The Bengals are not the worst NFL passing offense of all time. But at 107.5 yards a game, they are among the worst of modern times.

        Modern, in this case, dates to the 1978 season. That was the year the NFL expanded to a 16-game format, and it coincides with rules changes that helped the passing game.

        In 1977 the NFL abolished the “head slap,” which defensive linemen had used on offensive linemen. In 1978 came the 5-yard “no-bump” rule, wherein defensive players became restricted to chucking/bumping receivers only within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.

        Since then, the 1979 Kansas City Chiefs (103.8 yards a game) and 1978 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (106.4) have had the worst passing seasons. The Bengals are in range.

        And in 2000, with the average NFL team throwing for 208.7 yards a game, the Bengals are badly out of step.

        “I still believe we'll end up with a good passing attack,” Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. “And we do have some youth there, we don't deny that. What we need to do is get it back on track.”

        Youth is what most blame for the Bengals' struggles. Essentially, the Bengals (2-8) have gone with a rookie quarterback and rookie receivers all season.

        Quarterback Akili Smith, a second-year player, started all 10 games before being benched Monday. Two rookies, Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans, were the starting wideouts for five games. The oldest receivers are second-year men Craig Yeast and Damon Griffin. The fifth receiver is rookie Danny Farmer.

        Darnay Scott, a seven-year veteran, was to be the primary receiver and deep threat. But he broke a leg in training camp. And then the Bengals cut four-year veteran James Hundon. That left Smith with nothing but green receivers.

        By now, the litany of failures is well-known. Smith is the lowest-rated passer in the league (50.1). His receivers drop passes, with Warrick having an NFL-high 11 drops. His receivers sometimes can't get open, or run the wrong routes. When they do shake free, Smith often throws behind or over them.

        “Akili is a second-year guy, and it's hard enough to play quarterback,” Bengals center Rich Braham said. “And when you've got mainly rookie receivers, that's tough. When Darnay Scott went down, that was a severe blow to our offense.”

        The view from the bottom:

        • The top NFL passing offense is St. Louis, a team scoring 39.2 points a game. The Bengals are averaging 9.3 points.

        • The Rams are passing for 358.6 yards a game, the 31st-ranked Bengals for 107.5.

        • The Bengals have thrown only two touchdown passes. The last team to throw for only two TDs in a year was the 1942 Steelers.

        • The Bengals have gone six full games since their last TD pass, vs. Miami on Oct.1.

        And yet, some teams have been worse.

        The '79 Kansas City offense was quarterbacked primarily by journeyman Steve Fuller. His top wideouts were Henry Marshall and J.T. Smith. The coach was Marv Levy. The team did go 7-9, albeit last in the AFC West.

        The '78 Tampa team, No.2 on the recent Wall of Shame list, was quarterbacked mainly by Doug Williams — who later won a Super Bowl with Washington. His primary wideouts were Morris Owens and J.K. McKay, son of coach John McKay. That team went 5-11, then made the NFC championship a year later with Williams at quarterback.

        The Bengals seem no threat to reach the AFC title game, much less the playoffs, any time soon.

        Sunday, they will start 11-year veteran Scott Mitchell. His passer rating is 11.2, which is as about as low as it gets. Smith remains the quarterback of the future and probably will regain the job within a few weeks.

        “I always thought (Bruce) Coslet was good with quarterbacks,” said Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated. “It's hard to say what's going on now that they have a defensive coordinator (LeBeau) as coach.”

        It can't get much worse around here. But it once was.

        Cincinnati can claim the worst passing team in the NFL's 80-year history, at least in one category.

        The 1933 Cincinnati Reds, a short-lived NFL franchise that expired a year later, were one of only two teams in league history that failed to throw a touchdown pass in a season. The other was the 1945 Pittsburgh Steelers.

        Also, the '33 Reds threw for only 357 total yards in 10 games that season. That is second-lowest in NFL history to the 1934 Chicago Cardinals (302 yards in 11 games).

        The 2000 Bengals have no problem throwing for 302 yards.

        It just takes them three weeks to do it.

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