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{mosimage}It’s so bad for the Bengals offense these days that Chad Johnson can’t even bring himself to talk trash. The receiver finally caught a long pass Sunday — a 51-yarder that was 33 yards longer than his previous season high — but that was hardly worth celebrating in light of Cincinnati’s second straight 13-point performance and his diminished production. Heading into a game Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, Johnson has six fewer catches and 124 fewer yards than at the same point in 2005.
"I can’t be the aggressor with this right here," he said, pointing to his mouth, "when my approach and my game play out there on Sunday is not aggressive at all." Johnson is trying hard to be a company man, but he acknowledged he is tired of the offense settling for what defenses are allowing. "Last year, I could be aggressive (talking) because I knew when I got up on Sunday we were going to be the aggressive opponent," Johnson said. "But right now I can’t take an aggressive approach with you (media) guys and then go out there and be a sitting duck and a decoration." Johnson said he understands offenses must react to a defense’s strategy, but he said it’s time for the Bengals to impose their will as well. "We can’t allow teams to dictate what we can do," he said. "We need to start dictating what we want to do." Johnson attended Santa Monica (Calif.) Junior College with Panthers receiver Steve Smith. Like Johnson, Smith is used to having opponents’ game plans geared against him. But Smith has proved to be a game-breaker anyway. The former teammates remain close, and when they talked earlier this week, Smith gave Johnson tough love. "I told him, ‘Welcome to my life and quit complaining,’ " Smith said in a conference call. "He’s just got to work harder at it. There’s nothing he can do, nothing he can change." There are reasons beyond opponents’ game plans for the lack of big plays. The injuryracked offensive line has not protected well, and a once-deep receiving corps has been hit by injuries (Tab Perry, Kelley Washington) and suspension (Chris Henry). Yet from coach Marvin Lewis down to the players, the Bengals refuse to use injuries as an excuse. Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski pointed to the Bengals’ feeble 32.3 third-down conversion percentage as the key problem. Last year, Cincinnati converted 42.9 percent on third down. "We need to get those thirddown conversions," Bratkowski said. "That allows us to stay on the field and get Rudi (Johnson) to get more runs and Chad to catch more passes and T.J. (Houshmandzadeh) to catch more passes." Lewis said there’s enough blame to go around, including receivers running improper routes, but he took Johnson’s criticisms in stride. "I don’t necessarily agree, because Chad has a very tainted view of things all the time," Lewis said with a laugh. Columbus Dispatch
brabinowitz@dispatch.com http://columbusdispatch.com/bengals/bengals.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/19/20061019-B3-01.html
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