Sunday, September 05, 1999

Dillon ready to run

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Bengals must turn him loose

BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Corey Dillon avoids a tackle by Falcons' Ronnie Bradford Friday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Bengals hope to literally run away from their woeful 0-4 exhibition season and into next Sunday's regular-season opener in Tennessee.

        They know Corey Dillon ran the ball just 33 times in the two games the Oilers shellacked them last season by a combined 67-28.

        They know Dillon ran it 39 times when the Bengals drilled the Oilers 41-14 in 1997.

        They know the Oilers are now the Titans and that the name has changed, but the game hasn't.

        “No,” Bengals right guard Brian DeMarco said Friday night, when asked if he was worried about an offense that produced just 36 points in four exhibition losses.

        DeMarco pointed to Dillon holding court with the media.

        “That's a major reason,” DeMarco said. “Having Corey in there full time.”

        The Bengals are trying to drown their offensive sorrows in Dillon's 5.4-yards per-carry average this summer.

        That's better than recalling that the Nos. 3 and 4 wide receivers combined for just seven catches.

        Or that they converted just 11 of 55 third downs.

        Or that the No. 1 quarterback went his last 15 series without producing a touchdown.

        Or that they are supermodel-thin at tackle.

        Quarterback Jeff Blake plans to go on the run, too. He rushed twice for 19 yards Friday, on a particularly active night he chose to bolt out of the pocket quickly. He promises more when the real games start.

        One of the pages coach Bruce Coslet has clipped from the 1988 Bengal Super Bowl playbook is a batch of rolling pocket passes, designed to highlight the mobility of Blake and rookie backup Akili Smith.

        “When Tennessee watches (Friday's) game, even though we lost, they're going to say, "We have to contain Blake. We can't let him run,'” Blake said. “When it's third-and-three, they're going to say, "What are we going to do? When he rolls out, he can get a first down every time.'

        “It's the first time this year I hung it out there on the run,” Blake said of Friday's game. “Before, I didn't want to get hurt, Akili wasn't here yet, all that other stuff.”

        Blake said the Bengals haven't opened their playbook yet. They showed a little more shotgun formation and a little more play-action passing against the Falcons: “Bruce has come up with some things I'm excited about.”

        DeMarco said the week has to be built around studying everything Tennessee's aggressive, blitzing defense did against the Bengals last season.

        “They're not going to change anything,” he said.

        What will be a change is a healthy Brian Milne at fullback next Sunday. Milne's lead blocks were a major reason Dillon romped for a rookie record 246 yards on 39 carries against Tennessee in '97.

        Milne's back problems kept him out of one of last season's games against the Oilers, and he wasn't that healthy in the other one.

        Mainly, they've come up with Dillon. He didn't carry more than six times in the exhibition season, but the lack of work doesn't bother him.

        “I could have played the whole game (Friday), I could have played every game if they wanted,” Dillon said. “If they want to keep me limited and go ahead and open me up against Tennessee, I just follow orders.”

       

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