BlackGold4vr
10-04-2007, 03:51 PM
Posted Oct 3, 2007
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/48/481830.jpg
It might be one of the biggest cliches in the NFL, but the bye week could not come at a better time for the Cincinnati Bengals -- who are beat up physically and emotionally. New England put the exclamation point on a three-game Cincinnati losing streak by pounding the Bengals 34-13 on Monday night in front of a national television audience.
Dressing only four healthy linebackers, the Bengals lost another one, Lemar Marshall, likely for the season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon. Rookie safety Chinedum Ndukwe and end Robert Geathers took turns playing outside linebacker, rounding out a threesome with Dhani Jones and Anthony Schlegel, both signed in September.
Starting tailback Rudi Johnson missed the game with a hamstring injury. Third receiver Tab Perry was out for the second game in a row with a hamstring problem. Right tackle Willie Anderson played only the first series.
Still, after the Bengals were man-handled by the Patriots, head coach Marvin Lewis blew up at his team. His anger pierced the steel locker room doors at Paul Brown Stadium.
"If you don't want to be on the team, don't show up at 4 o'clock," Lewis yelled in a profanity-laced tirade toward his Bengals players. The Bengals were to have a 4 p.m. team meeting Tuesday.
The Bengals, buried in last place in the AFC North, dropped to 1-3 and lost for the sixth time in the past seven games, dating to the three-game losing streak that ended 2006.
"I'm just as upset, obviously, as I can be," Lewis said in his post-game news conference. "Right now, we're finding a way to play not well enough to win. We're going to see who we're going to fight with. If we have to make changes, we'll make changes."
New England, 4-0, used a balanced offense to keep the ball away from Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and his playmakers. New England had the ball for 37:24 and ran 66 plays to the Bengals' 51. The Patriots ran up 404 yards; 173 on the ground and 231 through the air. The Bengals had no sacks.
The attendance of 66,113 was a Bengals franchise record and the 30th consecutive home sellout, but Paul Brown Stadium crowd had emptied except for boo-birds by the time New England took two kneel-downs to end the game.
There was plenty of booing in the locker room.
"We have to stop reading our own press clippings," Anderson said afterward. "I'm tired of hearing we're better than them. We need to quit saying that. Guys are working extremely hard. It's even more frustrating when you go 1-3 and put in that kind of performance."
Since losing to New England on Oct. 1, 2006, the Bengals are 6-11.
The Bengals reach a bye at a good time. They next play Oct. 14 at Kansas City.
"We're not going to get an easy game from here on in," captain John Thornton, the defensive tackle, said. "We can't tank it now. We have to see if we can get on a run, but we have to win one.
"We're 1-3. We're a 1-3 team. There's no sugar-coating it. Everybody saw it tonight. Everybody has seen the last three games."
Hearts are breaking in Bungal land. :bigthumb:
:hilarious:
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/48/481830.jpg
It might be one of the biggest cliches in the NFL, but the bye week could not come at a better time for the Cincinnati Bengals -- who are beat up physically and emotionally. New England put the exclamation point on a three-game Cincinnati losing streak by pounding the Bengals 34-13 on Monday night in front of a national television audience.
Dressing only four healthy linebackers, the Bengals lost another one, Lemar Marshall, likely for the season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon. Rookie safety Chinedum Ndukwe and end Robert Geathers took turns playing outside linebacker, rounding out a threesome with Dhani Jones and Anthony Schlegel, both signed in September.
Starting tailback Rudi Johnson missed the game with a hamstring injury. Third receiver Tab Perry was out for the second game in a row with a hamstring problem. Right tackle Willie Anderson played only the first series.
Still, after the Bengals were man-handled by the Patriots, head coach Marvin Lewis blew up at his team. His anger pierced the steel locker room doors at Paul Brown Stadium.
"If you don't want to be on the team, don't show up at 4 o'clock," Lewis yelled in a profanity-laced tirade toward his Bengals players. The Bengals were to have a 4 p.m. team meeting Tuesday.
The Bengals, buried in last place in the AFC North, dropped to 1-3 and lost for the sixth time in the past seven games, dating to the three-game losing streak that ended 2006.
"I'm just as upset, obviously, as I can be," Lewis said in his post-game news conference. "Right now, we're finding a way to play not well enough to win. We're going to see who we're going to fight with. If we have to make changes, we'll make changes."
New England, 4-0, used a balanced offense to keep the ball away from Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and his playmakers. New England had the ball for 37:24 and ran 66 plays to the Bengals' 51. The Patriots ran up 404 yards; 173 on the ground and 231 through the air. The Bengals had no sacks.
The attendance of 66,113 was a Bengals franchise record and the 30th consecutive home sellout, but Paul Brown Stadium crowd had emptied except for boo-birds by the time New England took two kneel-downs to end the game.
There was plenty of booing in the locker room.
"We have to stop reading our own press clippings," Anderson said afterward. "I'm tired of hearing we're better than them. We need to quit saying that. Guys are working extremely hard. It's even more frustrating when you go 1-3 and put in that kind of performance."
Since losing to New England on Oct. 1, 2006, the Bengals are 6-11.
The Bengals reach a bye at a good time. They next play Oct. 14 at Kansas City.
"We're not going to get an easy game from here on in," captain John Thornton, the defensive tackle, said. "We can't tank it now. We have to see if we can get on a run, but we have to win one.
"We're 1-3. We're a 1-3 team. There's no sugar-coating it. Everybody saw it tonight. Everybody has seen the last three games."
Hearts are breaking in Bungal land. :bigthumb:
:hilarious: