The Cincinnati Bengals began Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh with an impressive 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, only to have the offense disappear for the final 47 minutes.

The Bengals gained just 105 yards the rest of the way to finish with 185, the team’s lowest total since 163 in a 26-10 loss to the New York Jets on Nov. 25, 2010.

Over the final 26 minutes, the Bengals managed just 38 yards and one first down.

“My performance was poor,” offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said. “Our whole performance was poor. It was an embarrassment. There wasn’t much sleep (Sunday) night, that’s for sure.”

The two big questions for Gruden and the offense were:

1. What happened to the running game after the opening drive?
2. How did A.J. Green end up with just one reception.

“When you go back and look at the stats and see A.J. Green with one catch for (8) yards, it bothers you quite a bit,” Gruden said. “When it’s all said and done, you have to have some plays that feature him running fast and far. And we didn’t have enough.”

As for the running game, which accounted for 49 of the 80 yards on the opening drive and only 31 yards after that, Gruden said the inability to make a first down hampered his ability to get into an attacking rhythm against the Pittsburgh defense.

“We were going to do more of that, but we couldn’t get any first downs,” he said. “You keep them off balance and winded, but we couldn’t put our foot on the gas in the second half. From the quarterback to the back to the receiver, someone has to make a play.”

Five of the team’s 11 first downs in the game came on the opening drive.

Rey stays: When Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis talked about possible changes during the bye week, he was asked if struggling middle linebacker Rey Maualuga would be one of them.

“No, it wouldn’t,” Lewis said. “He didn’t play as well (Sunday) as he played over the last couple weeks. But with some of it, it looks like he’s not playing as well because other people aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and he’s actually doing what he is supposed to be doing most of the time.

“To the layman who’s sitting there watching, or whoever is being critical of Rey, they’re probably being overly-critical. Nobody’s going to tell me more about playing linebacker than what I know.”

Atmosphere applause: The lone aspect of Sunday night’s game that Lewis was pleased with was the energy in Paul Brown Stadium crowd.

“That was the best atmosphere for a home game that I’ve experienced,” Lewis said. “Of course, we’re disappointed for the fans that we didn’t win the game, but I want them to know they did their part.”

Bye history: The Bengals are 3-5-1 in games after a bye week under Lewis, and 6-16-1 overall since the NFL began instituting byes in 1990 (the team had two byes in the 1993 season).