Monday, September 25, 2000
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
After 4-yard game, average falls to 62
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BALTIMORE — The Bengals, who emphasized the running game coming into the season, ran for four yards in Sunday's 37-0 loss to the Ravens.
Cincinnati came in averag ing 91 yards a game, which was 20th in the league.
After Sunday's performance, the average dropped to 62 yards a game, which will put the Bengals near the bottom of the stat sheet. The Detroit Lions entered Week 4 as the league's least productive rushing team, at 59 yards a game.
Here's the line on Bengals running effort unday.
• Corey Dillon: 12 attempts, 9 yards, 0.8 average, 4-yard long.
• Scott Mitchell: 1, 3, 3.0, 3.
• Brandon Bennett, 2, minus-7, minus-3.5, minus-1.
• Clif Groce, 1, minus-1, minus-1, minus-1.
• Totals: 16 attempts, 4 yards, 0.3 average, 4-yard long.
Six of the 16 rushing attempts lost yardage. The Bengals lost 16 yards on those six tackles for loss.
The holes aren't there.
“I'm not, I can't answer questions about the team thing,” right tackle Willie Anderson said. “I'm one of the leaders on the team, and I have to judge my performance and what I did wrong to get better. I prefer to get myself going. I have to get Willie right first.”
The Bengals gained two of their seven first downs on the ground.
The frustration with the running game showed during the game.
After he was tackled for a loss, Dillon trotted off the field. Coach Bruce Coslet waived for Dillon to stay on the field. Dillon shook his head as if to say “no” and continued off the field. Coslet and Dillon then had a brief verbal exchange.
Coslet didn't answer questions in his post-game news conference. He made only a nine-second statement.
But he later told a Bengals media relations employee that he was not angry with Dillon and had no problem with the running back. The Bengals' Web site quoted Coslet as saying, “I've got no problems with Corey Dillon. He hugged me right after that. He's a competitor.”
Featured running back Dillon, who gained 1,200 yards last year,has 82 yards on 41 carries for a 2-yard average in three games.
Dillon said he had nothing to say after the game.
Cincinnati tied for sixth best in the NFL in rushing last season when it averaged more than 128 yards a game.
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Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
