Bengals unable to improve unit despite high picks

The Bengals' Johnathan Joseph chases the Bills' Lee Evans during Cincy's 33-21 loss to Buffalo last Sunday. Ed Wolfstein/Icon SMI

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They were already at rock bottom, in quarterback Carson Palmer's words. Then the Bengals went out and allowed the Bills -- owners of the NFL's 31st-worst offense -- nearly 500 yards and 33 points.

So where does that put the Bengals now?

"We're not a very good football team," Palmer said.

Since beating the Ravens on opening day, the Bengals have lost six of seven games, allowed 234 points, and established themselves as one of the NFL's worst teams this year, with one of the worst defenses in NFL history. Since opening last year 8-5, the Bengals are 2-9 overall and 0-6 on the road.

The offense has been uneven, scoring 21 or fewer points five times and running the ball inconsistently. But the offense isn't why the Bengals are world-class bad. This nightmarish season is almost all on the defense.

They can't tackle. They can't pressure the quarterback. They can't cover anybody.

The Bengals have tried year after year to rebuild their defense through the draft, but it keeps getting worse. They've gone defense in the first round of the draft in each of the past three years and used nine of their last 13 Day 1 draft selections on defensive players.

What's it gotten them? A bottom-five defense three years in a row. This one is the worst of the bunch.

The Bengals, at the midpoint of the season, have allowed 244 points, halfway to 488. Only two teams in NFL history have allowed more -- the 1981 Colts (533) and 1966 Giants (501). The Bengals have also allowed 3,177 yards, halfway to 6,354. Only four teams in NFL history have allowed more. They've allowed 20 passing touchdowns, halfway to 40, which would tie the NFL record set by the 1963 Broncos.

What about all those premium draft picks the Bengals used to beef up their defense?

Hasn't gone well.

Cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, first-round picks the last two years, have been torched on a regular basis. Most recently Joseph was abused for 165 yards by Bills receiver Lee Evans. They're capable of one day becoming a good set of corners, but right now -- on this team, with such putrid pass pressure -- they're in over their heads.

The linebackers the Bengals drafted 1-2 in 2005? David Pollack has been hurt for two years, and Odell Thurman is suspended for the season, unlikely to ever play another down for the Bengals. Defensive end Frostee Rucker, a third-round pick last year, has one tackle this year. Cornerback Keiwan Ratliff, a second-round pick in 2004, was released a few weeks into the season.

Years of personnel gaffes, suspensions and injuries have left the Bengals with an astonishing lack of firepower on the defensive line. Veteran starting defensive ends Bryan Robinson and Justin Smith have one combined sack. Robinson has five sacks over the past 5 ½ seasons.

Starting linebackers Rashad Jeanty, Ahmad Brooks and Landon Johnson have combined for two sacks and no interceptions.

Chinedum Ndukwe leads the team in sacks. With two. He's a safety. The entire defensive line combined has five sacks in eight games, or about one sack every 1 ½ games.

This all adds up to open season for opposing quarterbacks, who are completing an insane 67 percent of their passes and have a 101.2 passer rating -- better numbers than Peyton Manning.

The Bengals haven't drafted a defensive player who went to the Pro Bowl as a Bengal in more than two decades, since 1986 third-round pick David Fulcher, a safety, went to the 1990 Pro Bowl. They've had only three defensive Pro Bowl players in the last 20 years: cornerbacks Ashley Ambrose in 1996, Tory James in 2004 and Deltha O'Neal in 2005.

The member of the Bengals' front seven who went to Hawaii? Would you believe defensive tackle Tim Krumrie, from the 1988 Super Bowl team?

Wild guess: That won't change this year.

Can the Bengals salvage anything out of this season? They do face some bad offenses the rest of the way - the Ravens, Cards, Titans, Rams, 49ers and Dolphins. But if the Bills can pile up 479 yards against the Bengals -- their most in five years and more than 200 above their average -- there might not be anybody the Bengals can stop.

It may take an improbable second-half resurgence for coach Marvin Lewis to save his job. Barring a 7-1 finish, this will be the fifth time in six years under Lewis the Bengals haven't had a winning record. They haven't won a playoff game since Sam Wyche was coach and Boomer Esiason was quarterback. And that's not about to change.

By the Numbers

• Vikings running back Adrian Peterson's NFL-record 296 yards against the Chargers made him the first player in NFL history to rush for 224 or more yards twice in a season. The most yards any player had previously rushed for twice in one year is 223, which Jim Brown of the Browns reached twice in 1963 (223 vs. Eagles, 232 vs. Cowboys). Only three other players have three games with 224 or more yards in their career -- O.J. Simpson and Brown had three each and Corey Dillon had two.

• Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history to throw five touchdown passes in a game on 16 or fewer attempts. Craig Morton of the Oilers threw five TDs against the Cowboys on Dec. 20, 1970, on 17 passes, the previous low.

• Eagles tailback Brian Westbrook's 14 receptions against the Cowboys were the fourth-most in NFL history by a running back and most in 26 years, since William Andrews of the Falcons had 15 against the Steelers on Nov. 15, 1981.

• Westbrook's 10 receptions in the second half tied the most ever by a running back in a second half. Ricky Ervins of the Redskins had 10 in a game against the Chiefs in 1992.

• Saints quarterback Drew Brees' 445 passing yards against the Jaguars, a year after he had 510 against the Bengals last year, made him the 10th quarterback with two career games of 445 or more but only the second to complete over 70 percent of his passes in both games. The other was Marc Bulger (who was drafted by the Saints).

• The Saints are the fourth team in NFL history and the first in 15 years to start a season 0-4 and then win their next four games. The others were the 1974 Lions, 1980 Chiefs and 1992 Chargers.

Reuben Frank is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times in Willingboro, NJ.