Sunday night reader e-mail from Nashville

Bengals fans must be out treak-or-treating with their children -- or the kids themselves are out. Not a lot of e-mail here on game night at The Coliseum in Nashville, Tenn.

Question, from Chris in Seattle: I have two questions for you. Looks like we have ANOTHER losing season ahead of us. We can again probably expect a top 5-10 draft pick. Who is out there that might find themselves in a Bengals uniform for the 2005 season? (Hopefully a defensive player.)

My second question is how tough is Marvin Lewis on these players? All I see is shaking of the head. Why not a Bill Cowher or Tom Coughlin in-your-face guy? I know I start yelling at the TV when somebody does something wrong. It just seems like he is over friendly to the players.

Answer: Lewis is consistent with his players. He is not one for emotional outburts in public. I would believe, though, that they are told matter of factly what they're doing wrong.

As for the draft: The top defensive linemen likely to come out are George's David Pollack and USC's Shaun Cody. It doesn't look like a deep class of D-linemen.

Question, from Bob in Maineville: In hindsight, since the Bengals have been unable to stop the run for at least 16 games, it appears that Lewis' decision to change a somewhat successful offense at the beginning of this year was a major mistake. What do you think?

Answer: Starting Carson Palmer ahead of Jon Kitna, at this point, might not look like a good move. There has been a step back, for sure, from where the offense was last October and November.

But with the defense the Bengals have, in spite of its good showing against Denver and in the fourth quarter today, would playing Kitna have pushed the 2004 Bengals into the playoffs? Probably not. Palmer will be a star, and this season is an investment in the future.