FanHouse

Better late than never, I guess. Chuck Bresnahan, recently fired Bengals defensive coordinator, had some advice for his successor on his way out the door:

"There were things I requested that I didn't get done," Bresnahan told The Enquirer. "We needed to level the playing field between the defense and the offense. To me, we needed to put more money into the defense, so when you start talking about the top-6 offense, we could have been a better team with a better defense and, by extension, special teams."

Okay, that's not so much advice as bellyaching, but it should serve as a warning for the next guy to get the job: the team isn't afraid to drop some coin on the offense, but the defense, not so much. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Mark Curnutte, of the Bengals' top 12 paid players in 2007 – those with salary cap numbers (salary and bonuses combined) of $2.5 million or more– eight were offensive players.

Richard Hunley, the linebackers coach who was also fired with Bresnahan kept it simple: let the players play, and don't worry so much about all the complex schemes.

"In football ... your brain doesn't function like it does in a classroom," Hunley said. "It's about split-second timing. You have to be at your best when the bullets are flying. You have to be sharp. Your gameplan has to be one of simplicity."

Now all the Bengals need to do is hire a defensive coordinator. First up: the Falcons' Mike Zimmer, which must instill all kinds of confidence in the fans that the front office hasn't gone completely insane.