NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bengals bashing has grown into a favorite Tristate winter pastime. But that's what happens when a team wins 30 percent of its games over 11 years. Still, the Bengals have raised fans' hopes every year with late-season victories, even though they've been out of playoff contention. This season, which ends with today's game against the Tennessee Titans, was different.

Justin Smith, who sacked Jacksonville QB Mark Brunell three times in one game, is part of a rejuvenated defense. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        The Bengals started 2-0 and went into November with the best record, 4-3, of any Bengals team since 1990 — not coincidentally the last time they played in the postseason.

        Some in the national pro football media had Dick LeBeau pegged as the league's first-half coach of the year.

        Then the Bengals lost seven games in a row.

        Despite the disappointing finish, there is real hope this year. And it's not the false kind that comes veiled in three consecutive victories over really bad teams. What's good about this team now is harder to spot than, say, the 2-2 finish of December 2000, but it's more significant.

        We're not talking make-your-Super Bowl-reservations-now hope. But a Bengals playoff game does not appear to be a distant dream any more.

        • CLOSE COUNTS: The Bengals have been in every game but one this season.

        If they had scored just 17 points a game, which is still in the bottom quarter of league rankings, the Bengals would have won five games they lost this season.

        They beat two teams — New England and Pittsburgh — that are in the playoffs. They beat another team, Baltimore, the defending Super Bowl champion, that will make the playoffs if it wins Monday night. The Bengals lost in overtime to another playoff team, Tampa Bay. And another team, the Jets, which beat the Bengals by one point, also will make the playoffs if it wins today.

        “These are quality teams we've been playing,” Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. “It has been a play or two difference. It's been week in and week out.”

        Last year, the Bengals lost nine of their 12 games by double-digit margins. They lost by 37, 32 and 20 points (twice). Many times the Bengals were out of the game by halftime. The escalators from the upper seating decks at Paul Brown Stadium would be filled with Bengals fans leaving in the third quarter.

        This season, the Bengals lost only one game by more than 20 points, 24-0 to the Bears.

        The Bengals lost three games in a row by a total of eight points, and they lost another game by nine points. They had a chance to win most of their games well into the fourth quarter.

        “Any time you're in a game and you have opportunities to win the game, you have to be optimistic,” offensive lineman Matt O'Dwyer said.

        • GROWING UP: For years, the Bengals were one of the NFL's youngest, least experienced teams. They've added veteran players who have been to the playoffs and know how to get there: offensive tackle Richmond Webb, fullback Lorenzo Neal, quarterback Jon Kitna, defensive tackle Tony Williams.

        What does it take? “If you have a little bit higher commitment overall, things are going to work,” said Kitna, who rebounded from a poor streak of games to be named AFC Offensive Player of the Week with 411 passing yards against Pittsburgh. “When you decide you are going to put a little extra effort in and you are going to do the things that are asked of you, then you have positive experiences, and that gives guys confidence.”

        The team's most productive players, its solid core, are healthy and in their primes and signed through at least next season. The list includes running back Corey Dillon, offensive tackle Willie Anderson, linebackers Takeo Spikes and Brian Simmons, wide receiver Peter Warrick, and defensive linemen Oliver Gibson and Justin Smith.

        Don't underestimate the importance of experience in the NFL.

        “Maturity in football means what you saw a half a second late one year, you see a half a second earlier the next year,” Spikes said.

        • LUCK OF THE DRAW: Next year's schedule looks good for the Bengals.

        The NFL is adding a 32nd team, Houston, and re-aligning its six divisions into eight.

        The Bengals will leave the six-team AFC Central and play in the four-team AFC North. The other three teams will be Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

        “We've beaten everyone who's going to be in our division next year,” LeBeau said. “That's how I look at it.”

        Next season, the Bengals will play two other last-place teams, Buffalo and San Diego, which are a combined 8-23 coming into today. They'll also play expansion Houston, and Carolina, which is 1-14.

        • DEFENSE: Even through the misery of the seven-game losing streak, the Bengals watched their defense emerge as one of the 10 best in the 31-team NFL.

        “If we had had a defense like this when I was in Minnesota, I'd have two or three (Super Bowl) rings,” said Williams, the defensive tackle in his first season in Cincinnati.

        In a five-game stretch, all losses, the defense kept the team in the game by not allowing the opposition to score more than 18 points.

        Forty-five times the Bengals have tackled the quarterback for a loss, one sack from tying a franchise record. They have allowed 288 points, compared with 359 last year.

        • IT STARTS AT THE TOP: LeBeau has a plan.

        He spent 14 years as a player and 27 full seasons as an NFL assistant coach before he got his chance to be a head coach, a dream he had given up on.

        But it's not enough for him to just be a head coach. He wants to win. He has set an example of perseverance that his players are following.

        “Here, even when we lost, we still had the mentality that we had to go out and have us a good week of practice,” said Warrick, the second-year wide receiver.

        LeBeau has shown faith in struggling players and the faltering offense, refusing to give up on them, and he might be rewarded for that support.

        The coach didn't bury quarterback Akili Smith, and Smith emerged with one of his finest performances as a pro before tearing a hamstring muscle against the Jets. LeBeau has stuck with kicker Neil Rackers, another second-year player whose performance has been up and down. Kitna is another player who has received encouragement from his head coach.

        Asked this past week what it will take to be a playoff contender, LeBeau said, “One more off-season. I said last year that I didn't think we were miles away. I think we made some good additions. I think it shows in the way we have competed.

        “The simple truth is we haven't won enough football games. I really believed we could have done it in one off-season. I really, really believe that we can do it in two.”

Improving Bengals offer hope for next season Sept. 11 changed schedule, stakes Keys to the game Today could be Chad Johnson's day Bengals-Titans by the numbers Who's got the edge? Titans' Matthews coy about retirement Mark Curnutte's NFL picks NFL power ratings

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