2011 Bengals Discussion

[TheBigLebowski]

I'm not as panicky as most. The score looked a lot worse than it really was. Bengals turned the ball over twice in the first 5 minutes. After that, it was essentially over.

The Good:

Williams and Smith blocked really well. Opened up several holes for Benson and they pass-pro'd well.

Benson ran hard and with a purpose. Sniffed out the holes well.

Green and Simpson are dynamic. Just hope we can exploit them as we should. Toss in Shipley and Gresham and we have an elite pass-catching unit.

Reggie Nelson looked really good and, Leon Hall, even though he was burned twice, was in single coverage both times and there is no NFL CB who could have done a thing about either TD, and I still say Burleson was out on that 2nd TD.

The Bad:

Andy Dalton looked pretty bad....I know, rookie QB, first game, poor protection, etc. I get all that. But he made some poor reads and what bothers me the most is that he's still throwing off that back foot. He's got to cut that out.

Our defensive front got no pressure on their QB's.

Our offense as a whole only mustered up 3 points. Nugent missed a FG.

The Ugly:

Livings and Cook may as well have been turnstiles out there. Both of them collectively could not block Suh.

[KoryMac5]

The game was awful and forgetable. However I did take some things away from the game as positives.

AJ Green looks like he is a TD waiting to happen. Dude looks like he can go for 6 everytime he touches the ball.

Benson looks a little quicker to the hole than last season, he gouged the Lions first string D.

Personally after the pick I thought Dalton looked pretty good. 11-15 ain't bad for a rookie QB. Couple of things to watch with him mechanics which was mentioned, and his locking in on receivers, kid needs to look the defense off.

Awful play call to have the kid go long his first NFL pass though, let him get some rythym and manage the game first.

[chicoruiz]

Also, I thought Morgan Trent had some nice moments...

I sure hope Jean-Gilles can play, cause Livings was a boy among men Friday night.

[Caveat Emperor]

I'm not sure that type of "dink and dunk" offense will ever be effective even when he "first game" excuse is gone.

Get used to it. Gruden is a disciple of his brother's offensive philosophy (which I got very acquainted with while watching in Tampa for several years) -- basic tenets are:

1. Emphasis on pre-snap motion and formation changes to confuse the defense.
2. Early down running between the tackles to soften the defense and nullify the pass rush.
3. Bunch formation WR groupings to create confusion and traffic for DBs in man-to-man coverage and to overload zones in more traditional Tampa 2 type schemes.
4. Preference for 3-step drop passes with the ball coming out on-time when the back foot plants for the third step.
5. Minimize the use of deep drops (7-step) unless as part of a play-action pass.
6. Avoid the shotgun whenever possible (takes the QBs eyes off the defense as he looks the ball in off the snap, disrupts timing due to snap-to-hand time being inconsistent form play-to-play).

With the heavy use of 3-step drops, you'll find that most primary routes don't go past 5-15 yards and there's a heavy preference for picking up yardage in that range.

[Mario-Rijo]

I'm not as panicky as most. The score looked a lot worse than it really was. Bengals turned the ball over twice in the first 5 minutes. After that, it was essentially over.

The Good:

Williams and Smith blocked really well. Opened up several holes for Benson and they pass-pro'd well.

Benson ran hard and with a purpose. Sniffed out the holes well.

Green and Simpson are dynamic. Just hope we can exploit them as we should. Toss in Shipley and Gresham and we have an elite pass-catching unit.

Reggie Nelson looked really good and, Leon Hall, even though he was burned twice, was in single coverage both times and there is no NFL CB who could have done a thing about either TD, and I still say Burleson was out on that 2nd TD.

The Bad:

Andy Dalton looked pretty bad....I know, rookie QB, first game, poor protection, etc. I get all that. But he made some poor reads and what bothers me the most is that he's still throwing off that back foot. He's got to cut that out.

Our defensive front got no pressure on their QB's.

Our offense as a whole only mustered up 3 points. Nugent missed a FG.

The Ugly:

Livings and Cook may as well have been turnstiles out there. Both of them collectively could not block Suh.

Bobbie Williams? He is the one who allowed that 1st pass to be tipped and Dalton to be mamed. But I agree on Livings, I've always said he stinks.

[webbbj]

I'm not as panicky as most. The score looked a lot worse than it really was. Bengals turned the ball over twice in the first 5 minutes. After that, it was essentially over.

i hate when pple say stuff like this. They did make those mistakes and theres no reason to think its gonna stop, they have been turning the ball over, making critical penalties etc consistently for years.

They make these mistakes in regards to fumbles, INTs, penalties and its foolish to think this wont continue to hold them back.

Hell if we just took out all the turnovers and penalties the Bengals would have quite a few SBs already.

[LoganBuck]

i hate when pple say stuff like this. They did make those mistakes and theres no reason to think its gonna stop, they have been turning the ball over, making critical penalties etc consistently for years.

They make these mistakes in regards to fumbles, INTs, penalties and its foolish to think this wont continue to hold them back.

Hell if we just took out all the turnovers and penalties the Bengals would have quite a few SBs already.

And I hate when people act like a preseason game means the world. Where a player that won't be on the team in two weeks fumbled the ball before the Bengals offense had a chance to snap it. Where a rookie QB was in his FIRST game action. Quite frankly I don't know why people couldn't have watched that and come away thinking there is some nice stuff to build on. It was a preseason game. They are meant to be ugly and disjointed. If they had won the game 34-3, I would be just as quick to point out that is was a preseason game, and then picked out the high and low points.

[webbbj]

And I hate when people act like a preseason game means the world.

i dont think a preseason game means anything win or lose. But its ignorance to cherry pick plays that did and didnt happen to justify a teams success or failure.

The bengals did fumble the kickoff and did throw an INT and you cant just say well if that didnt happen they looked pretty good. B/c those plays did happen and they are HUGE errors. And the Bengals have a history of making these same HUGE errors in both Regular season, and playoff games and nothing has changed to fix that.

Their lack of discipline is still a HUGE problem.

[LoganBuck]

i dont think a preseason game means anything win or lose. But its ignorance to cherry pick plays that did and didnt happen to justify a teams success or failure.

The bengals did fumble the kickoff and did throw an INT and you cant just say well if that didnt happen they looked pretty good. B/c those plays did happen and they are HUGE errors. And the Bengals have a history of making these same HUGE errors in both Regular season, and playoff games and nothing has changed to fix that.

Their lack of discipline is still a HUGE problem.

You can choose to see it that way. What did you expect with a new scheme, new qb, new star receiver, and no offseason? Get realistic.

[traderumor]

Didn't the Bengals have 18 guys still not in camp as of Friday?

[Redhook]

Including Preseason, I now put the Over/Under for the Bengals season at 0 wins. Over or under?

[webbbj]

You can choose to see it that way. What did you expect with a new scheme, new qb, new star receiver, and no offseason? Get realistic.

i dont fault the INT but the fumble is cause for concern b/c its not some fluky play it has become routine same with penalties.

[LoganBuck]

i dont fault the INT but the fumble is cause for concern b/c its not some fluky play it has become routine same with penalties.

So a turnover from a guy who won't be on the team is cause for concern? The Bengals should be so lucky.

What we saw on Friday night that should concern you was the unchanged veteran middle of the offensive line nearly getting Andy Dalton decapitated, and the defense allowing Matt Stafford to eat Shrimp Fried Rice with chopsticks behind the line of scrimmage. Those are things to worry about.

[Hoosier Red]

So a turnover from a guy who won't be on the team is cause for concern? The Bengals should be so lucky.

What we saw on Friday night that should concern you was the unchanged veteran middle of the offensive line nearly getting Andy Dalton decapitated, and the defense allowing Matt Stafford to eat Shrimp Fried Rice with chopsticks behind the line of scrimmage. Those are things to worry about.

I think the middle of the line is a bit misleading too, 1) they run blocked effectively 2) I doubt there was any game plan to deal with Suh like there would have been had it been a regular season game. I think it shows that they will have to be creative in getting the LG and C in particular to be effective pass blockers.
I think physically the three interior lineman will be at a disadvantage against most defensive fronts, and were especially at a disadvantage against one of the better/best in the business.

I think the same is true for the DL. Most of the Bengals physical advantages are on the ends, WR, CB, TE, LB. They'll need to use a good game plan to minimize that weakness.

When you combine a below average physical strength, an opponents above average physical strength, and no game plan to minimize the difference, you're going to see what you saw on Friday night.

[wolfboy]

Including Preseason, I now put the Over/Under for the Bengals season at 0 wins. Over or under?

Under.