Ready for some Bengals football!! Bengals v. Bucs -- October 15, 2006

[traderumor]

They called a flag on that??

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...610160329/1066
"I didn't slam him. He just doubled over, went down and fumbled the ball. It's a shock to everybody, except maybe the guy that called it," said Smith. Gradkowski did fumble, but likely after he was down. The Bengals' Robert Geathers recovered.

When Smith asked referee Mike Carey for an explanation, Carey told him, "(You) drove his head into the ground." Smith protested: "The dude ducked."

Later, Carey elaborated: "The defender stopped forward progress, drove (Gradkowski) backwards and then at the end gave him the extra effort and stuffed his head into the ground."

Smith had it right, the guy was ducking, trying to escape. No whistle blew, which blows the official's explanation out of the water, he did not stuff his head into the ground, he tackled him. He brought a guy down who was trying to get away. Obviously the ref interpreted it the way he did, but I think the supervisor of the officials would tell him that his was an extreme view of the play and that it should not be considered "roughing" in the future. Which does nothing to make the Bengals 4-1 instead of 3-2.

[traderumor]

Errrrr, should not have watched the replay, makes the ref's explanation even more ridiculous. Forward progress stopped? I know he has to think of some reason to defend that call, but geesh, just say he drove his head into the ground. Don't make things up as you go.

[Dom Heffner]

"I didn't slam him.

See, I think the replay shows he did somewhat. There's a point where he grabs him and it looks like he is slamming him. He doesn't slam him hard, but the fact that he sped up the tackle from the point of contact makes it seem like he threw him down much harder than he did.

I'm not saying there should be a penalty, but I think the way that the QB fell allows for the interpretation that he was roughed.

For me, the point is that Smith can't predict where that head will land from an upright position. He could have just as easily laned on his shoulder or his back.

As well, there has to be some kind of common sense here.

A personal foul is where you grab someone and deliberately tackle them harder than what is necessary.

For me, it looked like Smith grabbed him and then tackled him harder than his initial grasp. It made it look worse than it was.

This is getting ridiculous, because now guys are going to be afraid to tackle the QB and on a mobile guy like Gradkowski that is going to burn you because the guy can take off if you aren't aggressive.

They might as well put flags on the QB and just play that way.

[traderumor]

See, I think the replay shows he did somewhat. There's a point where he grabs him and it looks like he is slamming him. He doesn't slam him hard, but the fact that he sped up the tackle from the point of contact makes it seem like he threw him down much harder than he did.

I'm not saying there should be a penalty, but I think the way that the QB fell allows for the interpretation that he was roughed.

For me, the point is that Smith can't predict where that head will land from an upright position. He could have just as easily laned on his shoulder or his back.

As well, there has to be some kind of common sense here.

A personal foul is where you grab someone and deliberately tackle them harder than what is necessary.

For me, it looked like Smith grabbed him and then tackled him harder than his initial grasp. It made it look worse than it was.

This is getting ridiculous, because now guys are going to be afraid to tackle the QB and on a mobile guy like Gradkowski that is going to burn you because the guy can take off if you aren't aggressive.

They might as well put flags on the QB and just play that way.

The key word is common sense. It seems some officials really struggle with this concept and do not take anything other than the letter of a rule into consideration.

[WMR]

That official is an idiot. He should just shut up because his explanations make his actions appear even more ludicrious.

I really hope the NFL issues a statement that this wasn't a penalty that should have been called. Not holding my breath though.

[Dom Heffner]

My problem wasn't so much that call, but with Marvin's clock management.

When the opponent is at your 15 yard line with over a minute to play, they aren't going to be denied scoring because the clock runs out.

The Bengals should have called a timeout to allow more time for when they got the ball back.

You can run up and down the field with no timeouts, but you can't run up and down the field with no time left.

They also finished with one timeout left, IIRC.

[traderumor]

My problem wasn't so much that call, but with Marvin's clock management.

When the opponent is at your 15 yard line with over a minute to play, they aren't going to be denied scoring because the clock runs out.

The Bengals should have called a timeout to allow more time for when they got the ball back.

You can run up and down the field with no timeouts, but you can't run up and down the field with no time left.

They also finished with one timeout left, IIRC.

No, they took their last time out to try the 60 yard field goal. The first time out was taken after TJs catch on the sideline, the second one after the sack, then the last one after the catch that got the ball to the 43. Where's Tom Dempsey when you need him. I thought they maybe had enough time to try a 10 yard sideline pattern to make a FG more realistic.

[WMR]

They had 6 seconds remaining. That's enough for a quick slant out of bounds.

[flyer85]

I thought they maybe had enough time to try a 10 yard sideline pattern to make a FG more realistic.

I was shocked by the FG attempt. Should have tried a quick out to get and extra 6-8 yards. with 6 seconds left there was enough time.

[WMR]

Marvin has had quite a few time management gaffes over the past couple seasons.

[flyer85]

Marvin has had quite a few time management gaffes over the past couple seasons.

most coaches suffer from the problem.

[Matt700wlw]

We have a problem.

I'm not in panic mode yet.....but I'm inching closer...

[Reds Fanatic]

More bad Bengals news. Levi Jones is having his knee scoped. He is definetly out next week not sure how long he will be out after that.

Kelly Washington is also out next week with the injury he suffered yesterday.

So next week the Bengals will have Chad and TJ at WR. With Washington injured and Henry still out for being a moron the 3rd WR I guess will be Chatman and maybe McNeal will be 4th.

[WMR]

Paging Peter Warrick... Mr. Warrick, please pick up the courtesy phone.

[WVRed]

More bad Bengals news. Levi Jones is having his knee scoped. He is definetly out next week not sure how long he will be out after that.

Kelly Washington is also out next week with the injury he suffered yesterday.

So next week the Bengals will have Chad and TJ at WR. With Washington injured and Henry still out for being a moron the 3rd WR I guess will be Chatman and maybe McNeal will be 4th.

And its against the Panthers no less.

Injuries are definitely taking a toll. I'm not ready to press the panic button yet, but the schedule and injuries are not helping.