CINCINNATI — Carson Palmer completed just 13 passes for a pedestrian 110 yards.

Don’t try selling that as a silver lining to Browns linebacker David Bowens.

“They didn’t pass the ball,” he said. “They came out and ran the ball 75 times.”

Bowens was exaggerating, but he got his point across. The Bengals ran the ball 45 times Sunday for 210 yards in a 16-7 win at Paul Brown Stadium.

Palmer threw a 4-yard touchdown and converted some important third downs to keep scoring drives alive. But this game was all about the Bengals’ domination at the line of scrimmage, as they averaged 4.7 yards a carry.

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The Browns seemed to catch a break when No. 1 runner Cedric Benson, who has 854 yards, was inactive for the second straight week with a hip injury. But the break wasn’t big enough.

Larry Johnson, picked up this month after being released by the Chiefs, carried 22 times for 107 yards and a 4.9 average. He picked up 10 and 12 yards on his first two carries and proved that Cincinnati could pound it inside without Benson.

Rookie Bernard Scott from Abilene Christian was the perfect complement. He made his hay on sprints off tackle and sweeps around the corner, rushing 18 times for 87 yards and a 4.8 average.

“Everyone thinks Cedric Benson, and no disrespect, but Scott’s a good back and L.J.’s been a good back for years and has a lot more years in him,” end Robaire Smith said. “It’s a good balance, but that’s why you got to know your personnel, who’s back there carrying the ball,” defensive end C.J. Mosley said. “Most of the time we had two big guys on us. It was just tough, period, no matter who was back there.”

The Browns were hamstrung by a series of injuries across the defense, but weren’t effective when the starters were in the game. Coach Eric Mangini didn’t provide any updates, but said they’ll undergo tests Sunday night and today.

Nose tackle Shaun Rogers was carted off in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Defensive end Kenyon Coleman, playing in his 100th game, left in the first half with a knee injury and didn’t return. Linebacker Kamerion Wimbley left in the final minutes with an undisclosed injury. And safety Brodney Pool, who has a history of concussions, walked to the locker room early in the third quarter with what the team announced as a head injury.

Ahtyba Rubin replaced Rogers, Mosley took over for Coleman and Hank Poteat and receiver Mike Furrey filled in for Pool.

“They’re not just good guys on defense, they’re two of our team leaders,” Smith said of Rogers and Coleman, the other two-thirds of the line. “A lot of guys look up to them.”

Rogers’ injury looked like a season-ender and would be the biggest loss. Rogers, a Pro Bowler last year, was engaged with a Bengals lineman when a teammate appeared to roll into his left leg. He put his hands over his head as he was driven off the field.

“He’s really upset,” Bowens said.

That matched the mood of the locker room. Defenses are built on toughness, and nothing looks weaker than giving up a lot of rushing yardage.

Mangini inserted Matt Roth, claimed Wednesday, into the starting lineup at outside linebacker so he could move Jason Trusnik (6-foot-4, 250 pounds) inside in place of rookie Kaluka Maiava (6-0, 229). The idea was to give the Browns more size to try to match the Bengals’ behemoth offensive line that averages just under 6-6 and 330 pounds – and that’s without the sixth lineman they used often.

“It’s a dynamic offensive line,” Mangini said. “It would be harder for a guy like Kaluka to hold up down in and down out against a group like that.”

This was the second time the Browns held an opponent under 100 net passing yards this season – Palmer was sacked three times for 14 yards — after Minnesota managed just 85 in the opener. Of course, the Vikings ran for 225 yards and won the game. The Browns missed a lot of tackles in both.

Cincinnati’s superior strength showed all game. In the final minutes Johnson ran through one of the huge holes provided and lowered a shoulder into Poteat, who was knocked back and could only cling to his ankle like a little kid with his dad.

“I’m not going to say they wanted it badder than we did, they just took advantage of our weaknesses,” end Corey Williams said. “We had a lot of missed tackles and just bad ball on our part.

“There comes a point where guys have to look in the mirror and say, “Do I really want this?’ Everybody in this organization needs to do that. Anytime you let a team rush for 200 yards, something’s not right. We can’t give up.”

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

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