Ouch! I was worried about this game coming into it. The Dolphins
were better than their record indicated, and if the Bengals made mistakes, the
Dolphins could surprise them. Well, the Bengals made plenty of mistakes and the
Dolphins were able to capitalize on those mistakes, resulting in what could be
a loss that will haunt the Bengals come playoff time. When a team loses a game
at home, to an inferior team, starting a rookie QB, there is not much to like,
however, there were a few bright spots.
What I Did Like
Special Teams….Some of it
There was plenty not to like about the Special Teams unit on
Sunday, but we will get into that later. The special teams did have two of the
biggest plays of the day (aided by favorable reviews). The first big play on
special teams came early in the 1st quarter when Vontaze Burfict
alertly jumped on the ball after the punt glanced off the back of a Dolphin
player. Unfortunately, the Bengals could only muster 2 yards on the drive and had
to settle for a 42 yd FG. The second big play came on Jeromy Miles last second
save a a Kevin Huber punt, allowing the Bengals to pin the Dolphins at the 3
yard line. At the time, there were 10 minutes left and the Bengals were only
down 4, however, the Bengals couldn’t capitalize and allowed the Dolphins to
drive out to midfield and kill 4 minutes before forcing a punt.
Dalton to Green TD Pass
Dalton had a brutal day, but the TD pass to Green was a
thing of beauty. Perfect touch, perfect placement and perfect catch by Green.
It was ashame there wasn’t more nice passes from Dalton yesterday.
Bernard Scott
The Bengals stagnant run offense seemed to finally find some
life when Scott got in there, going for 40 yards on 5 carries, including a nice
29 yard run that showed some power, speed, and finesse. Just like every other
‘positive’ from Sunday though, this one came with a ‘but’ as well. After
finally looking healthy for the first time this year after his hand and ankle
issues, it looks like Scott may be done for the year. Early reports are saying
Scott tore his ACL. With the way BJGE is running lately, that news is no bueno.
Defense…Somewhat
Usually, losing to a rookie QB does not get you on the
‘Like’ list, however, the defense did play pretty well yesterday. They gave up
just 279 yds, held Miami to 4-13 on 3rd down conversions, had a big
4th and 1 stop, had a big forced fumble, held Hartline to just 59
yds and, for the second week in a row, kept the run game bottled up (Bush = 48
yds on 19 carries for 2.5 ypc). On the positive side, this is two weeks in a
row now where the defense has played pretty well, the downside is that despite
the numbers, there were still lots of areas of concern.
What I Did Not Like
Pretty up everything. After a loss like yesterday, there was
plenty not to like, but for time and sanity sake, we will stick with the
glaring issues and concerns.
Dalton
Dalton rarely plays bad enough to cost him team a chance at
winning, but yesterday, he did. The sad part is, his crappy numbers (26/43 for
234 yds, TD, 2 INTs, 27.3 QBR) don’t quite do justice for exactly how bad he
actually was. Dalton, known for his accuracy, had none yesterday, and more
disturbing, was his decision making. It seemed as though he was trying to force
the ball to Hawkins, which was working. I understand sometimes he may need to
force things, but if you are going to force a ball somewhere, for it to Green
(6’4”) or Binns (6’3”) or Gresham (6’5”), not Hawkins (5’7”). Dalton targeted
Hawkins a team high 13 times yesterday, completing just 5/13 for , and both
interceptions were on balls thrown to Hawkins. Yes, the first INT was a hell of
a play by the defensive lineman, but Dalton had a number of throws batted down
yesterday trying to hit the small Hawkins running behind the DL. The second INT
was inexcusable. Still with a chance to win the game, Dalton tried to force it
to a 5’7” WR that was triple covered. That is a pass Dalton can’t make at
anytime of the game. Again, I like Hawkins, I think he makes this offense dynamic,
but he is limited in what he can do, and of all people to force the ball to, he
should be last on that list. Lastly, Dalton again took some bad sacks after
holding onto the ball way to long. Worst of which was the 7 yard sack he took at
the beginning of the 4th Quarter which knocked them out of possible
FG range. With 3rd and 5, the ball on the Miami 35, the Bengals were
in possible FG range. Dalton has to get at least a few yards, or worst case
scenario, throw the ball away. The only he could not afford to do was take a
sack….which is of course, just what he did.
Ball Security
What was going on yesterday? At one point in the game, I had
the feeling that the Bengals would fumble the ball every time they were
tackled. The two most frustrating fumbles ended up not being fumbles (Green’s
and Leonard’s), but both were close and could have gone either way. I love
Green, but the careless way in which he runs with the football is a concern.
Most concerning, was after his first ‘near fumble,’ he apparently didn’t learn
anything and fumble again later in the game. Binns fumble, ironically the only
one that stood, I blame Dalton for. If Dalton gives Binns a decent pass, Binns
catches the ball on the run and gets the first down. Instead, Dalton made a
terrible throw, which Binns had to make a nice sliding catch to begin with, and
then, because of the bad pass, was scrambling back to his feet to try and get
the first down when the ball got knocked out. I think this week the Bengals
need to work on a little ball security in practice.
Offensive Line
This a still a new group they have yet to come together as a
cohesive unit. However, though they may be playing better than many would have
expected after the loss of Cook and Wharton, that doesn’t offset the fact that
Dalton is getting way too much pressure and BJGE has no room to run. Worse yet,
with opposing defenses not having to worry about the run game, it negates the
play action and allows the defense to tee off on rushing Dalton while still
dropping an extra defender into coverage. This makes windows even tighter for
Dalton and makes it difficult for the Bengals to play on their strength
(passing). While I do not agree with the philosophy of needing to “establish
the run,” in order to keep the defense honest, you have to be able to get yards
when you actually do run. On Sunday, the Dolphins were playing the pass and
daring the Bengals to run; BJGE and the line were not able to make the Dolphins
pay for it and were not able to force the safety into the box. An extra safety
deep and an inaccurate day at the office by the QB spells disaster.
Defense – Lack of Turnovers
While the defense played better for the second week in a
row, they still are not making plays and getting the offense the ball back. The
defense again only forced 1 turnover (fumble) and again, the Bengals were
negative in the turnover differential. In 5 games, the Bengals have played 3
rookie QBs and 1 second year QB yet have only forced 1 INT (0 INT from
rookies), and that 1 INT was by a player that was added to the team the week
before the pick (Crocker). That’s not good….in fact, that is terrible! 3 of
their next 4 games will see them go against Roethlisberger and the Manning
brothers. Not favorable matchups for a secondary that can’t force turnovers.
Marvin
First off, one of the worst things you can say about a team
is that they look uninterested and flat. The Bengals looked both on Sunday, and
I put that on the coaches. 2nd, Marvin’s infamous game management
came into play yet again. Hands down the worst game manager amongst NFL
coaches. The Bengals had gotten out to a 3-1 record by being very un-Marvin
like, making aggressive play calls and playing to win, rather than playing not
to lose. On Sunday, despite being the home team, playing a 1-3 Dolphins team, Marvin
drifted back to his old conservative ways, and made two head scratching decisions
that led to another disappointing home loss. The first came with 14:15 left in
the 4th quarter on the Bengals only TD. The TD made it 17-12, and
while 14:15 is plenty of time to score again, a coach has to have a feel for
the game. The Bengals offense was not moving the ball and had gone more than 37
minutes without scoring a point. If you go for 2, a FG ties it. If you miss the
2, you are down 5 and need a TD. However, that is the same situation you find
yourself in when you kick the extra point and go down 4. Even if you are
concerned with Miami kicking a FG, at worst you would be down 8 and could tie
by going for 2 again. The second decision came with 3 minutes left. 4th
and 5 at the Miami 23, Marvin elects to try a 41 yard FG. As luck would have
it, Nugent missed. However, that is a moot point. In this situation, you have
to go for it on 4th down. Scary as it may be, let’s put ourselves
inside Marvin’s head on this one: you would be down 17-16 with 3 minutes left
and 2 TOs. Best case scenario (turnover excluded): you get a touchback, you
stop them on 3 straight runs, use your timeouts and cause them to punt at about
their 25 with 2 minutes remaining. Their punter was averaging a Net of 37, so
you get the ball at your own 38, with about 1:45 left, no TOs and needing at
least 27 yards to get into FG range for Nugent. Possible? On a normal day for
this offense, absolutely. If you were watching this offense on Sunday? Highly
unlikely. Oh yeah, you are also counting on a defense that had 1 three and out
in the entire second half. As karma would have it, Nugent missed the FG, the
defense gave up a first down, the Bengals did get the ball back, but at their
own 20 with only 1:45 left and threw an INT 3 plays later. End of game. Would
the Bengals have won if the went for it? Maybe, maybe not. But I would rather
lose being aggressive than losing by being conservative.
Gruden
The 3 game win streak was highlighted by Gruden’s creative,
timely, and aggressive play calling. On Sunday, this offense was anything but,
and in fact, resembled more of Bob Bratkowski’s offense than those of Gruden
(we even saw a patented Bratkowski shovel pass). Maybe Kevin Coyle knew too much
about what Gruden wanted to do, but a coach needs to be able to adjust for
that. I felt that Gruden did not take advantage of Miami’s aggressive defensive
line with screens, and did a poor job of establishing any sort of running game
once Scott went down. I believe Gruden will rebound and games like these will
be more the exception than the rule. Let’s hope so.
Nugent
Like Marvin’s call or not, if you don’t make the kick, it
doesn’t matter, and Nugent’s missing of that kick was costly. I realize 41
yards is no chip shot, but that is a high percentage kick for an NFL kicker. To
miss that, at home, with the game counting on it, that was big.
Maualuga
This would get old if he wasn’t so bad. Rey had another
prototypical Rey day. Pointless stats with no effect on the game….other than a
negative effect. Maualuga led the team in tackles again with 11, but only 4
solo, no sacks and no tackles for loss. I don’t recall any of his tackles being
good, but, what I do remember is Rey allowing a Miami ball carrier to get a 1st
down because he went for a strip rather than the tackle and countless passes
being caught by Rey’s man or in Reys’ zone – including a crucial 3rd
and 10 24 yard completion to extend Miami’s first TD drive. Roddrick Muckelroy
is listed as Rey’s backup, at this point, it couldn’t hurt to give him a shot.
Other Notes
Bernard Scott is out for the year. Though he was barely
around all year because of various injuries, we saw what Scott could provide
this team in the short time he was in on Sunday. Scott provided a good burst of
speed and allowed for some options in the short passing game. I am excited to
see more of Cedric Peerman though. It seems like every year in preseason, the
guy excels, yet we rarely see him carry the ball.
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