Kansas City, Mo. — The Bengals’ defense reached a new low on Sunday night.

The unit put on its worst performance of the season with a national audience watching, allowing 551 yards in an 45-10 loss to the Chiefs. But the final score didn’t quite show just how bad it was. Then again, losing by 35 says a lot.

“Everybody in the whole world saw you get your butt kicked, and that’s the way it is. You’ve got to take it and move on to the next game,” said Bengals linebacker Preston Brown.

Players missed tackles all night, allowed Chiefs players to get wide open for scores, and essentially looked like they were a step behind the other team all night. Even linebacker Vontaze Burfict, arguably one of the Bengals’ best defensive players, looked completely inept when matched up against the speedy of the Chiefs’ offense. Burfict had only two tackles before leaving in the third quarter with a hip injury.

“… It falls on everybody. We gotta do a better job of preparing ’em. They’ve gotta go out and they’ve gotta understand and make the corrections, adjustments, execution…you know that was gonna be a big part of it — communication, being alert, and making the adjustments … throughout the football game — not only during the series, but within.,” said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. “And we did a poor job of that. And we’ve gotta understand that. We have opportunities to make plays … by missed tackles and so forth. We got balls that are tipped in the air, and we don’t come down with them; we’ve got the quarterback trapped, we don’t get him on the ground. So we’ve got a lot of things we’ve gotta do better.”

The Bengals have a problem, and it’s not going to go away. While they might be able to pull out wins when their defense is generating turnovers, they don’t match up well against any type of speed or quick-packed offense. On nights like Sunday, when the Bengals’ offense also isn’t clicking, the issue becomes even more obvious.

For whatever reason, the Bengals’ defense has not gotten going under new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and it’s hard to say what percentage falls on the players vs. the scheme. There’s not exactly a solution waiting in the wings either.

The Bengals’ defensive line has failed to get any pressure the last two games, and both their linebacker and cornerback depth are razor thin outside of the starting players.

That’s not to say the offense shouldn’t take its share of the blame. The Bengals failed to capitalize on several breaks against a porous defense that came into Sunday’s game ranked last in the league. A kickoff that went out of bounds and an interception by Shawn Williams gave the Bengals good field position, but the offense responded by going 3-and-out both times. Quarterback Andy Dalton threw a pick-six and couldn’t get the ball to anyone but A.J. Green.

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DENVER — Brittany Bowlen, one of Pat Bowlen’s seven children, said Saturday night she’s hoping to one day succeed her father as principal owner of the Denver Broncos.

It was the first public declaration of her intention and it came at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s annual fashion show, where she is co-chair.

The franchise has been run by a trust since Pat Bowlen stepped away several years ago to battle Alzheimer’s.

“Right now, the Denver Broncos have an owner. It’s my father. Unfortunately, he can’t be involved in the day-to-day of the team,” Brittany Bowlen said. “I do have ambitions and goals to one day becoming the controlling owner of the Denver Broncos. And I’ll keep working toward those goals. I’m not there yet, but I really believe I can get there.”

Brittany Bowlen, 28, received her master’s degree in business administration from Duke in May after graduating from Notre Dame with a degree in finance, then working for two years at NFL headquarters and a year with the Broncos as a business analyst.

Terms of the trust require five years’ experience with the league or team. Bowlen, who began a job with McKinsey & Company at the global consulting firm’s downtown Denver branch, said she doesn’t have a timetable to rejoin the Broncos for more front-office experience.

“I think it’s really important that I get experience outside of the football industry,” Bowlen said. “And I think that working at McKinsey & Company is going to give me that experience.”

Asked for an update on her father’s health, Bowlen said, “My father is doing OK. Alzheimer’s is a very hard disease. He is the most stoic Alzheimer’s patient. It’s truly inspirational to see how he carries himself with the disease.”

She said since getting her master’s degree, “it’s been really awesome to spend more time with him.”

Brittany Bowlen’s mother, Annabel Bowlen, recently announced her own Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Pat Bowlen, who has been nominated as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, bought the team in 1984. He transferred control of the team to the Pat Bowlen Trust in 2014.

The trust is run by team president Joe Ellis, Broncos general counsel Rich Slivka and attorney Mary Kelly.

Last week’s trends came through, with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning outright as an underdog in Cincinnati.

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  Where does the betting value lie in Week 7? Our handicappers give best bets on all of Sunday’s games.

Los Angeles Rams (-9.5, 52) at San Francisco 49ers — 4:25 p.m. ET

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Thursday night was supposed to be different for the Arizona Cardinals.

The plan was to speed up the offense, use more no-huddle.

Nothing changed. Nothing worked.

The Cardinals fell to 1-6 after an embarrassing 45-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in prime time.

And, the offense isn’t just bad. It’s abysmal. The Cardinals had just 83 yards at halftime, and finished a sixth straight game with less than 300 yards (223).

That said, Mike McCoy’s time as Cardinals offensive coordinator should come to an end.

Consider:

• Quarterback Josh Rosen threw two pick-sixes in the first quarter, becoming the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to accomplish the feat. He finished with five turnovers, with another interception and two fumbles.

• The run game was almost nonexistent, in part because the Cardinals trailed 14-0 early. But also because McCoy’s playcalling has consistently showed a lack of creativity. Heading into Thursday, 48.7 percent of the Cardinals’ runs were up the middle.

• The Cardinals are averaging 220.9 total yards per game this season, the fewest by any team through seven games since the 2009 Raiders, who also averaged 220.9 with JaMarcus Russell at quarterback.

At one point Sunday, the Cardinals were 0-for-7 on third down, extending their streak of third-down failures to 18 straight, which dated back to the end of Arizona’s Week 5 win over the 49ers.

Firing McCoy has as much to do with the future as it does with the Cardinals’ offensive ineptitude in the past.

There were times, in between the interceptions, that Rosen showed flashes. There was his pass to Larry Fitzgerald in the first half that was thrown only where Fitzgerald could catch it. There was his 14-yard run on a broken play that moved the Cardinals into the red zone.

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• Full schedule » | Full standings »
• Weekly stats leaders »
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