Monday, October 01, 2001
Doc: How will they react to this?
By Paul Daugherty
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SAN DIEGO — Reality came as hard as a helmet to the rib cage, and the Bengals took plenty of those. Once in the third quarter, a San Diego defensive tackle named Leonardo Carson drilled Corey Dillon for a 14-yard loss on a run that looked to be heading up the middle.
If you've ever seen Dillon lose 14 yards on any play, let alone one designed to go straight ahead, call NFL Films.
How do you feel about the Bengals now? From 2-0 to two and uh-oh? They were ESPN's leading men last week. The Bengals were on Game Day Sunday morning more than Chris Berman. What a story.
What now? After the 14-28 thugging they took from the Chargers, can the Bengals avoid the carriage-to-pumpkin phase?
“Now we'll really be tested,” tight end Tony McGee decided.
Said QB Jon Kitna, “This is our first adversity. How are we going to react to it? That is (when) you can tell about the character of a team.”
The Bengals are not as good as the team that mashed Baltimore last week. They're not as bad as the team the Chargers ran over in the third quarter Sunday. This week, they play at Pittsburgh. This week, we will see about the Bengals.
Third-quarter collapse
They burst some bubbles here. They proved an antidote to optimism. To win against good teams on the road, you have to be physical and you have to run. The Bengals weren't physical. At least not as physical as the Chargers. And they didn't run.
Chargers rookie running back LaDainian Tomlinson bought a house in the Bengals secondary. He scored three times in eight minutes and ran for 80 yards in the third quarter, when the Chargers knocked the Bengals out.
Meanwhile, San Diego safety Rodney Harrison was becoming an uninvited member of the Bengals backfield. And Corey Dillon was losing a fumble and gaining just 46 yards. The team that prided itself on winning the third quarter got manhandled.
Players said they were undone by turnovers and penalties. “You can work on turnovers and execution. That can be fixed,” Willie Anderson noted. “As long as coach (Dick LeBeau) didn't say, "They beat us down man-to-man.' ”
But in the third quarter, that's just what San Diego did. On their way to scoring 21 points in eight minutes, the Chargers shoved both Bengals lines around.
San Diego quarterback Doug Flutie said of his team's defense, “They fly around and smack people. That's their work ethic.”
This, from a team that went 1-15 last year.
It will be interesting Sunday, seeing if the Bengals — more talented, better coached, better led on the field than they've been in a decade — can overcome the doubt created against the Chargers. Because after Kitna completed a 7-yard TD pass to Chad Johnson to close out the first half at 7-7, the Chargers looked to be the only team on the field.
“We're going to surprise y'all,” Anderson said. “I feel strong about the character on this team.”
We'll see in Pittsburgh. The Bengals are better than they've been in years. But, as the Chargers showed, better doesn't necessarily mean good.
Contact Paul Daugherty at 768-8454; fax: 768-8550; e-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Daugherty.
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Doc: How will they react to this?
