2013 Bengals Discussion (Part 2)

[Hoosier Red]

I think Boomer brought up a good point on the Bengals D. If you have a rookie QB don't make the decision easy for him. When they brought the blitzes on the two TD passes it was a simple decision for Lewis. I thought the DLine was playing very good and the secondary was doing a good job of defending when they just rushed 4.

Lapham said before the game that they blitzed Hoyer just 11 times and he expected to see a few more blitzes yesterday.

Danged if you do, danged if you don't I guess.

[Stray]

I can't speak to the first one, but on the tying TD, the play before the TD they rushed just four and Lewis sat back there all day before he hit the tight end over the middle. It seemed to me they did need to do something different to bring some pressure, I guess just not what they did do.

And why does it seem like everyone is down on the special teams. Yes, they did have the sequence with the penalty and missed FG, but they played very well the rest of the game. Huber had three of five punts inside the 20, they neutralized a good punter returner in McKelvin, and Buffalo's average drive start on five kickoffs was the 23. If anything, special teams ended up winning the game with the return by Tate and the field goal by Nugent in OT.

I agree it seemed like they dominated overall and it felt like they should have won much easier, but a win on the road (I think I heard their first win in Buffalo since 1985) and sole possession of first place is a pretty nice outcome.

The sequence where we had a holding that took 3 points off of the board followed by the missed kick, then fielding a punt inside of our 5 yard line that ruined our drive gave them all of the momentum they needed to tie the game. I agree Huber had a good game, and Nugent is gonna miss some kicks, but we can't continue to have those silly mistakes on the road if we want to take the next step.

[Sea Ray]

Both on Burfict were weak. The first one on the QB he hit Gilberry, not Lewis. And on the second one A) I'm not sure what he's supposed to do and B) I'm not sure it was even a catch.

I wonder if Burfict is starting to get a reputation and the flags will start coming quicker on him.

I thought in order to get called for a personal foul you had to at least touch the opposing player. That call was sad. I hope the league looks at it and has a long conversation with Hochuli

[wolfboy]

Burfict was unquestionably targeted by the refs at Arizona State. I really hope the same doesn't happen here.

[Sea Ray]

Might not have been, sure seemed like they took the foot off the gas pedal though.

It was a perfect storm. Home team gets some momentum, hits on a couple big plays and very poor field position for the Bengals. There's not much opening up the offense when you're inside your own 10

[Hillsdale87]

And why does it seem like everyone is down on the special teams. Yes, they did have the sequence with the penalty and missed FG, but they played very well the rest of the game. Huber had three of five punts inside the 20, they neutralized a good punter returner in McKelvin, and Buffalo's average drive start on five kickoffs was the 23. If anything, special teams ended up winning the game with the return by Tate and the field goal by Nugent in OT.

I think 11 special teams penalties in 6 games is a big reason that people are down on special teams. That is inexcusable. Special teams only won the game in OT because they failed to in regulation when Nugent's FG miss would have iced the game.

Tate's return was huge though. He is such an up and down player. He will make decisions back there that can't be explained, but he breaks off enough great plays too. That return yesterday was great

[medford]

a couple of interesting stats flashed up on the screen. Over the last 3 seasons, the Bengals have made huge stride in their % of trips into the endzone ending in a touch down. From like 24th to 17th up to 3rd this year, converting something like 2/3rds of their red zone possesions into touchdowns. They were either 2/3 or 3/4 (can't remember if AJ's TD came inside the 20, I believe it was longer, but haven't looked it up) w/ the 1 miss coming on the missed FG.

the other stat, is that since Andy was drafted, he's only thrown 1 red zone intereception (last week vs New England) and is 2nd in the league in that time period in redzone TD to INT ratio (Rodgers is first, Brady is 3rd, all 3 have exactly 1 redzone INT)

Those 2 things tell me that Andy is one of the best at managing the game in short windows (ie in the redszone as the field tightens up). Extending that to what they've been doing the last 2 weeks, shorter throws, more bubble screens, slants, come back routes, etc... I think is playing into Andy's strengths.

[Stray]

Burfict was unquestionably targeted by the refs at Arizona State. I really hope the same doesn't happen here.

I guess the refs expected him to stop all of his momentum mid tackle the second their QB started his slide.

[Stray]

a couple of interesting stats flashed up on the screen. Over the last 3 seasons, the Bengals have made huge stride in their % of trips into the endzone ending in a touch down. From like 24th to 17th up to 3rd this year, converting something like 2/3rds of their red zone possesions into touchdowns. They were either 2/3 or 3/4 (can't remember if AJ's TD came inside the 20, I believe it was longer, but haven't looked it up) w/ the 1 miss coming on the missed FG.

the other stat, is that since Andy was drafted, he's only thrown 1 red zone intereception (last week vs New England) and is 2nd in the league in that time period in redzone TD to INT ratio (Rodgers is first, Brady is 3rd, all 3 have exactly 1 redzone INT)

Those 2 things tell me that Andy is one of the best at managing the game in short windows (ie in the redszone as the field tightens up). Extending that to what they've been doing the last 2 weeks, shorter throws, more bubble screens, slants, come back routes, etc... I think is playing into Andy's strengths.

38tds/1int in the redzone is an amazing stat

[Sea Ray]

I guess the refs expected him to stop all of his momentum mid tackle the second their QB started his slide.

Not only that but he didn't even touch the QB

[New York Red]

All those roughing penalties need to be reviewed, and I think they will be beginning next year.

[Sea Ray]

All those roughing penalties need to be reviewed, and I think they will be beginning next year.

Do you think they'll ever turn back the clock on those? I have a hard time believing that they'll put the cat back in the bag and allow more hitting...although they did add some sanity this yr on blows to the head. They no longer are supposed to call glancing blows penalties.

[New York Red]

Do you think they'll ever turn back the clock on those? I have a hard time believing that they'll put the cat back in the bag and allow more hitting...although they did add some sanity this yr on blows to the head. They no longer are supposed to call glancing blows penalties.

I think this year they are erring on the side of safety, and I'm certainly ok with that. I just think they need to do some tinkering with the system still. A couple of the guest refs they have on some NFL broadcasts have stated there will be changes made. It's a work in progress obviously, but I don't see why certain things can't be tinkered with during the season.

[Sea Ray]

I think this year they are erring on the side of safety, and I'm certainly ok with that. I just think they need to do some tinkering with the system still. A couple of the guest refs they have on some NFL broadcasts have stated there will be changes made. It's a work in progress obviously, but I don't see why certain things can't be tinkered with during the season.

I agree with you. I'm just not so sure that they will. Untimely 15 yd penalties/auto 1st downs is determining in some cases who wins and who loses and that's not good

[Sea Ray]

You know, what exactly is a QB worth these days? I don't think we'd get much argument around here that Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and (it pains me to say it) Ben Rothlisberger are franchise QBs while Andy Dalton is not. Neither are Brian Hoyer or Thad Lewis yet we won the three games aforementioned, lost to Hoyer and played Lewis to a draw. I think we're learning that a QB is not worth much more than other things like turnovers, good line play etc. The only exception to this is Peyton.