LeBeau may be out of time
PITTSBURGH – If the winless Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Bengals Coach Dick LeBeau “will dive into the Ohio River.” If the Bengals lose, though, LeBeau may get thrown in. That’s the hot topic around Cincinnati. If the Bengals don’t show any signs of improvement by their bye, which is the following week, LeBeau will be fired.
Does he deserve the heat?
“I think that might be the toughest job in the country right now, other than being the president,” said Steelers safety Lee Flowers. “It doesn’t matter who the head coach is. It starts with the ownership first. You’ve got to look in the mirror. I mean, every time you bring a head coach in you still can’t win, so obviously it’s not the head coach.”
The team’s founder and general manager, Paul Brown, died in the summer of 1991 and was succeeded by his son, Mike, and the team’s fortunes nosedived.
The 1990 Bengals were 9-7. The 1991 Bengals were 3-13. Since Mike Brown assumed full responsibility, the Bengals haven’t had a winning season, posting a record of 53-128 (.293), which includes this year’s 0-5 record. LeBeau has been the coach since early in the 2000 season. His record is 10-24.
“I know Coach LeBeau personally,” Flowers said. “He’s a helluva coach, a great motivator, so I’m sure it’s not lack of knowledge and it’s not a lack of motivating his players. It’s just that they don’t have everything he needs right now.
“You can’t blame the coach. Sometimes players have to play. For whatever reason I thought they played pretty well last week, but for whatever reason they’re just not putting it together for four quarters. It’s a shame because they’ve probably got the best running back in the game, but that’s about it.”
Flowers played for LeBeau when he was defensive coordinator for the Steelers. LeBeau was the Steelers’ secondary coach form 1992-94 and defensive coordinator from 1995-96. He returned to Cincinnati – where he was defensive coordinator during the Bengals’ Super Bowl season of 1988 – and was defensive coordinator from 1997-2000 before becoming head coach.
“He was my defensive coordinator there for three years,” said Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oehloffen. “Great guy. Great coach. Everybody works hard for him. They play hard for him. It’s tough when you don’t have the talent, though. You can’t have six good players. I’d rather have 22 average players than six good and 10 not-so-good.”
So, why are the Bengals so bad?
“I think it’s obvious,” von Oelhoffen said. “The quarterback.”
Jon Kitna was re-instated last week as the Bengals’ quarterback. Previously, the Bengals had tried Gus Frerotte and Akili Smith.
“They can’t throw the ball,” von Oelhoffen said. “They run the ball great. But if you stop Corey (Dillon), they can’t score.”
Kitna did, however, pass for 411 yards last December when he quarterbacked the Bengals to a 26-23 overtime win against the Steelers.
“They got lucky,” von Oelhoffen said. “He quarterbacked the game of his life.”
Kitna returned last week to complete 31 of 43 passes for 244 yards in a 28-21 loss at Indianapolis. The 21 points nearly matched the 23 points the Bengals had scored in their previous four games. LeBeau was asked why he didn’t start the season with Kitna.
“Obviously, it was not the greatest decision in my life,” LeBeau said.