Sunday, November 05, 2000
Improved defense starts with line
Booker's return key
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In the last six quarters, the Bengals defense has allowed 10 points.
The three points scored by Cleveland last week were the fewest a Cincinnati defense has given up since Game 14 of the 1993 season.
The Browns gained only 182 yards.
While the entire Cincinnati defense shares in the achievement, its success starts up front with the improved play of the often overlooked defensive line. It's a unit whose strength is the sum talent of its individual parts.
“Our defensive line has been playing hard and, for the most part, very well,” said coach Dick LeBeau, who's also the Bengals' defensive coordinator. “We're better when (Vaughn) Booker's in there. It gives us more depth, and we can roll people.”
Booker played a role in the line's two shining moments in Cleveland.
He was held in the end zone on a Cleveland pass play, resulting in a safety and accounting for Cincinnati's final two points in its 12-3 victory.
In the third quarter, after cornerback Rodney Heath was called for a pass interference penalty in the end zone, Cleveland has first and goal from the 1-yard line.
But three successive running plays to Travis Prentice were stopped and actually lost a foot or two. Defensive tackle Oliver Gibson got credit for one stop. The defensive line pushed the line back enough on second and third downs to allow linebackers Armegis Spearman and Billy Granville to hit Prentice short of the goal line.
Booker missed four games after a mysterious fainting spell at the end of the Jacksonville game. He returned to start at left end for the Denver game, the start of the modest two-game win streak.
His enthusiasm seems to have affected the whole unit.
“I tell you, I'm having a lot of fun,” said Booker, the Taft High School graduate who has played in Kansas City and Green Bay before signing in the offseason with the Bengals. “I know what it's like to have football taken away from you. I wasn't prepared for that.”
Michael Bankston, seen as the top reserve at all line positions, had been starting at left end. He was switched to right end to make room for Booker. The regular right end, John Copeland, was moved to right tackle. The constant has been Gibson, who leads the line with three sacks, at left tackle.
“Gibson's been a good, solid player every game he's been here,” LeBeau said.
The two starts at left tackle have been a first for the eight-year pro Copeland, but the move made the line better.
“It's given us a little more pass rush,” LeBeau said. “Whether the sack total has been appreciably improved, I don't know. I know the pressure has been.”
Copeland, Bankston, Booker and former starter Tom Barndt have played through various injuries and aches and pains.
Bankston, 30, who hasn't missed one of his 136 NFL games, has healed from knee and calf injuries. He leads the line with 38 tackles and is fast for a 285-pound end. He can get from sideline to sideline as well as any lineman in the league.
“It's just a desire we have to go out there and do our best,” he said.
Copeland took the position vacated by free agent signee Tom Barndt, who has battled a pectoral pull all season. He started the first five games but was essentially playing one-armed football. He couldn't push because of the injury. He didn't start at Pittsburgh and has been inactive the last two weeks. The rest has helped.
“Maybe in a week or two,” Barndt said of a return. “I love to be out there, but I want to do something positive to contribute.”
There are no superstars on the line.
“But every guy believes he's the one who can make the one or two big plays every game,” Barndt said. “Everybody thinks that way and stays in the game.”
The defensive line is eight players deep. Veterans Jevon Langford, Glen Steele and Reinard Wilson have all played this season.
As a unit, the line plays in the image of its coach, former Bengals nose tackle Tim Krumrie.
“They understand they're a group,” Krumrie said. “They're hard-working me who work well together. They're mature. It's always, "Whatever you say, coach.' They understand guys get nicked week to week. They're always ready.”
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Improved defense starts with line
