Sunday, September 12, 1999Stakes high, expectations low
Bengals do have plenty to lose
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerThe stakes never have been higher and the outlook never lower for the opening of a Bengals season.
“No one expects us to do anything this season,” quarterback Jeff Blake said. “Except us. And that's the attitude we have to keep. We can't listen to all the negativity.”
It's tough enough for a team putting a winless exhibition record on top of a 3-13 season. But throw in that today's opener (1 p.m., Ch. 12, 7) is also the opener of the Tennessee Titans' new 67,000-seat Adelphia Stadium against a team that beat them by a combined 67-28 last season, and the odds look to be taller than the cranes building Paul Brown Stadium.
“A lot of people are writing us off,” Bengals President Mike Brown said. “I'm not. Let's play and let's see. We've got some good, young players.” The Bengals' last season of a decade that has been one of the worst in NFL history is a decisive year for many key people:
• Brown has emphasized that for political, financial and obvious reasons, the Bengals need a good season to roll into the opening of the new stadium, now 51 weeks away.
• Coach Bruce Coslet has two years left on his contract, but his “sense of urgency” offseason workouts reflect the belief that he has just this season to prove he can take the Bengals into the new stadium and the new millennium.
• Blake returns as the team's starter after being passed over twice in the past 18 months for Boomer Esiason and Neil O'Donnell. He's looking into free agency next season as he attempts to prove he's a No.1 starter, not just a journeyman.
But the Bengals also are looking to 2000 with Akili Smith, the draft's third pick and Cincinnati's quarterback of the future, firmly in place as Blake's backup despite missing 27 practices because of a contract dispute.
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