Wrap up of Fake Game number 1

Evaluating play in preseason games is tough. The toughest of all games to evaluate is game one. What was easy to see was this Bengals roster is way deeper and way more talented than the Falcons roster. Along with the overall depth, here is what I noticed watching fake game #1.

 

Things I liked (other than John Gruden – who is awesome!):

Offensively

Jermaine Gresham – Had 2 good catches and delivered one hell of a blow to Falcons rookie Marcus Trufant. So far, Gresham seems to have taken the drafting of Eifert to heart.

Giovanni Bernard – He looked good running the ball, but he looked really good receiving out of the backfield

Josh Johnson – Man is he fast! He also looked good throwing the football. The backup QB role looks to be his to lose

Mike Brown’s Intensity in his luxury box! He really seemed to be chewing n that roster sheet of his…I also love the look of a man in a blazer, tie, and Bengals hat

Rex Burkhead – Looked good in punt coverage and when running the ball

Dane Sanzenbacher – Had the nice PR TD and looked good receiving as well

 

Defensively

James Harrison – In his limited PT, he seemed to be in the backfield a bunch

The first team defense as a whole (except for the bubble screen to Douglas)

Iloka – Had a great hit coming up in run support

Dre Kirkpatrick – He looked good. Kirkpatrick basically gives the Bengals a second 1^st round rookie in 2013

Margus Hunt – He is not only tall, he looks like he can play too.

JK Shaffer – He seemed to be everywhere. Looked to really help himself towards making the team (or at least the practice squad)

 

Things I did not like:

Offensively

Everyone playing the center position (especially Kyle Cook). How does a center false start? Cook had 2 and Robinson 1. Cook added in a 10 yard hands to the face penalty for good measure (is 3 penalties in half of a half bad?)

First team lost to Atlanta’s first team 3-0

Penalties as a whole – Penalties can kill a team. The Bengals piled up the yellow laundry last night – especially from the O-line (at least 5 penalties – 4 false starts- by the O-line)

Finding out that Andrew Hawkins may need surgery

Tanner Hawkins being carted off – a well thought of rookie that is the backup G and T

 

Defensively

Terrance Newman’s poor tackling attempt on the bubble screen

Adam Jones – He did not have a good game, especially on the deep ball PI he had

Maualuga not wrapping up – he put a nice lick on Chase Coffman, but he is lucky he went out of bounds because Maualuga went with the shoulder shot instead of wrapping up

Taylor Mays – I saw him do nothing except over run plays. He seems to just be lost out there.

Brandon Ghee with a head injury – Death, taxes, and Ghee getting injured before the season ever starts

 

Roster Implications Coming Out of Fake Game 1

Rex Burkhead is likely on the team. Bernard Scott is likely selling his Cincinnati residence.

Dane Sanzenbacher is going to be hard to cut and may be kept to fill the void left by Andrew Hawkins

Taylor Mays is likely not going to have a nameplate at PBS come early September