Bengals v. Falcons MONDAY NIGHT FOOTALL PRE-SEASON

[Reds Freak]

im tired of excuses...Marvin has had 5 seasons and the defense is getting worse NOT better!!.. Its like the 3 teams the Bengals played had a game plan and followed it and looked like they wanted to WIN the game.. the Bengals have lost 3 straight reg. season games at the end of the season last year and now 3 pre-season games...they dont show a killer insticnt and its sad that TJ was in the wrong spot two times Carson thru his way in the game... yes im concerned.. all this win the division talk is blah blah till they step it up and show they are in the game for ALL 4 QUARTERS!!!

I'm not an expert on the X's and O's of football but it seems to me that Marvin was incorrectly characterized as a defensive genius after his days in Baltimore. Don't get me wrong, I love Marvin and think he saved this franchise but I think people expect him to be a miracle worker for defenses. He had amazing talent to work with in Baltimore with that defense, I think I could have been the DC for the Ravens that year and done alright. He just doesn't have the playmakers to work with like he did in Baltimore.

Remember, folks, it is just the preseason. Last year the Bengals looked absolutely unbeatable in the preseason going 4-0 and look how the season turned out. The Colts had an 0-4 preseason last year and won the Super Bowl. I think it is very evident that the offense has been super vanilla and they just need to tighten some screws a bit before the season and they will be fine. You hope the defense will be average and force a few turnovers. A lot of the points in the preseason seem to have come off blown coverages by some rookies. I'm not concerned yet, if they are playing like this 3 games into the regular season I'll be concerned but not right now...

[sonny]

They did sport the orange socks tonight. So, that was a plus.

[GAC]

I liked Lapham's comments last night toward the end of the 3rd quarter. He seemed frustrated that the Bengal's defensive was playing such a soft zone.

My take? It's the pre-season. Maybe they don't want to risk getting anyone hurt in meaningless games? You're looking a young players/rookies, while trying to let your vets get the reps in and get somewhat acclimated.

I never worry about pre-season games.

Didn't the Colts go 0-4 last year in the pre-season?

[Roy Tucker]

If I were a Bengal fan, I'd be starting to worry about their defense. Maybe Bobby Pitrino is an offensive genius, but when Joey Harrington makes your defense look bad, that can't be good. I saw no playmakers out there at all. Lots of pluggers, but no dynamic players.

Offense looks like it will round into shape. Still no #3 receiver and nobody is stepping up behind Rudi, but Palmer, Chad, and TJ ought to be enough. Hopefully, Willie Anderson and Levi Jones will be back soon.

[dsmith421]

With the usual disclaimers about the preseason implied:

The defense is utterly putrid beyond belief, a winning combination of bad personnel and absolutely braindead schemes. Since Bresnahan became D-Coordinator, have the Bengals ever stopped a misdirection or delay play--whether it be a draw, a cutback, a reverse, or a screen? Since Bresnahan took over, have the Bengals ever brought the consistent pressure on the quarterback needed to get off the field on third down? All of this was completely evident during the second half of last year--the debacle against SD, the back-to-back 99-yard drives by Denver and Pittsburgh--and NOTHING has been done about it in the offseason. It's the same "token pressure and pray for a turnover" that good teams like Indy and NE have exploited and will continue to exploit.

The only thing the Bengals have going for them is a slightly weaker schedule than last year. So maybe they can limp back to 8-8. Maybe.

[Yachtzee]

If I were a Bengal fan, I'd be starting to worry about their defense. Maybe Bobby Pitrino is an offensive genius, but when Joey Harrington makes your defense look bad, that can't be good. I saw no playmakers out there at all. Lots of pluggers, but no dynamic players.

Offense looks like it will round into shape. Still no #3 receiver and nobody is stepping up behind Rudi, but Palmer, Chad, and TJ ought to be enough. Hopefully, Willie Anderson and Levi Jones will be back soon.

I kind of expected the Falcons to come out firing away at the Bengals D. With Vick out of the picture, you have a QB competition and I suspect Harrington might be feeling like this is his last big shot to show his stuff. Plus you have a new head coach implementing a new offense and a team trying to shake off the bad publicity of the Vick issue. All reasons why a team might go out there and put a little more effort into a preseason game than they normally would.

On the other side of the ball, you have your starters on offense and defense who are playing vanilla to avoid showing too much. They're just in to get their reps in to prepare for playing a full game and avoid getting hurt.

I'd like to see a lot more from the Bengals D, but I'll wait till the regular season starts before passing judgment, since I don't know what the coaching staff was calling on the sidelines.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

How is the D ever supposed to get better when Marvin takes an injury-proned RB in the 2nd round?

If it were not for the triplets (Palmer, Johnson, Rudi), Marvin would not be the savior some people make him out to be.

I just can't get that late loss last year to the Steelers out of my head, when Marvin pooped his pants with a stupid late timeout to ice the kicker on a 30+ yard FG and awful clock management. He just seems in over his head. I think anyone could have stepped in at the time he did (with this offense) and had one winning season. The fact of the matter is that the D is still a laughingstock.

[CrackerJack]

With the usual disclaimers about the preseason implied:

The defense is utterly putrid beyond belief, a winning combination of bad personnel and absolutely braindead schemes. Since Bresnahan became D-Coordinator, have the Bengals ever stopped a misdirection or delay play--whether it be a draw, a cutback, a reverse, or a screen? Since Bresnahan took over, have the Bengals ever brought the consistent pressure on the quarterback needed to get off the field on third down? All of this was completely evident during the second half of last year--the debacle against SD, the back-to-back 99-yard drives by Denver and Pittsburgh--and NOTHING has been done about it in the offseason. It's the same "token pressure and pray for a turnover" that good teams like Indy and NE have exploited and will continue to exploit.

The only thing the Bengals have going for them is a slightly weaker schedule than last year. So maybe they can limp back to 8-8. Maybe.

Pretty much spot on - how many years do we say the Bengals' have no defensive talent, and give the coaching staff a free pass for not developing players or devising schemes that actually work?

The Bengals' lazy off-season and poor choices to renew Willie and Levi with huge extensions didn't help anything (they should be grooming replacements for both or have replaced Willie with Whitworth last year and moved on).

There's actually some talent on defense - but yes still no impact players upfront. And the DB's should NOT be looking this poor - two 1st round corners and a former Pro Bowler in 2005 and they can't cover anyone? Madeiu is a solid FS.

I just have to point my finger at Chuck Breshnahan and his staff - they're doing a poor job all-around and have since he's been here.

Just tired of the excuses at this point.

[Matt700wlw]

Michael Vick got in trouble?

I'm glad ESPN informed me about that....




Good lord.

[Yachtzee]

I wonder if this means more coverage for the Mean Machine's season next year. Now that Vick's on board as QB, I hear the warden is looking to hire a free agent as prison guard/spy backer.