Saturday, August 21, 1999LIONS 16, BENGALS 0
Blake struggles, offense awful
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PONTIAC, Mich. — If the Bengals were intent on selling tickets for Saturday's exhibition home opener, they might as well have ringed the Cinergy Field box office with barbed wire.
Jeff Blake is sacked by Lions LB Chris Claiborne.
(AP photos)
| ZOOM |Cincinnati's first offensive unit laid the proverbial egg Friday night in an atrocious first half and the backups weren't any better in a 16-0 loss to the Detroit Lions at the Pontiac Silverdome.
To make the night even grimmer, Bengals backup strong safety Kelvin Moore ended his career when he broke the first vertebra in his neck tackling Lions wide receiver Brian Stablein early in the second half.
“It shakes you up to see him lying there,” said strong safety Myron Bell, Moore's closest friend on the team.
There was no good on this night. Long snapper Greg Truitt suffered what the club feared was a season-ending knee injury in the first half that had ligament damage.
Lions WR Germaine Crowell escapes from Tremain Mack.
| ZOOM |Their play was so bad, quarterback Jeff Blake felt he had to tell his teammates after the game to “let it go.
“It's a loss, let's eat it, forget it, move on,” Blake said. “It's preseason, we have to get that winning mentality. We can't have that, "Here we go again,' type stuff. I told them ... let's look at the film, fix it, come out and show people what we're made of when adversity arrives.”
It figured that on a night first-team punter Brad Costello couldn't work because of a mild hip strain aggravated in pre-game workouts and Truitt got hurt, the offense went in the tank. With 7:36 left in the game, kicker Doug Pelfrey was forced to make his 10th punt of a grueling evening when he averaged 33 yards per kick.
“We did nothing,” Blake said. “We didn't go long. ... I can't put a finger (on why).”
Brian Simmons sacks Charlie Hatch.
| ZOOM |“Too many penalties, too many drops, to many missed blocks, everything,” coach Bruce Coslet said. “We didn't look good.”
The Bengals' first offensive line, playing together for the first time this year, could do nothing against a Detroit front missing two starters. Right guard Brian DeMarco, returning from an offseason shoulder injury, looked to struggle on some plays in his first game with his new team.
“It felt good,” DeMarco said. “We have to work on things, that's all. They will come.”
Blake struggled through 6-of-13 passing in the half for just 64 yards, and his first offense committed as many penalties (three) as it got first downs.
The offense was so bad, Coslet sent the first team out to start the second half against Detroit's second team, usually a no-no in just the second exhibition game.
Corey Dillon is stopped by LB Stephen Boyd.
| ZOOM |“We had such a poor first half I wanted to see if we could rally,' Coslet said. “We get a first down, then we get a penalty.”
It just got worse in the second half. After wide receiver Stepfret Williams was called for holding, Blake threw a high pass over the middle to Williams that got tipped for an interception.
The first defense played well after giving up a microwave-quick touchdown drive to open the game. On the Lions' first six plays, quarterback Charlie Batch went at left corner Corey Sawyer with his tall, fast wideouts. Saywer got called for pass interference on Herman Moore before giving up three straight completions, the last a 24-yard touchdown pass to Germane Crowell.
Less than three minutes into the game, the Bengals were down 7-0.
But all the first defense would allow for the rest of the half were two field goals.
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LIONS 16, BENGALS 0