Before quarterback Carson Palmer went public with his call for changes on the Bengals coaching staff, he aired his feelings privately with head coach Marvin Lewis.  Emotions ran high before and after the Bengals' 38-25 victory over Miami that wrapped up the club's first losing season (7-9) since 2002.  "Our quarterback communicated to (the media) we weren't satisfied," Lewis said. "As he and I talked the Friday before the Miami game, we're not satisfied. He and I together will do everything we can to fix it, along with everybody else in this building."

Supporting cast:  Lewis knows the Bengals must surround Palmer with more talent.  "As I told (Palmer), 'Put yourself back in position where you can just go play football the way you can play. You win a lot of football games. Just don't lose the game,' " Lewis said. "We got away from that a little bit, where he felt like he had so much on his shoulders that he felt like if he didn't do this or do that, we'd lose the game. You paint yourself into a little bit of a corner, and that's hard to (overcome)."

Coordinator made Cowboys defense shine without stars

Mike Zimmer likely will have to improve the Bengals defense without adding any major players to it.

CINCINNATI -- In 2001, Mike Zimmer developed a reputation as a bright defensive mind by building a stout defense out of players largely lacking reputations. Those Dallas Cowboys featured Darren Woodson, Dat Nguyen, Dexter Coakley and assorted spare parts, but they finished fourth in the NFL in yards allowed.

It was Zimmer's second season as an NFL defensive coordinator, and it solidified a coaching philosophy he carries into his new job as defensive coordinator of the Bengals: Success is about more than schemes and stars.

"They loved playing football," he recalled yesterday. "They didn't care about anything else, and we didn't change much week to week. We did what we did. It taught me that if you can get all the guys playing on the same page, doing the same thing, doing things right -- and they care about football and they care about winning and they care about doing what you want them to do -- then you've got a chance to be pretty good."

Veteran NFL coach Mike Zimmer is the latest man hired to fix the Bengals defense, a feat that has eluded the franchise for most of its existence. He arrives with plenty of experience under his belt and plenty of room for improvement on the field.

The Bengals ranked 27th of 32 teams in yards allowed and 24th in points allowed in 2007. They have ranked among the bottom half of the league in yards allowed in 20 of the past 23 years.

Zimmer was unavailable for comment yesterday. He will be introduced as the team's new defensive coordinator during a news conference today in Paul Brown Stadium.

For the Bengals' 27th-ranked defense, the long road back to respectability begins with discipline.  "You have to coach tough to be tough," new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said on Wednesday. "You have to have that mentality that this is the line in the sand, and we're not letting the guys cross it.

"I'm big on technique. I want to make sure guys do the things we're asking them to do — have their hands in the right place and their feet in the right place — do it right and play hard all the time."

Discovery period:  Zimmer will spend the next several weeks immersed in film study and player evaluation.  "I know they've got some good, young players on the back end (secondary) and quite a few linebackers," he said.  "Everything's an open slate. Let's start and go from what I see on the field, see how they are professionally, how they are as far as their passion for the game, and how bad they want to win."

Mike Zimmer proved himself calling the shots for top Dallas defenses.

The Bengals' coaching staff just got a breath of fresh air with the hiring of Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator on Tuesday.

Known for his fiery, tough, emotional style, Zimmer will attempt to bring the same kind of success to the Bengals that he experienced as the Dallas Cowboys' coordinator from 2000-06.

Zimmer, who takes over for the fired Chuck Bresnahan, spent the 2007 season with Atlanta. But he was set free to pursue other opportunities after a miserable 4-12 season in which former Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino quit with three games remaining.

Zimmer's goal: Jump-start a Cincinnati defense that ranked 27th out of 32 teams, yielding 348.8 yards a game. It's the fourth time in five years the defense was 27th or lower.

Like most aficionados of pro football, I'll remember Chad Johnson for his touchdown celebrations.

His performing CPR on the football. His using the pylon to putt the football. His genuflection in a mock marriage proposal to a Ben-Gal cheerleader.

His surprisingly solid rendition of Michael Flatley's Riverdance. His pulling a placard out of a snow bank: "Dear NFL: Please don't fine me again. Merry Christmas." His grabbing a jacket that resembles the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees' wardrobe and draping it around his shoulder pads: "Future H.O.F. 20??"

And the bottles of Pepto-Bismol he sent to the Browns DBs, which he followed up with a Pepto-Abysmal performance in Cleveland.