Bengals fire defensive coordinator after rout by Saints

CINCINNATI (AP) — Marvin Lewis got the Bengals' head coaching job because of his reputation for defensive excellence. He's now in charge of trying to resuscitate a historically bad unit and pulling Cincinnati's season back from the brink.

The Bengals fired defensive coordinator Teryl Austin today, a day after a 51-14 loss to the Saints that ranks among the worst in franchise history. New Orleans scored on every possession except the last one – when it took a knee while in field-goal range – during its rout at Paul Brown Stadium.

The fading Bengals (5-4) fired a coordinator in midstream for the second season in a row. And it's up to Lewis to get hands-on and try to fix the mess while filling two roles at once.

"Teryl worked very hard, but I just felt like we have to rock their world, shake things up," Lewis said.

The timing was curious. The Bengals were coming off their bye week that would have given them time to adapt to a change at coordinator. Now, they're changing on the fly while getting ready for a pivotal AFC North game at Baltimore (4-5) on Sunday.

Lewis took the defense aside a few times on Sunday, trying to clear up confusion. While he won't change the defensive schemes, he'll try to bring more clarity to players' responsibilities.

"They want help: 'Give me something,'" Lewis said.

The Bengals have given up at least 500 yards in three straight games – a first in the Super Bowl era – and are on pace to give up an NFL record for yards in a season. In the past four games, Cincinnati has allowed 481, 551, 576 and 509 yards.