Loss looks like same Bengals

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Two more players are facing suspensions. The rookie quarterback is starting to play like one. And the fans don’t seem to care, judging by all the empty seats.

It’s grim again for the Cincinnati Bengals.

A 13-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday was a flashback to the worst times. Paul Brown Stadium was one-third empty, the smallest crowd for a home opener in 30 years. Andy Dalton threw two late interceptions that led to the loss.

Now, at 1-2, the Bengals have to try to rally themselves by insisting it’s too early to worry.

Up next: 3-0 Buffalo, the only unbeaten team left in the AFC.

“There’s really not a big change,” coach Marvin Lewis said Monday. “We’re early in the year. We’ve got a lot of season ahead of us. And you know, at the end of the week when we’re 2-2, there’s going to be probably the other third of the league is going to be in the same situation.

“So I think we have to understand that. That’s where it is early on right now.”

Yes, it’s early. And yes, things could get worse.

Running back Cedric Benson and cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones are appealing suspensions this week for offseason arrests. Jones hasn’t played — he’s still recovering from offseason neck surgery — but Benson is invaluable for an offense starting a rookie quarterback and a rookie receiver in A.J. Green.

Plus, starting receiver Jerome Simpson is under investigation for a marijuana shipment to his home in northern Kentucky. Nobody has been charged, but Simpson’s involvement has already affected the team.

Right guard Bobbie Williams has one more game left on his four-game punishment for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

That’s just the off-field stuff.

On the field, it’s not going so well, either. The Bengals won the season opener in Cleveland by catching the Browns napping with a quick-snap touchdown play. Dalton looked good during a 24-22 loss in Denver. In the home opener, the Bengals made a lot of rookie mistakes.

“We don’t want it to happen, but it’s going to happen anyway,” said Green, who had a pair of false-start penalties. “We’re all [learning] a new offense, [we have] a rookie quarterback, rookie receivers and first-year receivers playing.”