Monday, December 28, 1998

BUCS 35, BENGALS 0

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Season ends in fitting, futile fashion

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DE Michael Bankston tries to rally teammates on the sideline. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Team speed was one of the few assets the Bengals displayed this year. But they might have tried to leave Cinergy Field a little too quickly Sunday.

        Their 35-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season finale left the unfortunate but unmistakable impression that a disturbing number of players couldn't wait to start their break.

        “I'm not a guy to point fingers, but maybe we had some guys who were already on the highway,” Bengals strong safety Sam Shade said. “Maybe we had some guys already on the airplane, flying home.”

        Granted, the Buccaneers (8-8) had greater motivation entering the game, with a chance to snare the NFC's last wild-card playoff spot. But Arizona's 16-13 victory over San Diego later in the afternoon ended Tampa Bay's season.

Punter Brad Costello watches a bad snap fly past him. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Nevertheless, Cincinnati's performance was as bleak as the half-filled stands which belied the announced paid atten dance of 49,826. Their fourth 3-13 finish of the 1990s included a 1-7 home record — both matching franchise lows.

        “That was perhaps our worst game of the year all around,” said cornerback Ashley Ambrose, combining with Shade to clinch the truth-in-advertising award for the Bengals' secondary.

        Most of the glare fell on the special teams. In the first 21 minutes and 3 seconds, they endured Doug Pelfrey's missed 40-yard field goal, Greg Truitt's high snap on a punt, Eric Bieniemy's lost fumble on a kickoff return and a blocked punt. The last three blunders allowed Tampa Bay to begin touchdown drives on Cincinnati's 8-, 31- and 4-yard lines.

        Those followed Trent Dilfer's 50-yard touchdown pass to Robb Thomas on Tampa Bay's game-opening drive. It should be noted that Thomas previously had one catch for 13 yards this season.

Darnay Scott has one foot out of bounds on this would-be TD catch. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        In brief postgame remarks, Bengals coach Bruce Coslet interrupted a reporter spewing facts and figures by saying, “You can go ahead and stop with statistics. The statistic I saw was a blocked punt, a fumbled kickoff return and a muffed snap — and it's 28-0.”

        “I think that's the worst we've played special teams this entire season,” Shade said.

        Resignation and resolve merged in the Bengals' locker room, where players felt glad to have finished one of the dreariest seasons in club history but knew that it would haunt them in some way.

        “Well, 3-13 (stinks),” quarterback Paul Justin said. “But I'm never glad that football's over.”

QB Paul Justin suffered a bruised knuckle on a first-quarter sack by Warren Sapp and had to leave the game. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        When football resumes for the Bengals, their roster is likely to be radically altered. Key players such as wide receiver Carl Pickens, Ambrose and Shade will almost certainly depart as unrestricted free agents.

        Pickens declined to speak to reporters, hitching up his jeans and whistling as he headed for the sanctity of the trainer's room.

        Witnesses said he entered the locker room after the game smiling, laughing and singing the early 1980s Kenny Loggins hit, “This Is It,” a vignette which, if true, reflects his desire to leave as much as any statement.

        Ambrose and Shade remained politically correct one last time.

        “I'd love to come back,” said Ambrose, who can more than double his 1998 salary of $1.9 million on the open market. “I was telling "Hawk' (Artrell Hawkins) on the sideline that one reason I'd love to come back is, it's got to turn around sooner or later. When you get to the playoffs, to that next level, it's even more enjoyable. But you never know what's going to happen. Whatever happens is going to be the best for me.”

CB Ashley Ambrose's potential interception is broken up by Jacquez Green. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Asked why he'd want to return, Shade said, “Because I've had success here as a player and as an individual. I see this defense going places down the road. We have a lot of talented young guys who will be excellent players.”

        They had better improve if the Bengals are to avoid embarrassments such as Sunday's.

        The final score heaped several statistical indignities upon the Bengals' heads. They suffered their largest shutout margin of defeat, exceeding the 34-0 losses they absorbed on Nov. 24, 1968, against Oakland and Oct. 18, 1987, against Cleveland in a strike replacement game.

        The Bengals finished with 452 points allowed, eclipsing the 437 they yielded in 1985 for the most in franchise history.

        Pelfrey's missed field goal and Darnay Scott's fourth-down catch barely out of the end zone midway through the third quarter doomed the Bengals to their first shutout loss since a 20-0 decision at Pittsburgh on Oct. 19, 1992. That was a Monday night game, which may partly explain Cincinnati's absence from ABC's prime-time programming since then.

        Speaking of television, one fan courting attention on ESPN brought a banner that summarized Cincinnati's season nicely. It read, “Every Snap Prolongs Nausea.”

       

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