With a pen in one hand and a play sheet in the other, Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski watches practice the way a painter stands at his easel.

        The 2001 Bengals offense is his creation.

        He will tell the play to quarterback Jon Kitna and walk off to the side to analyze. Most of the time Bratkowski is stoic. Every now and then, he's animated, as when gesturing for tailback Corey Dillon to run farther outside on a sweep.

        The results so far have been mixed. At times, the offense has tortured the artist with its inability to run or pass the ball — or both — and has been forced into a series of three-and-out possessions.

        Other times, it has shown flashes of what Bratkowski says lies ahead. It has been balanced, passing efficiently and running fiercely on Dillon's legs behind a suffocating offensive line.

        “There's good and bad, kind of like our record,” Bratkowski said.

        Good: the fourth-quarter drive at Detroit to win the game, the 199 rushing yards and 201 passing yards against Cleveland, the third quarters against New England and Baltimore, and long Dillon runs.

        Bad: the third-quarter collapses at San Diego and Jacksonville, the shutout loss to Chicago, the miscommunication between Kitna and his receivers at Pittsburgh, holding penalties that brought back long Dillon runs, and Dillon having to make two moves in the backfield to get back to the line of scrimmage.

        Bratkowski's task was the elevate the pass offense enough to force defenses to respect it. Defenses would have to stop bringing up their safeties and concentrating solely on stopping Dillon.

        The Cleveland game was the best example of the desired balance. Still, say Kitna and Bratkowski, defenses don't yet fear the passing game.

        “We have to be able to — when a team is not going to allow us to run the football — step it up in the passing game and be good enough to win,” Kitna said.

        The problems Kitna was having with his receivers' readings of coverages appear to have improved. Even though many of the yards came late, Kitna had the franchise's first 300-yard passing game since December 1999, last weekend at Jacksonville in a 30-13 loss. Second-year receivers Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans look more comfortable, and rookie T.J. Houshmandzadeh impressed with six receptions and correct reads when veteran Darnay Scott went out with a concussion.

        “I saw things nobody else cares about. I saw us do some things in the passing game in Jacksonville that, as a coach, made me happy,” said Bratkowski, who was hired from the Steelers staff in January to replace former coordinator Ken Anderson, who was demoted to quarterbacks coach. “Guys on the same page. I saw things that told me we're starting to get it. Now we got beat, so nobody wants to hear those things. I see the players are buying into it. They're paying attention.”

        Bratkowski got the players he wanted. Kitna had played in his offense in Seattle, where Bratkowski was coordinator from 1995-98. The Bengals drafted speedy wide receiver Chad Johnson in the draft's second round this year. Scott came back healthy from last year's season-ending broken ankle. Free agent left tackle Richmond Webb teamed with re-signed left guard Matt O'Dwyer to solidify that side of the line. And Dillon signed a five-year contract in May.

        Bratkowski installed a new offense and had to teach it, not only to his players, but to a staff of five returning offensive assistants.

        “The thing about Bob, and it's probably tough on him, is that he had to teach the coaching staff the things that he like to do, his philosophy as a coach,” Kitna said. “I think we're making strides, (and) he's making strides in convincing people this system can produce a 1,400-yard rusher and a top-15 or -10 passing game.”

        The pass offense has improved from a league-worst average of 122 yards a game last season to 188, good for 23rd. The Bengals were shut out three times in their first six games in 2000 but only once in eight games so far this season. The team is on pace to score 266 points, up from the franchise-worst 185 of a year ago.

        But, oh, that inconsistency, especially in the rushing offense. The Bengals have rushed for an average of 162 yards in their victories, 71 yards in their losses.

        The Bengals average 24.75 points a game in their wins but 8.5 in their losses.

        “People are hell-bent on stopping Corey from running the ball,” Bratkowski said. “We've got to make them be honest. It's hard for a lot of people to understand, until we can hurt them with the pass game, they're going to continue to play eight in the box.

        “How do you make them honest? You gain big chunks and go down in four plays and score. You go bang-bang and get in the end zone. Then you do it again. If they're going to commit up there and leave one-on-one outside, you can't do it once every couple of weeks, you've got to hurt them right now. Right from the beginning, 20 yards at a time.”

        The inconsistency and inability to threaten defenses with the pass are the results of installing the new offense, teaching it to young players and waiting for the offensive players to get more familiar with each other, said Bratkowski, who sees his offense as a work in progress.

        “I can see us making marked improvement and even bigger days than we've had, wins on the road against tough teams,” he said.

        “We've been telling these guys since minicamp: We are not going to be a team that's going to be laughed at or made fun of. We have talent. We've tried to beat that into the players' heads since Day1. After Baltimore, they started thinking, "Maybe the coaches are right.' It's a constant battle. We've got to keep reminding them we're capable of going out against Tennessee this weekend and executing and winning.”

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