By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Many Bengals veterans are despondent, saying they can't endure another season like the one that ends today.

Linebacker Takeo Spikes and fullback Lorenzo Neal, two of the team's top players and leaders, are playing their final games under contract with the team.

Even some of the most enthusiastic rookies are worn out, wondering aloud if they will have to go through entire NFL careers on a losing team - like many of their older teammates.

The coaching staff, including head coach Dick LeBeau, is in limbo.

Bengals president Mike Brown has not indicated what he plans to do Monday about the future of his franchise.

Against this backdrop, can the Bengals focus on the task at hand - the Buffalo Bills - and play a competitive football game to close what could go down as the most disappointing of the many disappointing seasons in franchise history?

That challenge is the one facing the Bengals today. Show up and play hard, or get pummeled.

FIRED UP

Although the Bills were eliminated from playoff contention in last week's 10-0 loss at Green Bay, they desperately want to win today.

The Bengals are going to get the Bills' best effort and top players.

The game will be the second of eight home starts for the Bills that will not sell out. There still were about 25,000 tickets available for the game as of Friday.

A victory would give Buffalo an 8-8 record, following a 3-13 effort in 2001. The Bills' plus-4 improvement already is tops in the AFC. Plus-5 will give them an extra push heading into the offseason.

"We're going to prepare to win the football game and not worry about the evaluation process," Bills coach Gregg Williams said. "Really, we are going to prepare to win this football game. We're going to play the best guys that we have. They enjoy competing, and they'll enjoy going out and finishing this season on a positive note."

Even if the 2-13 Bengals win today, they will have had a minus-3 swing from last season's legitimately hopeful 6-10 finish.

AIR BALL

The Bills have the league's fourth-leading rusher in Travis Henry and his 1,358 yards.

But Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe will throw the ball all day against a patchwork Bengals secondary that has lost three free safeties to injury this month.

A converted strong safety (Marquand Manuel) and cornerback (Kevin Kaesviharn) will pull duty at free safety. And the job will not be an easy one for the Bengals. The secondary will need the front seven to pressure Bledsoe - which it did last week to Aaron Brooks in the upset of New Orleans.

The largely immobile Bledsoe, who is susceptible to pressure with 52 sacks, has thrown for a franchise-record 4,128 yards. More than half of them have gone to wide receivers Eric Moulds and Peerless Price.

Moulds has 91 receptions for 1,212 yards, Price 89 for 1,195. They each have nine touchdowns.

The Bills also have receiving threats coming out of the backfield in Henry and Larry Centers, each of whom has 41 catches.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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