Humbled Bengals mum on 2-4 start

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Not much energy was left in the Bengals locker room.

Players wandered through after meetings on Monday, subdued after reviewing their 39-32 loss in Atlanta a day earlier. Even the usually chatty receivers — Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens — kept their playful banter to a restrained level.

Two months into the season, there’s not much to stay about a team fast becoming irrelevant.

The defending AFC North champions fell to 2-4 with their third straight loss, turning them into a long shot to make the playoffs for a second straight season.

Already, they trail Pittsburgh by three games and Baltimore by two. They’re only a half-game ahead of last-place Cleveland.

Up next: Miami (3-3) at Paul Brown Stadium.

“This is a critical time for this football team,” safety Chris Crocker said.

The problem is that they don’t play to their talent level for very long. They can look pitiful for half a game — both the offense and defense were penalized for having 12 men in the huddle in the first half, when Atlanta pulled ahead 24-3. With Carson Palmer running a no-huddle offense, they looked like defending champs and rallied to a 25-24 lead.

Then, they fell apart again.

They’ve done that all season long.

“At the end of the day, it’s not as bad as it looks and it’s not as good as it looks,” defensive tackle Tank Johnson said. “We’ve got to figure out how to get to .500. We’re trying to climb out of this hole.”

They’ve given no indication they’re ready to start moving up.

The offense self-destructs with penalties and dropped passes. A defense that was among the league’s best last season is giving up big plays. And the coaching staff hasn’t been able to get things moving the right way.

It has the look and feel of a team that’s not all there.

“I’ve got to do a better job of coaching our guys so that we’re executing and we’re playing poised under pressure,” coach Marvin Lewis said on Monday.