DJ Reader 'pissed off' after Bengals defense shredded by Browns' rushing attack: 'That can’t happen'
CLEVELAND, OH — The Bengals knew the Browns were going to try to run the ball on Thursday night. With Geno Atkins (shoulder) and Mike Daniels (groin) out, it only made sense to run it right at a shorthanded Cincinnati defense.
Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb combined for 210 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Browns 35-30 win.
"From the point of attack starting with me and it takes the whole defense to stop the run. That's what teams are going to do until we stop it. Everybody has to be better," DJ Reader said on Thursday night. "We just have to do things in a better way. It is a culture change. We are trying to bring a winning culture to this team, and we have not had that before so you are working on that. That is what comes with it. There is a toughness that comes with it. There are no excuses for it."
The Browns scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions. They only punted one time. Despite their struggles on defense, the Bengals stayed within striking distance, closing the gap to 28-23 with 5:55 remaining.
Baker Mayfield didn't throw the ball once on the proceeding drive. Instead, he handed it off six times for 75 yards. The drive ended with a one-yard Hunt touchdown run, which clinched the game for Cleveland.
“It is tough. That is a man stepping in front of you and saying that he is going to shove it down your throat and do better than you," Reader said of the Browns. "That is what he said. He said he was going to run the rock at us, and that is what happened. That can’t happen. Football is too intense of a game and too physical of a game for us to let that happen to us. We have to get that corrected.”
The Browns averaged 6.1 yards-per-carry and only two of their rushing attempts didn't gain positive yardage.
"You have to want to win," Reader said. "If you are not this pissed off after the game we just lost and gave up 200 yards rushing, it is not right. You have to want to win. This hurts. It is tough to win in this league week to week. It is really tough so you have to want to do it. You have to put your mindset to it every day, day in and day out."
Once Atkins and Daniels are healthy, things might be different, but Reader isn't making excuses and he definitely doesn't want to wait.
"We have to get what we have going fixed now right. It just has to get done," he said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We have our games to play, and we have got to get things done.”
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