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Yesterday, I wrote that the key to the Bengals 2008 season will be their ability to stop the run. They will face an 1,000 yard rusher in 13 of their 16 games next season ... with the other three games against some damn good backs, too.

In that post, I focused on who Cincinnati would face. The names and stats of those backs that will be licking their chops at the Bengals maligned defense. Today, I'm looking at what the Bengals did against such backs last season.

Let me preface this by saying that Cincinnati's defense should be a bit improved this year. They added some free agents, a new defensive coordinator and the young guys are a year older. Still, I'm going to look back at what the Bengals defense ... with a lot of the same personnel ... did last year.

Over at The Cincy Jungle, they point out that the Bengals were pretty good against the 1,000 yd rushers they faced last year. Of the 12 games they faced 1,000 yd rushers ... only four topped the 100 yd mark against the Bengals. That's pretty good.

Except for one thing: why is 100 yards the bar set for these guys? I know that a 100-yd day is usually looked at as success for a running back, but how is holding a back to a little less that 100-yds looked at as a great game?

Only three players (Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson and Brandon Jacobs) even averaged 90+ yards per game last season -- only 11 guys averaged 80 ypg. None averaged more than 95.8 yds a game. So I don't think stating that you held a guy under 100 yds means you did your job.

Instead, I'm going to look at these running backs' per game averages to see what Cincinnati did. In that light, it doesn't look to good.

On the 16 games the Bengals played last season, they held the leading opposing rusher under his average just four times (they also held Willie Parker to nearly exactly his average in one game). One of those times, against the Jets' Thomas Jones, they held him to just three yards under his average.

A look ...

• Willis McGahee (75.4 ypg): 77 yds
• Jamal Lewis (81 ypg): 216 yds
• Shawn Alexander (55 ypg): 100 yds
• Sammy Morris (64 ypg): 117 yds
• Larry Johnson (69.8 ypg): 117 yds
• Thomas Jones (69.9 ypg): 67 yds
• Willie Parker (87 ypg): 126 yds
• Marshawn Lynch (85.8 ypg): 153 yds
• Willis McGahee (75.4 ypg): 60 yds
• Edgerrin James (76.4 ypg): 52 yds
• LenDale White (69.4 ypg): 27 yds
• Willie Parker (87 ypg): 87 yds
• Steven Jackson (83.5 ypg): 91 yds
• Frank Gore (73.5 ypg): 138 yds
• Jamal Lewis (81 ypg): 92 yds
• Jesse Chatman (36.7 ypg): 42 yds

It is interesting to note of the four games they held the leading rusher under their average ... they won three of them. The one they lost ... to Arizona ... was the game which the Cards' Antrelle Rolle picked off two passes and returned both for TDs.

The Jungle did notice one promising trend: Cincy's defense didn't allow a TD to a running back in their final six games (they did give up rushing TDs to QBs Shaun Hill and Ben Roethlisberger during that stretch).