CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals are second in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 84.3 yards a game. They have held their opponent under 100 yards a team-record six straight games.

Gone is the soft defense that could be pushed around by the big boys in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

The Cincinnati Bengals are ninth in the league in rushing offense, averaging 127.8 yards a game. They have rushed 317 times, the fifth most in the league.

Gone are the nearly constant four-receiver sets that were explosive but inconsistent.

The Cincinnati Bengals have evolved into a tough, physical, resilient team that sits atop the AFC North with a 7-3 record. They capped an unprecedented 5-0 start inside the division with an 18-12 win in Pittsburgh that featured no offensive touchdowns.

“They’re turning into what the Steelers were,” Browns defensive end Robaire Smith said.

The North has been dominated by Pittsburgh and Baltimore, with the exception of the Bengals’ title in 2005. But the high-powered offense and big-play defense have been replaced by grinding mechanisms that are more reliable.

“They’ve got a different identity this year,” said guard Eric Steinbach, who played for the Bengals from 2003-06. “You see it. You come in and beat Pittsburgh twice and Baltimore twice, you’ve got something going.”

Steinbach has spent his entire seven-year career inside the division and knows what it takes to come out on top. The Browns, who’ve lost nine of their last 10 division games, aren’t on that level.

“It’s a bully division,” he said. “If you want to compete, you’ve got to be physical on all the phases.

“You’ve got to be able to run the ball on offense, have a physical defense that creates turnovers and then you have to have solid special teams. If you have only one phase, you’re not going to survive.”

The Browns have been on the wrong end of this Darwinian experiment for much of the last decade. They don’t have a division title and rank 22nd in rushing offense and 29th in rushing defense. But the players say the problem isn’t a lack of toughness.

“Physical, we don’t have a problem in that category,” linebacker David Bowens said. “It’s the smart part we need to get down.”

“Physically, we match up, we compete with these guys,” Steinbach said.

The most noticeable change in Cincinnati is on defense, where new coordinator Mike Zimmer has taken a group of castoffs, a couple of first-round cornerbacks and two USC linebackers and molded them into a force.

“Coach Zimmer’s done a heckuva job coming in there and getting that defense to play,” Steinbach said. “They play. They can penetrate, they can create a pass rush, their safeties and corners can pick the ball off.”

They’ve taken to calling themselves the “Scrap Iron Defense.” Linebacker Dhani Jones was jobless for almost three weeks before the Bengals signed him. Safety Chris Crocker is a former Brown who was looking for work. Defensive tackle Tank Johnson was arrested during his days in Chicago, and rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga dropped into the second round.

“We’ve got a lot of pieces that nobody wanted,” linebacker Brandon Johnson said. “But when we all come together, we’re a helluva machine.”

The Bengals are third in points allowed (16.7 a game) and their run-stopping streak includes two wins over Baltimore and the season-changing win over Pittsburgh.

“Teams that don’t play the run very well usually have secondary guys who don’t tackle very well,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.

“One of the things that impresses me is the motor of the defense,” Browns coach Eric Mangini said. “There’s a lot of guys to the ball after every play. Those are effort and awareness plays that you appreciate as an opposing coach.”

The Bengals lead the North by a game over the Steelers and two over the Ravens, and hold the tiebreaker over both. In Weeks 3-5, they beat all three division foes by three points, a first since 1970.

They hold the second seed in the AFC playoff chase behind undefeated Indianapolis. A 4-1 record on the road – the loss came last week in Oakland – is another sign of mental toughness.

“We have a more mature football team, depth, a more workman-type attitude,” Lewis said.

The return of quarterback Carson Palmer gives the offense a consistently credible threat and the ability to rally in the fourth quarter. But the Bengals are no longer relying on Palmer to throw 40 times for 350 yards. Cedric Benson is tied for second in the league in carries, as the Bengals throw deep a lot less and are content to march down the field.

“Baltimore and Pittsburgh have set the tone,” Palmer said. “They were the ones to come up with the formula, which is good, solid defense, run the football and control the field position. Now that’s something we’ve turned into. Our defense is giving us the chance to play that kind of game every week.”

“They’ve got a good running back and they’re using him a lot,” Smith said. “The guys upfront are big, strong guys – Big Bobbie (Williams) and (Andrew) Whitworth – they basically pound the defensive players.”

The Browns were the last team to run the ball well against Cincinnati, as Jerome Harrison had 121 of the 146 yards. Mangini is most concerned with the team’s mental toughness as it deals with the 1-9 record. The Browns can prove something to him by bouncing back from the torturous loss last week in Detroit.

But the physical aspect can’t be ignored. Not against the new and improved Cincinnati Bengals. Not in the AFC North.

“It’s something that has to be genuine,” defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said. “They’re not going to play tough just because you want to talk tough. You have to have that there.

“We do have some tough players, we really do, but we need a whole group of them, of tough guys. That’s what we’re putting a premium on here with the Browns.”

Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland at Cincinnati
• TIME: 1 p.m.
• WHERE: Paul Brown Stadium
• TV/RADIO: Channel 19; WMMS 100.7-FM, WTAM 1100-AM

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---