Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

Hours after the Cincinnati Bengals touched down at CVG on Monday morning to complete a whirlwind trip to London, coaches were already in meetings and breaking down film of the 27-27 tie with Washington, and by Tuesday work had already begun to sift through the first eight games of the year.

It’s a time for head coach Marvin Lewis, coordinators Paul Guenther, Ken Zampese and Darrin Simmons, and the respective position coaches to take a breath and turn the lens back on the team.

“We’ve got 13, 12 and a half days to get things right,” Lewis said. “We’re looking at every area.”

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After eight games, the 3-4-1 Bengals sit in second place in the AFC North behind the 4-3 Pittsburgh Steelers. The team is No. 6 in the league in total offense but 20th in scoring. They are 24th in total defense and 19th in scoring defense. According to pro-football-reference.com, the average drive start of their own 24.7-yard line is 30th in the league, and Mike Nugent’s conversion rate of 74 percent (14-for-19) is 28th in the league.

By record, and by the numbers, the Bengals are slightly below average.

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“That’s where we are right now,” Lewis said. “We’ve got an opportunity to improve upon that. But we’ve got to do the things we put in front of them each and every week per the opposition in order to do that, and do it consistently each an every time out.”

The Bengals are off through Sunday when the coaches will “look at every area” and then preparation and implementation of the self-scouting before their next game on Nov. 14 at the New York Giants.

One could argue the bye week always comes at a good time, regardless of when it is, but in the Bengals’ case they have a 53-man roster that is healthy, and eight weeks of film to evaluate.

“Sometimes when they go off (on a bye) in week four there is no real indication,” linebackers coach Jim Haslett said. “This is good indication. I think we get a good feel for what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, things we can correct and clean up.”

In terms of play calls, it allows the coaches to break down their own tendencies and player strengths and weaknesses, determining what doesn’t work despite consistent efforts at it, what is being done well and how to expand on such calls. There is a degree of self-scouting and tweaking every week, but this time the lens can be pulled back even further.

“It’s a little more global right now,” wide receivers coach James Urban said. “Now, it’s much bigger picture of what we’re good at, what we need to get better at.”

But that bigger picture then is narrowed down to personnel evaluations. How are the players performing, or not performing?

Some changes have been made already.

Right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi was benched in New England on Oct. 16 and has since been worked into a rotation with veteran Eric Winston. Josh Shaw has been the primary nickel corner over Darqueze Dennard since Dennard started against Miami back on Sept. 29. To a lesser degree than that, tight end C.J. Uzomah was inactive on Sunday after starting six of the first seven games of the year.

And on an underachieving defense, there could be more drastic amendments to playing time in the second half.

“We have a lot of guys that have been here a long time, that have been fixtures in our system for a long time,” Guenther said. “But, like I told them, it's a production business. So even though you've been kind of a guy that's been here and I think there's going to be a younger player that I think can do it better at this point, whether it be for 15 more snaps, I've got to look at that because some of the guys that have been here, that have been fixtures here, for some reason or another, whether it's age or whatever it is, they are not playing at a high level and I've got to figure out where I can inject some other guys that can do it better or at least try to.”

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Margus Hunt and Will Clarke had been worked into the defensive-line rotation early this year, but Clarke has contributed three sacks in fewer snaps. Second-year defensive tackle DeShawn Williams has not been active on game day yet, nor has recently acquired corner KeiVarae Russell, a third-round pick picked up from Kansas City the second week of September.

Third-round pick linebacker Nick Vigil has seen the field on a very limited basis, while first-round pick William Jackson III is eligible to return from the injured-reserve list. Dennard has played in the last seven games since returning from a preseason ankle injury, but his role has been limited thus far.

“It's a production business and there is a certain loyalty to the guys that have been here, that have been the core players for us. But at the same time, I have to do what's best for the team,” Guenther said. “And, I think everyone in the room understands that.”

For the Bengals' coaching staff, such evaluations and potential changes will be done with an eye toward a stronger end to 2016 than the 2-3 finish to 2015 (including the playoff loss) and the current start to this season.

“You’d like to be a different spot record-wise, but this is where we are,” Lewis re-emphasized. “Being great the last part of the season is the most important part. We didn’t finish the season very well last season. So we have a chance to flip that, and that’s what’s most important.”