One quarter of the way through the season, the Bengals sit
at 3-1; one of only 4 teams in the AFC with a winning record. While the
detractors will tell you they have not beaten anyone, I would tell the
detractors they have beaten 3 NFL teams. This is the NFL, not college. In the
NFL you don’t get to make your own schedule, you play who the NFL tells you to
play. And, last I checked, all 32 teams are indeed professional football teams.
There are no ‘give me’ games in the NFL, and all games count the same…beating
inferior teams is exactly how the Bengals made the playoffs last year.
At the beginning of
the year, I think most people saw the Bengals as a bubble playoff team. This
was/is a tough team to get a handle on. They could finish anywhere in the 6-10
to 10-6 range and it would not surprise me. While I agree, if the Bengals want
to go somewhere in the playoffs, they will have to beat another playoff team at
some point. And, while I also agree their 1 game against a playoff caliber team
(Baltimore) was a debacle on the national stage, raise your hand if you
expected the Bengals to win that game. If you have your hand up, you are either
lying or you are crazy. Could they beat a team like Baltimore in Baltimore?
They could. Do I expect them to? On the opening MNF game? Days after the Ravens
owner died? With a patchwork offensive line? Doubtful. Let’s not forget that
game was close midway through the 3rd Quarter until Dalton’s threw a
bad pick 6. Now, if the same thing happens in round two at home, or every time
the Bengals play a playoff caliber team, then there is reason for concern.
Until then, the Bengals don’t need to apologize for beating teams they were
supposed to beat. If you want to go to the playoffs, you have to beat the teams
you are supposed to beat. I bet Pittsburgh wishes they had beaten the teams
they were supposed to beat. You think a loss to Oakland might not hurt them
late in the year? Yet they are still considered a Super Bowl contender. Had the
Bengals lost that game against Oakland, ESPN may refuse to even display the
Bengal logo on any of their shows.
Despite what the mother ship says, Sunday was a big win. It
was not a big win in the sense that it was a statement win against a playoff
team. But, it was a big win in the sense that it gives the Bengals a leg up on
their fellow playoff competitors and was a game they could not afford to lose
if they plan on playing in January. We may only be ¼ of the way through the
season, but take a look at the AFC standings. It is clear there are only 7
teams fighting for 6 playoff spots. New England, Houston, San Diego, Denver,
Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The rest are bad football teams.
With that said, let’s take a look at the Bengals win Sunday
against the bad football team from Jacksonville:
What I Did Like:
Andy Dalton
He started slow (which we will get to later), but finished
with another impressive day. 20/31, 244yds, 2 TD, 1 INT and QBR 89.4. The more
I watch Dalton the more I like him. This year his stats are impressive (top 10
in most all QB statistics), but even last year, when his stats were average, he
had the same ability to not let bad plays snowball. With Palmer and Chad, it
seemed as if one bad play caused a series of bad plays. Not with Dalton. It is
if he doesn’t remember his terrible play the series before, and that is
important with any football player, especially a QB.
AJ Green
Arguably the best WR in the game right now. Of course,
Calvin Johnson would want a say in this, but Johnson has been in the league 6
years now, and if I could have one over the next 5 years, I’m taking Green
(Johnson is 27 Green is 24). I didn’t think Green would have a great game
statistically because I didn’t think Jacksonville would be dumb enough to
single cover him. I was wrong on both fronts. Green had another nice day (6
rec, 117 yds, 1TD and is now on pace for 108 rec, 1,712 yds and 12 TD – that
wouldn’t be a bad season). When it comes to Green, I don’t think there is a CB
in the league that can cover him 1-on-1. That will mean good things for the
other WRs, TEs, and the running game.
Play Calling
There was a night and day difference in OCs in this game.
I’m glad the Bengals have the good one. Each week I get more and more excited
about Gruden’s offense. The fake punt in the first quarter led to a TD which
swung that game and showed the confidence these coaches have in this offense.
Peerman wasn’t touched for 40 yards and though the game was just 10-7 at that
point, the Jaguars never seemed to get back in it after the fake. The beauty
about these trick plays Gruden is showing, is even if they don’t work every
time, by showing them and having success some of the time, you now force the
defense to prepare for it, and you prepare the defense to think about it in any
formation. When the defense is thinking instead of reacting, the offense has
the advantage. Right now Gruden has defenses thinking.
Defense as a Whole
212 yds and 10 pts allowed. Of course, take it with a grain
of salt, because it was Bob Bratkowski and the Jaguars, but, that MJD guy is
pretty good. Let’s not forget, MJD won the rushing title last year, was coming
off a 177 yd outing, and coming into the game, he was averaging 105 ypg, 5.3
ypc and going against a run defense ranked 31st against the run.
Therefore, holding MJD to 38 yds on 13 carries (2.9ypc) is pretty impressive.
Oh yeah, they also had 6 sacks for the second week in a row, forced Gabbert
into his first INT of the season and only allowed 186 yds passing and a QBR of
50.2 despite missing 4 of their top CBs (Hall, Clements, Allen and
Kirkpatrick). Jacksonville’s longest play of the day was a 23 yd dump down to
Mercedes Lewis that would have gone for no gain if Adam Jones hadn’t skipped
the tackling drill this week. This defense still has a long way to go, but
Sunday was a step in the right direction.
D-Line
Clearly the strength of this team. Michael Johnson didn’t
have a sack and yet they had 6 sacks for the second week in a row. It is
amazing the difference Carlos Dunlap makes. He has now played in 2 games, has a
sack in each game, and the team has had 6 sacks in each game he has played in.
His presence allows other guys to get to the QB. This team now leads the NFL in
sacks (17) and Geno Atkins is 2nd in the NFL with 5.0 sacks. The
only complaint would be they allowed Gabbert to escape the pocket a few times.
That is not a problem when you play Jacksonville, but can be a problem when you
play teams like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Dallas, etc.
Chris Crocker
Had I had this blog last year during the playoff loss to
Chris Crocker, my distaste for Crocker would have been apparent. I was afraid
that by picking him up, the Bengals were simply adding a mini Rey Rey to the
backfield (can’t cover, can’t tackle, can’t catch, etc). I will eat my words.
Not sure if it was Crocker’s presence or not, but the defense sure did play
better with him back. Maybe he was helping Rey get the defense in the rights
looks, etc, but I was amazed that after being out of the game for 7-8 months,
he could step right in and play as well as he did. For one week at least,
consider me a Crocker fan. And let’s not forget, in his short playing time, he
came up with the 1st pick of the year for this team (roughly 8
months too late – but let’s not get into that now)!
Geno Atkins
Not shocking that he Geno was a Pro Bowler last year, but
amazing that he is only 24 and in his 3rd NFL season. Atkins is
disruptive in the middle and to have 5 sacks in 4 games is impressive alone; to
do it from the DT position is incredible. The beauty about this defensive line
is there are 3 guys (at least) who can beat almost any blocker 1-on-1 (Dunlap,
Johnson, Atkins), and I would argue 4 (Peko). The beauty is that only 1 (2 max)
can be double teamed, leaving at minimum, one of these guys going 1-on-1. Since
Dunlap’s return, he seems to be garnering the most attention, leaving his
mates, Atkins especially, the opportunity to take advantage of the matchups.
Atkins vs anyone 1-on-1, I like my chances with Atkins.
Vontaze Burfict
Is he a Pro-Bowler? Not yet. But, when you talk about bang
for your buck, not sure it gets much better than Burfict so far. At one point
he was a highly touted LB prospect, but, due to some on field issues, went
undrafted in the 2012 draft. Coming into camp, he was a long shot to even make
the team. Now, due to the injury to Howard, Burfict finds himself starting and
playing pretty well. Sunday was only his second start, but he led the team in
tackles (8 – all solo), had a sack and 2 tackles for a loss. He will have his
growing pains (i.e. on the TD pass to Lewis, he has to make a play on the ball
rather than trying to get an OPI call), but he looks like he may develop into a
quality LB.
Peko Dance
First play of the game, Peko comes in for a sack and does a
‘Gangman Style’ dance. Usually I don’t like seeing a man of his size and shape
dancing….many people did not. This time, I liked it. The dance itself was
nothing spectacular, but what it symbolized was. For 3 weeks we had seen a
defense on the field seemingly going through the motions (and not very well I
might add), with no attitude, no emotion, and no swagger. Peko’s dance showed
some excitement and seemed to set the tone for the game and get the defense
excited (maybe too excited, as they jumped off sides on the next two plays). If
this defense needs to dance in order to play well, then let them dance.
Focus
Say what you want about this teams’ inability to beat good
teams, one thing they do well is stay focused and beat the teams they are
supposed to beat. Between last year and this year, they are 0-8 against playoff
teams (all of which were better than the Bengals), and 12-0 against teams they
should beat. Knock on wood, they have been staying focused and beating the
teams they should beat. Now, if they want to be considered a legitimate threat,
they need to start stepping up and beating teams considered to be in a class
above them. They will get plenty of chances later in the season.
Playing Bob Bratkowski
For the 10 yrs (or thereabout) when Bob Bratkowski was the
Bengals OC, I ranted and raved about his terrible, uncreative, and predictable
play calling and wished the Bengals could play against him. Well, this Sunday,
I think the dream of every Bengals fan came true when the Bengals got to face
off against their former ‘Offensive Mastermind’…..and it was all I dreamed it
would be! 212 yds total offense? With MJD as your RB? Against this defense?
Look, maybe the defense actually did improve. And, I will give it to Bob that
the Jags aren’t exactly swimming with talent, but that offense looked as
clueless as the Bengals offenses of past years. I used to always get frustrated
because Bratkowski’s philosophy has always seemed to be: they are going to try
and take away what we do best, so we will try and beat them with something else
(like when he insisted on ‘establishing the run’ when the passing attack was
our strength). Yesterday, you have arguably the best RB in the game, who is
hard to tackle, going against the 31st rush defense who is terrible
at tackling. Granted, the Bengals were playing good (13 carries for 2.9ypc),
but, I would test that run defense. Yesterday is a perfect time for him to try
and establish the run. Run it 30 times against this team, especially with MJD,
and you are bound to break a few. Not Bob though, he went with his potent pass
attack. Thanks Bob, we love you! I just wish we could have been treated to one
last shovel pass!
What I Did Not Like:
Dalton Shaky Early….Again
As much as I like Dalton, his early game inaccuracies are
troublesome. Yes, last week he was hit when he threw the pick 6, but that does
not negate the fact that he shouldn’t have been making that throw to begin
with. Even if BJGE catches it, it is likely a safety. This week, he had an
errant pass deep in his own territory picked, only to be fumbled back to his
team (Pittsburgh won’t fumble that back to the Bengals). Neither of these
mistakes cost the team, but against good teams, they might (see the pick 6 in
Baltimore). To beat the good teams, Dalton has to protect the ball all game.
Rey Maualuga
The guy just can’t stay off my ‘Don’t Like’ list….unless not
until he stops sucking, and that has yet to happen. Was he terrible Sunday? No.
But did you see him do anything of note? I sure didn’t….oh, unless you count
him jumping off sides on 2nd and 12, immediately after Michael
Johnson had done the same. Why is Maualuga that close to the line of scrimmage
anyways? He has played in 58 career games with exactly 2 sacks. Rey, you won’t
get to the QB, so get away from the line of scrimmage!
Adam Jones Tackling
For the most part, the secondary, and Adam Jones, had a good
day, especially considering the 4 CBs they were missing. However, Jacksonville’s
longest play of the game, 23 yd dump off to Mercedes Lewis, would have been for
no gain if Jones had made a half attempt to tackle. Instead, he just dove at
the ground trying to trip him and Lewis just jumped over him. Worse yet, he did
it later in the game. Hopefully Jones can learn to tackle this week at
practice.
BJGE Fumbles
You know he was jinxed when after his signing, all anyone
could talk about was how he ‘never fumbles.’ Well, after not fumbling in his
first 500+ carries, he has now fumbled 3 times in his last 30 carries,
including one Sunday while going into the end zone. A TD would have basically
sealed the game at 24-7, instead, the
Jags got a FG and kept themselves alive at 17-10 (even if only technically “alive”).
Marvin’s Post Conference Arrogance
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but if you have
ever heard one of Marvin’s Monday press conferences, you know exactly what I am
talking about. The man acts as if everyone in the room and everyone listening
is a complete idiot incapable of understanding anything he does. We have seen this
before from Bill Bellichick, Bill Parcells, Tom Coughlin, Brian Billick, etc.
The only difference is those coaches have accomplished things. They have all
won Super Bowls. Marvin has yet to win a playoff game! In fact, after 10 years
in the NFL, he is still 7 games under .500 (71-78-1). Most coaches with that
record would not have a job, let alone the ability to be arrogant about their
job and the decisions they make in said job. And this franchise wonders why
people don’t want to spend their limited disposable income to buy tickets to
support a coach and owner that continuously insults their intelligence.
No Shovel Pass
Lastly, I was excited to play a Bob Bratkowski offense, but
more than anything, I was excited to see a return of the shovel pass. I was
very distraught that Bob didn’t try and fool our defense with his patented book
(or play) of tricks! He must not have wanted to show all his cards to the rest
of the league so early in the season. Keep your heads up Jags fans, it will
come soon enough and when it does, you will never see such an exciting 1 yard
game!
Look back later this week for a preview of the
Bengals/Dolphins matchup and a look at the Reds playoff roster and playoff
chances.
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