Monday, October 22, 2001
Ground game never got going
Chicago line was stacked to stop Dillon & Co.
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When the Bengals can't run the football, it's a well-chronicled fact they can't win the game. That is the bleak reality for a team that is 3-3 and hoping against hope to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
At times, such as Sunday's 24-0 loss to the Chicago Bears, a precision passing game probably would have helped make opponents pay for stacking players on the line of scrimmage.
“Sometimes if you can get the passing game going, your running game will come along,” Bengals center Rich Braham said.
The Bears were betting the Bengals couldn't contend with a pair of 340-pound defensive tackles, and some active safeties used to fill in whatever gaps those DTs' big feet couldn't reach.
“We did the same thing we've been doing all year long — stack the box (because) we want to stop the run,” said Brian Urlacher, the Bears' all-over-the-place middle linebacker. “We feel like if we can stop the run, we can blitz. ... Our DBs like to come up and hit.”
Even on a good day, Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna isn't going to make anybody forget John Elway. On a bad day, he's going to do things that make some people want to forget him.
Such as Sunday when the Bengals, who were on the Bears' 6-yard line, appeared headed for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead just as the second quarter had begun. On a rollout right, Kitna slipped and fell before he could unload the ball, thereby taking a sack. On the next play, following a high snap, he threw a ball into double coverage and it was intercepted.
None of the Bengals was willing to blame the offense's shortcomings for its inability to exploit the Bears' defensive game plan.
But once one waded through the deep swamp of non-excuses, where they blamed only themselves, there was usually the realization a better passing game might have helped.
It's probably not quite that simple. But Kitna didn't have a good day, especially early, when it might have lessened the Bears' boldness.
Still, the Bears are 4-1 because not many teams have a QB who can make their bolstered defensive line pay.
“They didn't really bring any new blitzes, but they slanted a lot more than they showed the last few weeks,” Braham said.
Said running back Corey Dillon, who had 30 yards on 16 rushes: “I'm used to running on eight-man fronts. They (future opponents) can do that if they want. We'll gash them with the passing game, or hit some creases with the running game, and get back to what we know how to do.”
Offensive tackle John Jackson, who came in for a bigger share of the line's workload after Willie Anderson left with what initially was termed as a mild concussion, agreed.
“We can pass the ball. That's not the question,” he said. “We want to establish the run. That's key for us ... (But) yes, it's true, you do have to be able to pass the ball. I've been on teams like in Pittsburgh where we had great (running ability), and yet we still had to pass the ball (to be fully effective on offense).”
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Ground game never got going
