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Adversity faced: In what has become an annual occurrence, the Bengals got off to
a terrible start the first half of the season. Eventually, they sputtered to a 1-10 mark.
How the team coped: Very poorly. This was one unhappy, frustrated,
finger-pointing team while the losses mounted. Late in the season the Bengals did manage
to put together a three-game winning streak against a trio of of teams that would finish
the season below .500, but Cincinnati then lost handily in the final two games of the
campaign.
The saying goes that even a broken watch has the right time twice a day, but for much
of last season the Cincinnati Bengals must have felt as though they didn’t even have
that going for them.
If you asked Bengals fans what time it was the first 11 games of last season, their
answer just about every week would have been, "It’s losing time."
Quite simply, the Bengals lost early and they lost often. With one exception (how did
that happen?) the first 11 games of the season, they lost with all the consistency of the
sun setting, the Internet being slow during peak hours and Chris Berman getting excited
during Sunday-night football highlights.
There was some promise shown in Week One, as the Bengals lost by the paper-thin margin
of 36-35 on the road to a Tennessee team that would go on to earn a berth in the Super
Bowl.
The second game of the season had more of the feel that would be ever present the
majority of the year, as the Bengals got crushed in Cincinnati, 34-7, by a Chargers team
that was coming off a 5-11 season.
The game was over by halftime. When the final gun sounded, the Bengals had fumbled the
ball seven times, losing four of them, and had thrown one interception.
"It hurts and I’m sick of it," Bengals QB Jeff Blake said.
Cincinnati RB Corey Dillon said, "What can I say? We just looked horrible."
The 34-7 loss was the worst home-opening defeat in franchise history. The seven fumbles
matched a club record.
Though no such records are kept, the Bengals may also have set a club record for the
earliest point in a season that desperation seemed to be setting into the locker room.
"Well, we know it’s us against the world," Bengals head coach Bruce
Coslet said. "It’s going to be tough. Nobody’s going to help us but
ourselves."
In that case, it looked as if nobody was going to help, period, based upon the
team’s next outing, when it got hammered by Carolina 27-3 and fell to 0-3.
"I know we have a lot of guys trying hard, but other than that, it’s a little
dim in there," Coslet said. "It’s something different every week."
Blake’s throwing shoulder seemed to be bothering him, and he got hit with great
frequency. WR Darnay Scott dropped what would have been a touchdown pass. PK Doug Pelfrey
missed 3-of-4 FG attempts. OG Brian DeMarco was flagged for three false-start infractions.
Asked if Pelfrey’s job was in jeopardy, Coslet said, "I think
everybody’s damn job is in jeopardy."
Might Coslet’s words unite the team in the common cause of self-preservation?
Dillon, who rushed for 113 yards, said, "I can only do my job. I can’t be
accountable for everybody else."
So much for "united we stand, divided we fall." Let the finger pointing
begin.
A 38-10 loss to the Rams followed, dropping the Bengals to 0-4.
Finally they earned their first win when rookie QB Akili Smith topped off his first NFL
start by leading the Bengals 80 yards in the closing minutes and throwing a two-yard TD
pass to Carl Pickens for an 18-17 victory over winless Cleveland.
Still feeling slighted that the Browns had selected Tim Couch instead of him on Draft
Day, Smith said, "It was real personal. The fans were cheering like it was the Super
Bowl, and that’s how I took it. This game was very big for me. I wanted to show them
they made a mistake."
The Super Bowl? Isn’t that a bit much to describe a by-the-skin-of-their-teeth win
over an expansion club that had yet to win a game and would post only two victories all
season? Say this for the Bengals, they may not have lost well in 1999, but they celebrated
victories with the best of them.
Happiness was short-lived. The Bengals proceeded to lose their next six games.
After double-digit losses to Pittsburgh and Indianapolis dropped the Bengals’
record to 1-6, Coslet said, "The thing that I’m most worried about now is our
morale and what happens for the rest of the season. I challenged the players to keep the
faith, keep trying, do the best they can.
"I mentioned to them that by pointing out negative things or saying that it’s
this or it’s that, all they’re really saying is, ‘It’s not my
fault.’ "
Meanwhile, Dillon was wondering about some of his teammates’ toughness.
"If somebody’s all right with what’s going on here, something’s
wrong with him," Dillon said. "I’m dead serious. There’s only so much
one person can do. I can’t do it all. But at least put people in there that want to
play. That’s all I can say."
That’s more than Coslet wanted him to say.
"It hurts the cause when you talk like that," Coslet said. "But again,
it’s born out of frustration."
Thirsty for another win, the Bengals’ cup runneth over with frustration.
"Things that could have been taken care of maybe three or four years ago are now
catching up with this team," Bengals OT Willie Anderson said. "You have some
guys on this team that are real good, NFL-caliber players, and you have some at certain
key positions that maybe they’re not. And it’s catching up with us."
There’s a quote certain to make friends with the front-office executives
responsible for building this mess, er, roster.
The quotes just kept getting worse and worse. Remember what Coslet said about the
"It’s-not-my-fault" finger pointing?
"I’m pretty sure it carries over with some guys," Bengals LB Takeo
Spikes said. "At certain points throughout the season, if things haven’t picked
up by that point, who knows? They might even be ready to fold up the tent."
It’s not my fault.
"The only thing I can really say is it’s a mind-set, and it’s not a
really positive mind-set around here," Anderson said. "It’s not a positive,
‘I’m going to go out here and beat this guy.’ There’s not 22 guys
thinking that way."
It’s not my fault.
"Everybody’s been talking about there’s no leadership on the team,"
Smith said. "Being a rookie, there’s only so much you can do because a lot of
veteran players sometimes don’t respect you because you’re just a rookie. The
way you get respect is by winning."
Of course, this is the same Smith who also said after his second NFL start,
"I’m a rookie, but I’m working hard and trying hard, and some of the other
guys around here aren’t giving 100 percent. You can tell because it shows.
Somebody’s got to speak out. I don’t have a problem with that."
Think anyone else did?
"Akili needs to take care of Akili, and everybody else has to take care of
themselves," Coslet said. "I don’t want to hear that kind of talk."
Spikes said of Smith’s comments, "I don’t know what we need to do, but
it’s bigger than players jumping in each other’s faces."
As the Bengals prepared to face the Jaguars, negative vibes were seeping into the
Bengals’ locker room like water into an aging basement during a thunderstorm.
"It’s like Priest Holmes last year," Spikes said. "Whoever’s
on the slow track when they play against us, somehow they’re going to find a way to
get back on track."
The Bengals’ ship was springing leaks everywhere you looked. And then it hit the
iceberg and sank like the Titanic, losing 41-10 at home to the Jaguars.
Coslet had an array of garbage thrown at him as he left the field. His postgame remarks
lasted all of 20 seconds. He did not field questions.
"When you’re feeling like I’m feeling, I think it’s better not to
say anything," Coslet said. "Why should I stand up here and say the same old
stuff? I’m as tired of it as you are and the fans are."
During the next week, it was clear that the thrown garbage, the mounting losses, the
calls for his job were getting to Coslet.
"There’s a perception out there that it doesn’t matter to me or the
players," Coslet said. "That’s the farthest thing from the truth.
"You have no idea how thin it is wearing with the players and the coaches. We live
and breathe this every day. For it not to go right on a continuing basis, it just tears
the guts out of you."
Continued on Page 2
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