Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Anderson will call plays again
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It was no secret that former Bengals coach Bruce Coslet called the team's offensive plays and that offensive coordinator Ken Anderson was, in reality, a quarterbacks coach.
Possibly the most visible change of Coslet's resignation and the promotion of assistant head coach Dick LeBeau is Anderson's return to calling plays.
His title won't change. His responsibilities will.
Anderson declined an interview request Monday, but LeBeau addressed the change at an afternoon news conference.
“Well, I don't think we're suddenly going to become a no-tight end team,” LeBeau said. “But we're going to look at all aspects of this thing because, hopefully, what happened to us Sunday will not happen to us again and you'll begin to see a much more competitive performance.”
The Bengals are an exercise in offensive futility.
They were shut out for the second consecutive game Sunday in Baltimore 37-0. They have not scored a point in 34 consecutive possessions, have scored only once in 37 drives this year and are the first team since the 1945 Chicago Cardinals to open the season with only seven points in the first three games. The Bengals have been outscored 74-7.
Coslet, a successful offensive coordinator twice in Cincinnati, took over the play-calling duties from Anderson in the 1998 season.
Anderson has not called plays since the end of the 1997 season, when he .directed quarterback Boomer Esiason in the final five games. The Bengals went 4-1 and averaged 32 points a game.
Esiason said he and Ander son were in sync during that stretch.
The changeover won't affect quarterback Akili Smith too much. He worked with Anderson in the offseason.
“Got to come in tomorrow and see what he's devising as far as the offense is concerned,” Smith said. “I have no idea. I'm behind Kenny all the way. Whatever he decides to do I'm going to go out there and execute the offense.”
The first test will come Sunday when Miami and its stingy defense comes to town. The Dolphins are 3-1 and have allowed only 22 points all season.
While Coslet called the plays, Anderson sent them in to Smith via radio. Anderson's calling the plays will remove one step in the process and might enable the Bengals to pick up the pace offensively during the game. Smith had complained last week that the Bengals needed to pick up the pace, similar to what Jacksonville did under quarterback Mark Brunell.
“It's the fourth game of the season, so we can't change the offense,” Anderson told the team's Web site. “We can do some things, but the main thing is do what we do and do it better. We'll see what happens, but the plays should get in faster because one step is going to be taken out of it.”
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Anderson will call plays again
