Bengals tidbits

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ABJ

Column: Bengals a huge disappointment

JOE KAY

Associated Press

CINCINNATI - Chad Johnson hasn't even bothered to check his "Who Covered No. 85" list for the last three weeks. What's the point? The receiver's checklist has become irrelevant, just like his team.
Any list of the NFL's most disappointing teams has to start with the Cincinnati Bengals, a vogue pick for a Super Bowl run after their 3-0 start. Since then, they've lost five of six and morphed into a souped-up version of the old Bungles.
They squabble. They fuss. They lose.
And, like in the old days, there's plenty of blame to go around.
"I've underachieved as a football coach," Marvin Lewis said, a day after his defense gave up a mind-boggling 42 points in the second half of a 49-41 loss to San Diego.
OK. Let the accounting start with the head coach.
In his first three seasons in Cincinnati, Lewis had the magic touch. He persuaded a set-in-its-ways front office to modernize, cleansed the locker room of its negativity, and won back fans turned off by a decade of losing.
His popularity reached a peak after the Bengals won the AFC North last season and made their first playoff appearance in 15 years. He became the first NFL head coach with a replica jersey - it costs $75, the same as a Johnson or Carson Palmer jersey, and features "M. Lewis" on the back with an "03" for his first season in Cincinnati.
Given the way things are going, there won't be an "06" model.
Lewis' biggest shortcoming has been his handling of misconduct. By steadfastly defending players during their array of arrests, the head coach sent the message that their off-field problems were nothing more than an annoyance.
Six Bengals have been arrested this year, with two of them - linebacker Odell Thurman and receiver Chris Henry - drawing suspensions from the league. The night after a win in Pittsburgh left the Bengals 3-0, Thurman was arrested for drunken driving. Henry was a passenger in the vehicle.
That was the tipping point for Lewis.
He took away Thurman's locker even before the league suspended him for the rest of the season. He also benched Henry for one game before the league weighed in with its own two-game penalty.
Since Lewis finally drew a line, no one else has been arrested. A lot of damage already had been done.
Henry's absence hurt an offense that was still trying to get on track, and Thurman's banishment cost the Bengals a playmaker on defense - the defense that gave up those 42 points in the second half.
Ultimately, character counts.
So does the mind-set. Teams that contend every year - New England is the prime example - figure out ways to overcome the player losses and other setbacks that are the norm in a parity-driven league.
These Bengals (4-5) don't have that attitude. Pro Bowl right tackle Willie Anderson was on the mark with his criticism last month that the his team isn't tough enough.
"It all comes back to the mental part of it," Anderson said. "At some point, you've got to draw the line and say, 'Dang it, it stops here.' Teams draw the line all the time."
This one goes in circles. Instead of making a stand, it makes a scene - running back Rudi Johnson second-guesses the play calling, safety Dexter Jackson questions the team's effort, receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh loses his cool and slams his helmet after a questionable call.
Then there's Chad Johnson, whose cover-boy Mohawk is an appropriate symbol of the '06 Bengals.
The Pro Bowl receiver took self-promotion to a new level in the preseason. He grew the Mohawk, found a corporate sponsor for his list of opponents that couldn't cover him, and even unveiled a new Chad Johnson headpiece.
As for the unending trash talk:
"Anyone else that feels we're not going to dominate the AFC North this year, something's wrong," he insisted last May. "Look at the numbers. Look at the players. Look at me. What else could I say?"
These days, not much.
Those dreams of domination sound rather silly now. Johnson had to shave off his golden Mohawk when he lost a bet and the Bengals lost a game. He groused about the lack of passes thrown his way, then briefly stopped talking altogether.
Even the most productive game of his career turned into another empty moment. He caught 11 passes for a club-record 260 yards against San Diego on Sunday, and mimicked Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman's "Lights Out" celebration after his second touchdown.
Then the Chargers came back and dimmed the lights on the Bengals' playoff hopes.
"We could have started pointing fingers and fussing at each other - which a lot of teams do in this league," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said afterward.
He didn't single out the Bengals.
Didn't have to.

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ABJ

Bengals embarrassed by collapse

JOE KAY

Associated Press

CINCINNATI - Defensive lineman John Thornton tried to be inconspicuous at a restaurant on Monday, hoping to avoid a rehash of the Cincinnati Bengals' mammoth collapse.
Not a chance. Not after that 42-point half.
"I went out to eat breakfast with my dad this morning, and the waitress said: Did you see the Bengals game?" Thornton said. "She started going off on us, man. And then, she found out who I was. She kind of got red-faced."
Just like the Bengals defense.
After putting themselves in position to resurrect their playoff aspirations, the Bengals played some of the worst football in franchise history on Sunday. San Diego scored 42 second-half points on its way to a 49-41 win that left the Bengals (4-5) a long shot for the playoffs.
"We picked a bad time to have a bad half of football," Thornton said. "Nobody's ever been a part of that, playing or coaching, where somebody scored 42 points in a half. But it happened, and now we've got to deal with it."
First, they had to try to make sense out of an incomprehensible collapse.
The offense finally found its stride on Sunday, rolling out to a 28-7 halftime lead that left the Chargers in disbelief. The defense had them right where they wanted them - first-year quarterback Philip Rivers would have to throw.
Stunningly, they let him do just that.
The Chargers rolled up 314 yards in the second half - 314! - against a defense that knew exactly what was coming. San Diego went 8-of-9 on third-down conversions, and Rivers was 16-of-22 for 229 yards and three touchdowns during a comeback that equaled the largest in Chargers history.
For the Bengals, it matched the second-biggest collapse in team history. They blew a 24-point lead during a 30-27 loss to Houston in 1979. No Bengals team had ever given up 42 points in a half.
The NFL record for most points in a half is 49, by Green Bay and Chicago. San Francisco pulled off the biggest comeback in league history, rallying from 28 points down to a 38-35 overtime victory over New Orleans in 1980.
Given the stakes, this one will become the Bengals' reference point for meltdowns.
"There's no way they should be able to score 42 points in a half," defensive end Justin Smith said. "Being part of that defense, it's embarrassing for all of us."
A victory would have kept the Bengals in the middle of the pack of playoff contenders. Instead, they now have to get on a roll during the toughest part of their schedule - highly unlikely, given their mental state.
For weeks, players have been second-guessing the play calling and grousing about their roles. After the latest loss, safety Dexter Jackson said some of his teammates quit in the second half.
Coach Marvin Lewis strongly disagreed with Jackson on Monday, saying the defense didn't stop playing, it just played badly.
"I didn't fault the effort," Lewis said. "I don't fault the effort."
The defense has been one of the biggest problems - along with player arrests and suspensions - during Lewis' four seasons in Cincinnati. He was coordinator of the Baltimore defense that set records and won a Super Bowl during the 2000 season.
To watch his defense give up 42 points had to be galling for Lewis, even though he tried to be upbeat a day later.
"After going through the tape a few times today - after replaying it a million times - it's disappointing to get off to a great start, to make plays in all three phases, and then to kind of play like we've got three thumbs there for the last 30 minutes," Lewis said.
He defended defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan, saying it's up to the players to do their jobs. He agreed that the defending AFC North champions aren't playing up to expectations.
"I've underachieved as a football coach," Lewis said.
Fixing this mess won't be easy. When a defense gives up 42 points in a half, the problems go well beyond the playbook.
"When something like that happens, you start to feel the pressure," Thornton said. "It's a choke job, like when one of those great players misses a free throw when they've made them all game. We choked in the second half."

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Dispatch

Coordinator challenges leaky defense
Bresnahan felt ill after Bengals? flop against Chargers
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> AL BEHRMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Brandon Manumaleuna scores on a 9-yard pass during the Chargers? 42-point second half Sunday against the Bengals. </IMG>

CINCINNATI ? Chuck Bresnahan?s Sunday night was about what you would expect. That afternoon, the Bengals defensive coordinator watched in horror as his players allowed 42 second-half points in a 49-41 loss to the San Diego Chargers.
"I did not sleep a wink," he said yesterday. "I came in here at 3 o?clock that morning and watched the tape four times before 7 o?clock. You?re sick to your stomach, literally sick to your stomach."
It?s a coaching axiom that a team never plays quite as bad in a loss or as well in a win as it looks live. This was an exception.
"That was as bad as it was," Bresnahan said. "And it was more because we let it be that bad."
The debacle caused the Bengals defense to drop to No. 28 heading into a game Sunday at New Orleans.
Bresnahan?s message to his players was blunt.
"What I said to our guys is that we have to look in the mirror and say we?re an underachieving unit and we?ve got to change that," he said. "We?ve got to be grown men and have to play with consistency and hold ourselves accountable from me right on down."
When a defense collapses the way the Bengals? did Sunday, the coordinator inevitably wears the bull?s-eye. Bresnahan welcomes it.
"That didn?t faze me one bit," he said. "That comes with the territory. I don?t blame our fans. I?m probably one of those ones typing it in and sending it in, too. It?s part of the game. We?ve got to get better. I?ve got to get better. I?ve got to get these guys to believe they can finish."
That was a problem at times last year, as well. Cincinnati led the Baltimore Ravens 34-0 before allowing three quick touchdowns that put the outcome in doubt. Ahead 28-7 against the Chargers, Bresnahan figured he?d have a fun second half.
"It?s really a coordinator?s dream at halftime because you?ve gotten them into a onedimensional game," he said. "You can do the things you like to do and it?s easier to call the game. Then boom, we couldn?t get off the field on third down."
There were different culprits at different times, sometimes several at once. On the final Chargers touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Philip Rivers to tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, three players made mistakes. Defensive end Justin Smith allowed Rivers to scramble out of the pocket, a no-no in the red zone. Linebacker Caleb Miller slowed momentarily in coverage. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph joined safety Madieu Williams in trying to sack Rivers instead of helping Miller cover.
"I was appalled at what transpired," Williams said of the team?s second-half performance. "Disappointed, embarrassed, every word you could use. It was one of those games when you thought it was a bad dream. You just want to wake up and say, ?OK, that didn?t really happen.? "
By the end of the game, players were understandably testy.
"Then it gets to be a little bit of a finger-pointing where, ?This guy isn?t doing this job and this guy?s not lining up (correctly),? " Bresnahan said. "We?ve got to take that out. We win together. We lose together. That?s the thing we have to overcome.
"It was a rude awakening for us. I don?t know if anybody in that room has been through something like that. It?s tough to handle. It?s a shot to your ego. It?s a shot to your manhood. We?ve got to step back up and put it behind us and get better."
brabinowitz@dispatch.com

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Dispatch

Palmer unhappy to be slinging in the rain
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



The Bengals are one of the few NFL teams that don?t have an indoor bubble in which to practice in bad weather. So yesterday they practiced for their game against New Orleans in the Superdome in rainy, 43-degree weather in Paul Brown Stadium.
"It?s tough," quarterback Carson Palmer said. "We don?t have the ability to prepare for a dome game, so it makes it tough. It?s a definite disadvantage practicing all week in the rain, especially if you?re not going to be playing in the rain.
"We?ve been through this before. We?ve been out there in 15-degree weather and snow and rain and then played when it?s 65 degrees or 70 degrees. So it?s definitely a disadvantage, but we?re used to making that adjustment and moving on."
As for the Bengals? progress in getting a bubble, coach Marvin Lewis said, "We?re working on that."
A different Adams

Hampered all season by a bad knee, mammoth defensive tackle Sam Adams has looked a bit more sprightly lately.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better," he said. "I feel like I changed sexes."
Yes, that?s what he really said.
"I feel like a different human being," he added. "I?m a different human being right now."
Injury report

The Bengals listed linebacker Brian Simmons (neck) as doubtful and four starters as questionable for Sunday.
Safety Dexter Jackson (Achilles), left tackle Levi Jones (knee), cornerback Deltha O?Neal (shoulder) and Bobbie Williams (abdomen) are considered 50-50 to play. None practiced yesterday.
brabinowitz@dispatch.com

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Dispatch

Q &A BRANDON WILLIAMS
Ex-Wolverine: OSU treatment?s not great
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG>


Cornerback Brandon Williams, a member of the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, played at Michigan from 1999 to 2002. He spoke with Bengals reporter Bill Rabinowitz about the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
Q: What was your experience like playing in Columbus?
A: Every year, win or lose, they turn the hot water off. They turn the hot water off, the food never seems to make it to the stadium, there?s always an excuse. ?Oh, there was a fire on Main Street, so the food didn?t make it.? So you can either take a cold shower in 20-degree weather or just get on the bus and take a shower when you get home. I always took a shower at home. It was always an uncomfortable bus ride. Everybody?s dirty, but that?s how they do it.
Q: What about the bombsniffing-dog episode?
A: They really do that. They had to come out and drop our bags, smell our bags.
Q: How mad did that make you?
A: It just makes us ready for the game more. It was just like, they really hate y?all. They really hate us. It gets you ready. It gets you going.
Q: Were there any other inconveniences?
A: At the hotel, every now and then the fire alarm will go off. The food is never good at the hotel.
Q: Does all the misery add to the rivalry?
A: It makes it that much better. That?s why it?s the biggest rivalry in all of sports.
Q: Just so you know, cars with Ohio license plates have been known to be egged in Ann Arbor.
A: (In Columbus) they probably would have stolen it. The way I hear they talk to our fans, I told my mom, ?You?re not coming to this game.? We had players whose parents got verbally abused. They say stuff to people?s moms. It?s funny, but I?m like, ?Come on, man, to their moms?? I had a witness to hear all that so they could see how big this rivalry really is.
Just those two colors anywhere, it looks like a conflict. Like if I see a picture with blue and yellow and then red and gray, it just doesn?t look right.
brabinowitz@dispatch.com

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Dispatch

Palmer relinquishes play-calling duties
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> AL BEHRMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Guard Bobbie Williams hoists Carson Palmer in the air after the quarterback threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson against the Chargers. </IMG>

It?s rare these days that an NFL quarterback is granted broad play-calling authority. So it was a testament to Carson Palmer?s development that the Bengals gave him as much autonomy as they did in only his third season as a starter.
But the offense sputtered for most of the first half of the season, and coach Marvin Lewis decided last week to limit Palmer?s play-calling options and put it back in the hands of offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.
Coincidence or not, Palmer threw for a career-high 440 yards and the offense put up 41 points in the loss to San Diego.
Lewis was careful not to characterize the change as a criticism of Palmer, and Palmer said he wasn?t upset about it.
"I?ll do whatever the coaches tell me to do," he said. "It doesn?t matter to me. They know the game plan better than me. They know why they?re calling certain plays from the (press) box, because they?re watching certain things develop and see some possibilities from the top of the field."
In the first eight games, particularly in the no-huddle offense, Palmer made the final play call after being given a few options from Bratkowski. The Bengals didn?t use the no-huddle as much against the Chargers. For the embattled Bratkowski, Sunday could be viewed as vindication.
"Y?all bashed him when we were (struggling) in the nohuddle, so you might as well give him credit that we didn?t do it as much and were successful," receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said.
Palmer said giving up his play-calling authority didn?t result in radical changes.
"The only thing it really does is slow down the game," he said. "When we get to stuff that ?Brat? can call off the play sheet, we have a lot more options, a lot more play combinations. (We can use) different formations, different motions, different routes. It just gives us a little bit more offensively."
It?s not as if Palmer doesn?t have to make decisions at the line of scrimmage.
"There are still certain things you need to see and protection adjustments you have to make and a bunch of different scenarios that come up," he said.
The Bengals scored 28 points in the first half against a Chargers defense ranked second in the NFL. They could have come close to that in the second half had Chris Henry not dropped a would-be touchdown pass on Cincinnati?s final drive. A thirddown drop by Houshmandzadeh would have put the Bengals in scoring position on an earlier possession.
The success has given the Bengals offense a much-needed confidence boost heading into their game Sunday against New Orleans. The Saints have the league?s 15 th-ranked defense.
"Another 40-point game," said Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, who had a franchiserecord 260 receiving yards against the Chargers. "From this point on, I would hope that we would continue that same pace and be able to score 40, regardless of the opponent."
The way the Bengals defense struggled last week, that might be needed. Johnson said the offense is up to the challenge.
"You don?t want to go backwards," he said. "We had the loss, but we made some strides on offense and that?s what we?ve been looking for ? to get back into the rhythm we had last season."
brabinowitz@dispatch.com