By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Bengals had won two games in a row and three out of four. They were beginning to get attention in the national media and had a chance to reach .500 at 4-4.

Then they went to Arizona and, in playing their worst overall game since the opener against Denver, lost a winnable game to the Cardinals.

"We were feeling pretty good," coach Marvin Lewis said Monday. "We were playing for something, just like we were in the beginning. Sometimes, when people count you out a little bit, it's a little easier to play. When you get pressure back on you to play well, sometimes you revert back to the bad habits."

Lewis hears what coaches say to players on the sidelines and what coaches talk about on the headphones during the game. The nature of what Lewis heard, he said, confirmed what he saw on the field: His players were trying to do too much on every play.

"Yeah, we tried to invent some stuff," said Lewis, who preaches a disciplined style of football. "In our zest to do things and to make plays, we got into a game yesterday where we tried to do too much. We got away from what we're supposed to do . . . In the heat of the battle, guys are going to revert back a little bit, but yesterday, we couldn't overcome it."

Lewis wants his defensive players to stay in their assigned areas and not jump around their blocks to chase plays that might cut back to them. He said the defense didn't do a good job against the Cardinals offense on third down (it converted 8-of-16 third downs). He also talked about the need for the offensive line to create more running room for tailbacks and the importance of blockers on kickoff and punt return teams to do a better job blocking.

The Bengals were 3-of-10 on third down offensively. Jon Kitna threw two interceptions. And Kenny Watson and Rudi Johnson each muffed a kickoff return.

Asked if some of those areas fall in the category of learning how to win, Lewis said, "No question. I think that handling success is part of it. I don't think we should be too full of ourselves right now, but we really shouldn't have been before this game."

As for the 161 yards allowed by the run defense, 141 to Marcel Shipp, Lewis differentiated.

"No, that's not," he said of the poor rush defense being a case of Bengals defenders trying to do too much. "Just do your job consistently."

The 3-5 Bengals will play host Sunday to the 3-5 Texans, who upset Carolina on Sunday.

"Obviously, we will be back to reality," Lewis said. "Reality is that you have to go to work. You have to work smart, you have to work hard, and you have to go out and play the opponent in every phase."

The Bengals defeated Houston 38-3 last season, the biggest defeat handed the Texans in their 24-game history. The Texans were coming off their first-ever road victory at Jacksonville, coming home with a 2-5 record and were favored.

But that was then. Just as Houston is improved over its expansion season, so, too, are the Bengals.

"I know this: They are a lot better football team today than they were a year ago at this time," Houston coach Dom Capers said Monday. "The key for us is where we are we, as opposed to a year ago."

---

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Return to Bengals front page...