Reader e-mail after Jets game

Back from New Jersey. We stayed in a hotel in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan. We were directly across from the World Trade Center site. The blue beams of light -- the memorial -- were illuminated Saturday night, the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks. It was a clear night. The shafts of light reached high into the dark sky until they merged into one. The view was unforgettable.

Now, back to football and the Bengals.

Here are a couple of Monday morning e-mails from Enquirer readers:

Question, from Bob: Just a general question that I would like to get your thoughts on. Isit really fair to rank a defense based on the yardage allowed as opposed to, say, scores allowed? In Sunday's case, it was brought up numerous times that Curtis Martin torched the Bengals
for 196 yards, but no one brought up that out of those 196 yards, he only visited the end zone
once. That, to me, seems to be the more significant of the two numbers. I don't care if someone
breaks out and rushes for 600 yards (I know this is a stretch) but if they don't get into the end
zone, wouldn't that be considered a defensive victory? Your thoughts?

Answer: Well, failure to stop the run is an indicator of big problems on the defense.
Success on the ground -- the Jets had 13 rushing first downs -- allows an offense to maintain
possession and eat time. The had about a 90-second edge in time of possession, and it kept Carson Palmer and the Bengals offense off the field.

Running the ball well gives an offense flexibility. It slows down the pass run when an offense does attempt to throw the ball.

Bengals defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said stopping the run is the No. 1 priority
this season: "It gives you a chance to be a lot more aggressive on defense with some of the things you can do," Frazier said last week of tough run defense. "If you can force them to be a little more predictable on offense, now you can start calling the game you want to. If they're running the football on you effectively, it gets you on the heels and, of course, keeps your offense off the field."

Question, from M. Welsh: "They played their hearts out." What game was Marvin Lewis
watching? The defense looked worse than last year. They will be luckily to go 8-8. They can't
stop anyone. Here we go again.

Answer: Lewis says the problems with the defense can be fixed. Let's see. It will surely be a test of his tag as a defensive mastermind.