Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Bengals go from stellar to slumping
After 2-0 start, have lost 5 of last 7
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There were signs Monday at Paul Brown Stadium that the Bengals are a team trying to prevent its once promising season from unraveling.
Emotionally, it was the darkest day of the season, and the mood inside Bengals offices and the locker room matched the dreary weather outside. Players sense the label “Same Old Bengals” lurking on the horizon like a storm cloud.
A day after losing 20-7 to Tennessee and falling below .500 (4-5) for the first time this season, Bengals players avoided reporters during the media availability period. Most tried not to say anything, but if they did, the words came out in a curt manner.
They came into the locker room after coming out of position meetings, and many players walked in groups, stopping only for a moment at their lockers to pick up a jacket or cell phone before leaving.
Only two players — defensive captain Takeo Spikes and offensive captain Willie Anderson — held conversations with reporters.
Spikes issued a 30-minute challenge to teammates, but toned down his anger a day after an emotional closed-door meeting in which he told those who didn't care to leave.
“Everybody has to look deep down inside himself and ask, "How much does it mean to you?'” Spikes said. “We can only control what we do, and it's going to start (Tuesday). It would help if everybody came in (on their day off), watched 30 minutes of film, to get a head start on Cleveland.”
The Bengals, losers of five of their last seven games — including three of their last four — will play Sunday at Cleveland against a Browns team that is 5-4 and confident after upsetting the Ravens 27-17 in Baltimore Sunday.
All is not lost — as Spikes said, “I'm still talking playoffs” — but the season is beginning to look threadbare.
To Spikes, the problems can be fixed.
“The effort has never been a problem, (but) it can be jumping offsides, it can be holding, it can be busting (pass) coverages,” he said. “What gets you beat are little things like that that can come back and haunt you.”
Of late, the Bengals are having most of their problems in the second half. Some offensive players say it's almost as if opposing defenses know whether they're going to pass or run. Other teams are making adjustments at the half, and, based on the the Bengals' performance, their coaches don't appear to have many answers.
The Bengals have been outscored in the second half of each of the past four games, by a total of 61-10. They were shut out in the second half three times, all losses, and even though they won at Detroit, the Bengals were outscored 14-10 in the second half.
The Bengals blew a 13-7 halftime lead at Jacksonville and were outscored 23-0 in the second half.
They trailed just 10-7 at the half Sunday against Tennessee but were outscored 10-0 in the second half. The loss to the Titans was on coach Dick LeBeau's mind Monday.
Asked what adjustments the Titans made at the half, LeBeau said, “We tried to go deep, and they intercepted the ball. We got Corey (Dillon) going, but they called holding on us — they didn't call holding on us, we held. Things occurred that kept us from being as effective in the second half as we were in the first half.”
Three times Sunday, LeBeau elected to bypass field goal attempts by Neil Rackers in favor of two punts and a running play on fourth- and-one that was stopped for a loss.
Even the normally affable LeBeau showed signs of stress Monday. When asked essentially the same questions he had been asked after the game Sunday, LeBeau had terse exchange with a radio reporter:
“If you were expecting a low-scoring, defensive game, why did you pass up two chances to put points on the board and decide to punt?” the reporter asked.
“What is the league average on 50-yard field goals? Can you tell me?” LeBeau asked. “I can tell you.”
“Didn't Neil hit 52 the week before on the road?”
“That's right. What is our team average on kicks over 40?” LeBeau asked.
“What does that say about your kicker?”
“I'm asking you a question,” LeBeau said. “You're asking me all these questions. I'm going to tell you the answer now ...
“The league average is around 50 percent when you get that far from the goal line. We have made three of seven from over 40. It was merely the laws of probability.”
It was the kind of fire Anderson said he'd like to see from LeBeau, especially after the offense played Sunday's game the way it practiced on Thursday and Friday.
“He didn't get hot with us,” Anderson said. “He should get hot with us. He needs to get hot with us.”
A year ago, after becoming head coach, LeBeau won the respect of players by benching poor performers, no matter what their salary. On Monday, he said the only changes he had planned were on the kickoff coverage team, which gave up a 101-yard touchdown return by Derrick Mason on the opening kickoff.
Asked if backup quarterback Scott Mitchell would play against the Browns, LeBeau said, “We think that at this time that Jon Kitna is our best chance to get us there.”
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Bengals go from stellar to slumping
