Bengals can cut their losses

Monday, December 20, 1999
Bengals can cut their losses - Colts are proof

BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Polian is the Jim Bowden of the NFL. He came to the Indianapolis Colts in December 1997, looked at the roster and broke out his broom. “Other than quarterback, there was no one position that needed fixing above all the others,” he said Sunday.
Meaning: They all needed fixing. When you're 3-13, there are no strengths, only weaknesses striving to be mediocrities. Time to blow things up and start over.
Polian, the Colts president, stood in the tunnel of the RCA Dome Sunday, hugging players as they left the field. The Colts had just beaten the Washington Redskins to go 12-2, their 10th win in a row. They clinched the AFC East, the toughest division in football. They did it a year after finishing 3-13 for the second straight season.
All around Polian, jubilant Colts donned baseball caps printed with an AFC East Champs logo. Ten minutes after the game, the dome still sounded like the inside of a scream.
“What a feeling,” said tight end Ken Dilger.
This happens all over the NFL, every year. It happens in places you least expect: Atlanta last year, St. Louis this year, Carolina three years ago. It happens everywhere. Except Cincinnati.
You lose, you leave
Twelve Colts remain from the 3-13 group of two years ago. Polian felt no need to keep lots of players from a bad team, figuring they were why the team was bad. What a notion.
Apparently, if things don't go well, you make changes.
If the players you have aren't winning games, you get new ones.
If the coaches you've hired aren't winning games, you get different ones. Isn't that interesting.
Said Dilger, “In two years, (Polian) cleaned some house and made us a good team. I knew something had to change. Going 3-13, I mean nobody stands pat.”
The screams of the Colts faithful left a ringing in my ears. It mixed with the words of Bengals emperor Mike Brown who, evidently, would like to retain as many Bengals free agents as he can. Who, quite possibly, will retain all or a great part of his coaching staff.
The Bengals would like to re-sign all their free agents, hoping to keep together the current juggernaut that has, apparently because of rotten luck, won just seven of its last 30 games.
Why change anything when you have a chance to finish 6-10?
Barring an unlikely meltdown in the last two games, the coaches are safe as well. The players have played hard for Bruce Coslet. That is, they are fulfilling their contractual obligations. Bless their hearts.
Quick turnaround possible
It's important to keep the continuity here, especially for the young players, who would be lost if a new regime came in, with new ways of doing things. Really, it's a wonder any team in any professional sport ever changes coaches, considering the scars it must leave on players.
“Free agency makes it easier than it used to be,” Bill Polian said. Easier to win quickly. Easier to make a bad situation good. Easier to pull the ox cart from the ditch. Easier everywhere but Cincinnati.
Polian built Buffalo teams that won four straight AFC titles. He built the Carolina team that reached the NFC title game in just its second season.
Polian drafted Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf. He bypassed Ricky Williams for Edgerrin James, who he felt was a better receiver. On Sunday, James made a one-handed touchdown catch. Polian knows talent.
It's great for Indy that Polian is there. It's bad for the Bengals, who will never have a Polian to show them how quickly things can change when the right people are making the moves.
So many teams, showing the Bengals how it's done. The Colts are the latest. Is anyone paying attention?
Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454. Fair Game, a collection of his columns, is available at local bookstores.
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