Defense has dander up Holmes' 173 yards stuck in their crawl Friday, November 20, 1998
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Priest Holmes would make a fitting symbol for what has gone wrong with the Bengals' season.
But symbols often can be desecrated, torn apart or just plain erased.
Much of Cincinnati's defensive futility can be traced to Holmes' performance on Sept. 27. The Baltimore Ravens' running back made his first NFL start a memorable one, amassing 173 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in a 31-24 defeat of the Bengals.
Since then, allowing ordinary players to perform extraordinary feats has become one of Cincinnati's most disturbing trademarks. There was Pittsburgh's seldom-used Richard Huntley, who virtually doubled his season rushing total (11 carries, 86 yards) in barely more than a half (20 carries, 85 yards).
Or Tennessee's Isaac Byrd, Kevin Dyson and Chris Sanders, who combined for 12 catches, 236 yards and two touchdowns after entering the game with one 18-yard catch among them.
Or Denver's Willie Green, who snared a 17-yard touchdown pass after beginning the game with only a 4-yard catch to his credit. Or Jacksonville's Alvis Whitted, whose first career reception was for 55 yards against Cincinnati.
But the Bengals (2-8) are coming off one of their best defensive performances of the year as they approach Sunday's rematch against Baltimore at Cinergy Field.
They permitted 125 yards rushing Sunday at Minnesota, a total inflated by Leroy Hoard's 55 yards in a meaningless game-ending possession. Robert Smith, Minnesota's premier ballcarrier, gained just 58 yards on 18 carries. It was the Bengals' lowest ground yield since Green Bay mustered 86 in the season's third game.
Heartened by this effort, the Bengals - who still rank last on the NFL's statistical charts in rushing and overall defense - hope to sustain their improvement.
It would start by stopping Holmes, who has only 264 yards on 83 carries, an average of only 3.2 yards per attempt, in six games since facing the Bengals.
"We gave him a career in one day," free safety Greg Myers said. Defensive end Michael Bankston was more blunt.
"We just got our butt handed to us. We got our behind kicked. Can I put it plainer than that?" Bankston said. "I'm not taking anything from Priest Holmes. He's a pretty good back; he's strong; and he's a hard runner, but when you get your butt kicked with a 100-something yards from one guy, there's no other way to describe it."
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has pointed out to his players that Holmes enjoyed his best game against Cincinnati. Bankston's sentiments indicated that the Bengals have taken this personally. "That's a motivation factor for us coming in, knowing we need to stop (Holmes) and make them one-dimensional," Bankston said. Defusing Baltimore's offense shouldn't be as great a challenge as facing Denver, Jacksonville or Minnesota, as the Bengals have done in the past three weeks.
Only two teams have scored fewer points than Baltimore's 147. The Ravens (3-7) rank 21st in the league in total yards (21st rushing, 17th passing) and have scored 13 points or fewer in five of their past six games.
A sputtering offense will confront an improving defense. Will Sunday's game demonstrate whether the Bengals have progressed? "We're about to find out how much," LeBeau said. "This will be a very important game for us, against this team."
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