One, nine and one.

Who'd have thought, when the 2008 NFL season began, that the Cincinnati Bengals would shift into free-fall so quickly?

They were supposed to be contenders for the AFC North Division title, not cellar dwellers and bottom-feeders. But that's where they find themselves — again — with five games remaining.

The Bengals, with one playoff appearance in 18 seasons, need one more victory to avoid the worst record (2-14 in 2002) in the 41-year history of the franchise.

Head coach Marvin Lewis touched on several areas in a mini "State of the Team" address on Friday.

Fans can expect changes, but not at the top, where stubborn owner and team President Mike Brown silently rules with an iron fist from his plush domain in the corporate offices of taxpayer-funded Paul Brown Stadium.

In Lewis' words

On his future

I'm not saying I'm on the hot seat. I have a responsibility here. We are not playing well offensively. We dropped two passes (at Pittsburgh). We missed assignments in the running game. We missed tackles defensively. These things happen every game, but when you lose a division game, a game to the Steelers like that, they hurt more.

One of our things coming into the year was to be the least-penalized team in the league. We're pretty good at that, but we have careless things still occurring that we have a chance to eliminate. When you're playing on a small margin of error, those things are important.

We did a better job protecting our passer, but we still didn't get the ball downfield. Conversely, their touchdowns were plays that were very easily defensed. To see us make errors in the game, it's saddening, but it's reflective of me. It comes back to me. It's my job to get it right.

Bigger-picture wise, I think everybody had a false sense of how good some players and some positions were here. I think that is evident. We have to do a better job of looking harder, and pushing harder, and getting people in the right spots all the time, and deeper, so when we have injuries, we can overcome that.

On benching Chad

I think any time that you have to sit a player down, it sends a message to players because that's the only thing they get and understand. I don't know how many times I've said that. Money sometimes isn't as important to players as people would think it is. But playing time is very important. That's their livelihood. That's how they extend themselves. That's what they do and that's important to them. So when you take away playing time, that's the loudest voice they hear.

There are steps in the progression (of discipline) that you need to take through things. It's a matter of the degree of the incident; whether it's a fine, whether it's you don't start, you don't play this quarter, you don't play this half, you're inactive for a game, or you're suspended by the club.

Whatever it may be, there are some steps along the way that you work through and progress through.

Everybody understood what I did and why. Our conversions, per Chad (Ocho Cinco) and I, don't need to be for public record.

The incident is over and behind us.

On the youth movement

I'm going to try to see as much as I can. We're going to try to get as many of the young guys involved as we can, so their second year is not like they came off a redshirt, that they had a chance to get their feet wet and understand what it takes — the physicality of the AFC North Division — and what it takes to play in it and win games in it.

Certainly, we thought we were the most physical team for a long time. But we lost that because we lost to the Steelers twice this year. We'll get it back, though. I can promise that. We'll be fine.

On the offseason

The big thing is, for everybody — Cincinnati Bengals fans and the organization — it's important that all of us put together a better football team. We're going to continue to work at it these last five games, try to win these last five games and end the season with a better taste in our mouths than we have right now after losing the game (Thursday) night. So that makes a big difference. That's what's important to me.

If we win these last five games, starting with Baltimore coming here next Sunday in front of our fans, who were very loud and disruptive a week ago against the Eagles. We've had the same kind of atmosphere when we've played the Ravens here.

Four of these five teams that we're playing have an opportunity to get to the playoffs. We have a chance to say who goes, and we're going to do everything in our power — everything in my power — to win these games and help determine that.

After those five games, it'll be the offseason and I'll have to answer a whole different bunch of questions from (the media). We'll go into the offseason with a much younger football team because of all of the rookies and the guys we have right now that are playing, rather than some of the 7-to-12-year veterans we had a year ago at this point.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253

or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Next game

Who: Baltimore Ravens (6-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-9-1)

When: 1 p.m. Nov. 30

TV: WHIO-TV (CBS, Channel 7)

Radio: WLW-AM (700), WTUE-FM (104.7)

Bengals by the numbers

(Category | Average | NFL Rank)

Scoring | 13.5 | 31st

Total yards | 239.5 | 32nd

Passing yards | 159.5 | 30th

Rushing yards | 80.0 | 31st

DEFENSE

(Category | Average | NFL Rank)

Scoring | 25.1 | 25th

Total yards | 340.1 | 20th

Passing yards | 209.9 | 15th

Rushing yards | 130.2 | 23rd

BENGALS ALSO RANK

30th in touchdowns (15)

22nd in field goals (15)

31st in sacks (11)

20th in interceptions (8)

QUOTABLE: "He still has control of the team. Guys still respect him. He didn't have to do what he did (to get respect) ... It's been a tough year. To lose your starting quarterback and some of the guys we've lost. ... It's tough." — John Thornton on coach Marvin Lewis (left)