By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Offseason attempts to upgrade the run defense did not show Sunday against the Jets.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

Coach Marvin Lewis' Bengals had a fifth consecutive bad game against the run, allowing New York to run for 219 yards and a 6.4-yard average.

The Bengals have yielded an average of 204 yards a game on the ground since Game 13 of last season. They've also lost four of the five games, including the 31-24 decision to the Jets.

"We didn't play good enough," Lewis said when asked about the rush defense. "We did not play good enough to win. We were very effective on offense at times today, too."

Asked again about his defense on the Jets' long scoring drives of 68, 86, 66 and 65, Lewis said, "We had 11 guys. We didn't do well enough. I think I already answered that."

Clearly, fixing the run defense remains elusive for the Bengals, who added three new starters in 2004 to the five new starting defenders brought in last season.

The Bengals finished tied for 25th in rush defense at 138.6 last season, and the performance Sunday by the Jets was the ninth time in 17 games under Lewis and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier that the Bengals have yielded 138 or more yards on the ground.

Failing to stop the run, coaches say, puts the defense on its heels and prevents it from playing more aggressively and dictating tempo to the offense. Instead, the offense maintains the advantage. The Bengals' chances of winning drop - no matter how well quarterback Carson Palmer plays - if the run defense is bad.

"It was real disappointing, but we've got somehow to move on," linebacker Kevin Hardy said of the rush defense. "That's as disappointing as it gets right there, opening day, to give up those kinds of yards."

Instead of improving, the run defense appears to be weakening.

It's the same defense that held Priest Holmes, LaDainian Tomlinson and Jerome Bettis to fewer than 100 yards each in Games 10-12 last year.

Curtis Martin, who rushed for 196 yards Sunday, was the fourth individual back in the past five games to run for 121 or more yards: Baltimore's Jamal Lewis, 180; St. Louis' Marshall Faulk, 121; and Cleveland's Lee Suggs, 186.

Defensive players looked stunned and dejected after the game. Sure, Martin is a probable Hall of Fame tailback and says he is in his best shape in three years, but he ran almost with ease through the Bengals.

"I feel good," Martin said afterward. "I feel as though I can go do it again right now. I'm not joking."

Lewis and many of his players on defense said the first step toward improvement was to analyze game film. It will reveal missed tackles and missed assignments.

"It seemed like he was running untouched," Hardy said of Martin. "At times, when we had guys there, we weren't making the tackles. It's one of those games that's going to be tough to look at but needs to be looked at."

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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