Shaun Alexander started the first two games of this season quite slowly with four carries for 5 yards to start games against Tampa Bay and Arizona. Well, he was even worse this week. He carried three times and lost 4 yards on Sunday against the Bengals, just part of the continued pattern of slow starts. Check out the chart to the right to see how his performances have compared from one half to the next.

Was it frustrating?

"Any tiome you play in a game, nothing is easy," Alexander said. "The Bengals were lining up in all kinds of stuff that we had never seen before. It just took us a while."

Yes, that vaunted Bengals run defense. The one that gave up 216 yards rushing to Cleveland's Jamal Lewis in Game 2 and the defense is so thinned by injuries that Dhani Jones was called onto the field after Caleb Miller suffered an injury Sunday. Jones was signed within the past week.

But Alexander picked up steam and the second half and reached 100 yards rushing for the second time in three games. He now has 275 yards, the second largest total after three games in his career. He gained 357 yards in the first three games as his second-half performances have carried him to the top 10 in the league.

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