The first can only help. The second had better help.  The flaws apparent in the Cincinnati Bengals' first two losses were on display for the nation Monday night, exposed by a New England team that exploits opponents' every weakness. The 34-13 final was no shocker.  The Bengals defense gives up too many big plays. The offense, for all its potency, makes too many mistakes. Instead of giving players yesterday off, coach Marvin Lewis convened a team meeting.

The Bengals are beaten up physically and psychologically. They are 1-3, with a bye week to heal and look in the mirror. As they do, Lewis' words will echo in their ears.  In the postgame locker room, Lewis blistered his team in a rant that could be heard next door. In his news conference, he lambasted the team for selfishness, a problem he had vowed to address after last season.  "(We're) not playing as a team right now, and that's what he meant," quarterback Carson Palmer said. "It definitely is evident playing against a team that plays as one and doesn't play as individuals. That's where we need to get to."

Along with Indianapolis, New England is the class of the NFL. It would have taken a remarkable performance to upset the Patriots, especially with the casualty list expanding.  It got this bad for the Bengals on Monday night: Dhani Jones, a linebacker who has been with the team less than two weeks, was barking the defensive calls in the huddle.

At the time, the only other linebacker on the field was Chinedum Ndukwe, a safety.  With Ahmad Brooks (groin) and Caleb Miller (back) inactive, the Bengals dressed only four linebackers. Lemar Marshall suffered a ruptured Achilles' tendon on New England's second play from scrimmage. Landon Johnson left in the second quarter because of an eye injury.  The only true linebackers available were Jones and Anthony Schlegel, with the team for only a month, and Schlegel is nursing a sore toe and didn't play in passing situations.

Enter Ndukwe, a Dublin Coffman grad who briefly played linebacker at Notre Dame. He gave a game effort, but there's a reason players listed at 218 pounds don't play linebacker in the NFL. The offensive line was without center Eric Ghiaciuc (thumb) and played most of the game without right tackle Willie Anderson (foot/knee).

Anderson said he was only at 50 to 60 percent and didn't sound optimistic he would heal quickly. He said his status will be evaluated during the bye week.  "That's something I'm sure the coaches are going to check out," he said. "Me going back in and out is not really helping the team out."  Cincinnati placed Marshall on injured reserve yesterday and claimed linebacker Corey Mays off waivers from New England.

"We have a chance to regroup and take a look personally at ourselves and come out of this a better football team," Lewis said. "We're not where we want to be, but we've got a lot of football left. We've got to see who we're going to fight with and move forward with, and if we have to make changes, we'll make changes."

Columbus Disptach

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