Monday, November 26, 2001
Destination: Oblivion
CLEVELAND — What was a slide is now an avalanche. What was a rut is now a gorge. What had seemed a reprieve from the typical travails of the Cincinnati Bengals is again agonizingly familiar.
The faces change, but not the futility.
Sunday's 18-0 shortfall against the Cleveland Browns was not the most lopsided loss in Bengals' history, but it may have been the most one-sided. Defensively, the Bengals played like demons. Offensively, they were oafs.
“It's embarrassing to look my friends in the eyes on defense,” offensive tackle Willie Anderson said. “Look at what we're averaging a game and they're playing championship defense ... It's sad, man.”
Sad? Hardly. “Sophie's Choice” is sad. Homeless shelters are sad. Still, only an extraordinary defensive effort prevented Sunday's game from becoming an epic blowout. The Bengals lost seven turnovers and tried three quarterbacks without finding one worthy of trust.
“We wanted to fire every gun we had and see if we could shake something loose,” Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said.
Every gun LeBeau tried fired blanks. Jon Kitna keeps his starting job because Scott Mitchell's quarterback rating (3.5) looks better as a grade-point average.
Cincinnati's passing game was so pathetic, and its receiver corps is so depleted by injuries, that Anderson semi-seriously suggested adopting the Wing-T or the Wishbone formation and running the ball 80 percent of the time.
Later, the Bengals' aerial difficulties deepened. When their charter plane developed mechanical problems, the team was forced to return home by bus. The destination signs in the front should have been marked: “Oblivion.”
A season that began buoyantly is now sinking fast toward Titanic territory. The Bengals have lost six of their last eight games and must win five of their remaining six to post their first winning season in 11 years. You could get better odds on Mike Brown having his tongue tattooed.
“We've dug our own ditch right now,” said linebacker Takeo Spikes. “It up to us to stay out of it or jump into it.”
When Spikes spoke with plural pronouns Sunday, he was referring to the entire Bengals' ballclub and not his specific side of the ball. Football players are drilled from Pop Warner on up about the divisive effect of squabbling between offensive and defensive units, and there's little purpose in pointing fingers when problems are obvious to all.
Still, the disparity between the quality of the Bengals' offense and defense grows progressively dramatic. Cleveland attempted 39 running plays Sunday without a 10-yard gain. The Browns started six possessions in Bengals territory, and scored only one touchdown. For the fifth time in 10 games, the Bengals moved the ball more by the punt (220 yards) than on offense (191).
“Put our defense on another team, they're in the playoffs,” Willie Anderson said. “Our defense is carrying us. They've got to find a way to score points for us because we're not doing it.”
The Bengals offense exists to let the defense catch its breath.
E-mail tsullivan@enquirer.com. Past columns at www.enquirer.com/columns/sullivan.
Bengals Stories
PREP FOOTBALL PAGE
St. X, St. Ignatius prepare 2nd showdown
Ohio football playoffs
Kentucky football playoffs
XU's Chalmers takes charge
Xavier freshman wins A-10 honor
Ohio State sees Outback or Citrus
Miami, Florida top jumbled BCS
Heisman favorite anybody's guess
NY bowler wins Super Hoinke
Johnstown 3, Cyclones 2
Sports events this week
• Return to Bengals front page...
Sullivan: Destination Oblivion
