stay away from all the extra things that were going on last year,” Kirkpatrick said. “I watched that film and every play it was something. It was to the point where I was like, ‘We really were doing that?’ We know what kind of game it is, so we know what we’ve got to do.

“We know that’s how we were feeling at that moment, but this is a new team, a new identity. We just have to control ourselves a little better.”

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That playoff game, which denied Cincinnati its first playoff win since the 1990 season, is something Kirkpatrick recognizes he likely will think about the rest of his career.

However, it also served as a learning tool this offseason.

“I feel like we did a lot of good things in the offseason, especially trying to get us prepared mentally and the focus of this game, just going out there and playing within the whistles, celebrating with your teammates, not taunting the other guys and just being professional,” Kirkpatrick said. “I feel like we let a lot of things get away from us last year that we could control and it brought a lot of heat up on us. We know we have a target on our back. We know the refs are going to be watching everything we do, so we just have to be a smart team, and I feel we prepared ourselves to be a smart team this year.”

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said the team spent time this offseason putting players in situations in practice that might lead to an emotional reaction, to help tame their instincts.

However, that is not the focus in preparations this week. Guenther said the defense will put its foot to the gas pedal as far as speed of play in practice but coaching emotion was an offseason priority.

“Everyone had something,” said Guenther, who previously noted the use of rookie offensive players to instigate reactions to his defensive unit. “It was my job as coordinator, not only Xs and Os, but the whole makeup of the defense how we can move forward and get better. It was part of the deal we did in the offseason and here we are playing Pittsburgh again.”

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There is one less worry this time with linebacker Vontaze Burfict serving the second week of his three-game suspension that stemmed from his repeated violations of safety-related playing rules.

Burfict had three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the Week 14 loss to Pittsburgh last year, and his hit to Antonio Brown’s helmet accounted for one of the two personal fouls that helped move the Steelers into field-goal range on the game-winning drive in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh also will be without Le’Veon Bell, who is serving a three-game suspension and was the source of a pre-game fray in Cincinnati during a regular-season matchup last year. Bell had threatened Burfict on Twitter after Burfict ended his season on a tackle that tore his MCL in the Week 8 matchup at Pittsburgh.

Kirkpatrick said he still expects an intense matchup this time, but his focus will be on containing the Steelers receiving corps, which is led by seven-year veteran Antonio Brown, who had 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

“Every time we play those guys certain things go out of hand, but it’s all about how we respond to it this year,” Kirkpatrick said. “I don’t know how we’re going to respond because the game hasn’t happened yet, but we’ve prepared to respond in the most professional way as possible.”