First
things first. I was in the category of fans that felt Palmer should be booed,
but I could understand why fans may cheer as well -- he did get the Bengals
back to respectability, he did give the Bengals some of their best years, he
did ‘stick it’ to the management team we all would love to stick it to….but,
ultimately, he quit on his teammates, the organization, and the city, and never had
the balls or decency to even offer an explanation. That, I cannot excuse,and
therefore loved hearing the chorus of boos all game long. And, though we will
never know for sure, I think that had something to do with his poor
performance.
With
that being said, there are reports of Bengals fans pouring beer on Carson
Palmer. I am all for rowdiness. I am all for creating a hostile environment for
the opposing team. I am all for creating an incredible home field advantage. I
am not for pouring beer on other people. Especially someone who doesn’t have
the opportunity to punch you in the face after you pour said beer on them. Boo
all you want. Heckle all you want (within reason). Don’t pour beer on people.
That is completely classless and cowardly. Those people are not Bengals fans.
Those people are societal hooligans that have no place in sports (or life for
that matter). If those reports are true, and unfortunately they probably are, I
hope those fans are banned from the stadium. Your ticket gives you the right to
cheer, boo, have a good time, etc. It does not give you a right to pour beer on
someone. That violates not only the rules of society, it violates the rules of
all drinkers…when you pay $9 for a beer, you protect it at all costs…you sure
as hell do not pour out $9 beer!
Oh
yeah, I almost forgot the actual football part of the game. There was a pretty
good performance by the Bengals on Sunday.
What I Did Like
BGJE
It
took 10 games for BJGE to get his first 100 yard game. After 11 games, he now
has 2. When the Bengals can get the run game going, their offense is tough to
stop. The last two weeks teams have been blanketing Green, meaning the run game
and TEs need to hurt the defense in the middle of the field. The last few games
that has happened, and the last few games the Bengals offense has been hard to
stop. After 129 yards on 19 carries and 1 TD, BJGE is now on pace for nearly
1,200 yards and 7 TDs, numbers all Bengals fans would have been very happy with
at the beginning of the season.
O-Line
That
is now 441 yards on the ground in the last two games. Regardless of the
opponents, that cannot be done if the O-Line is not playing well.
0 INTs
After
throwing a pick in the each of the first 8 games of the season (3-5), Dalton
(knock on wood) has now gone 3 games without throwing a pick (9 TDs in that
span). No surprise that the Bengals are 3-0 in that span. It is not rocket
science: when you don’t turn the ball over, you stand a good chance to win.
Cedric Peerman
He
doesn’t do much flashy, but he produces when he plays. What else can you ask
for? 29 carries for 240 yards on the season. Even without the fake punts he has
27-160 which works out to 5.9 ypc. That is good and worthy of more play.
Mohamed Sanu
12
games in and I think the Bengals have found that #2 WR they have been looking
for since TJ Houshmanzadeh left in 2009. Just 5 catches for 29 yards, but they
were big catches and 2 TDs (including 1 really nice 1 handed snag). He also
provides the offense nice flexibility – great 3rd down run for the 1st
down.
Jermaine Gresham
Jermaine
Gresham can benefit the most from AJ Green and has the ability to make teams
pick their poison. When teams blanket Green, Gresham has to expose the middle
of the field. When he does that, this offense is dangerous. The last few weeks
he has begun to show signs of finally cashing in on some of his potential (19
catches for 233 yards and 2 TD over the past 4 weeks). No surprise that during
that stretch the Bengals are 3-1, averaging 29 ppg, and have seen a reemergence
of the running game.
AJ Green
He
only had 3 catches, but they went for 111 yards, including a big 48 yarder to
convert a 3rd and 11. Still the best All-Around WR in the game if
you ask me.
Pressure on Palmer
We
all know how uneasy Palmer gets in the pocket and how erratic he is when he has
pressure on him. The Bengals knew it as well and they had him under constant
pressure starting with the first drive of the game (sacked twice on the opening
drive). The Bengals had 4 sacks and 8-15 QB hits on Palmer (depending on which
site you look at), forcing him into 1 INT and 1 fumble. Whether it was the
pressure, the boos, or a little of both, Palmer had his worst performance of
the year in regards to yards (134) and QBR (4.6). Even more impressive when you
consider the fact that for the 3 game stretch prior to facing the Bengals,
Palmer was averaging 365 ypg.
Andrew Whitworth
Finally!
A Bengals team with some fight in them. Throwing a QB down after a whistle like
Lamarr Houston did is ‘Busch League,’ cowardly, etc. He deserved to get his ass
kicked and that is exactly what Offensive Lineman are supposed to do. As Whit
said, "I've
got two contracts in my life, one with my wife and the other to protect Andy
Dalton.” I like that this team has each other’s backs. I have seen too many
soft Bengals teams get pushed around and do nothing about it. I wish someone on
the O-Line in 2005 would have done that to Von Oelhoffen. While I don’t like
Whit getting kicked out (he can’t protect Andy if he isn’t in the game), and
the Bengals can’t afford him or anyone else getting hurt, I liked what he did,
like what he stands for, and like what it showed about this team.
Geno Atkins
Best DT in
the league. He now has 9.0 sacks in 11 games, and sacks aside, Atkins causes
havoc in the backfield every single game. Even when he gets blocked, he garners
so much attention that it allows someone else to make a play. The Bengals would
be wise to try and lock him up as soon as possible.
Chris Crocker
I
have spent ‘many a Monday’ cursing Chris Crocker’s name (especially after last
season’s playoff loss). But, this defense was terrible through the first 3
weeks. Then Crocker joined them and collected the first pick of the season for
the secondary. Since then, this has been a different defense and Crocker,
despite joining the team 3 weeks into the season, leads the team with 3 INTs.
He may not be a Pro Bowler, but he has stabilized this defense and is playing
very well right now.
All-Around Team Win
During this
3 game winning streak, the Bengals have won with solid play in all 3 aspects of
the game. When that happens, a team is tough to beat, and right now, the
Bengals look like a tough team to beat. The offense, defense, and special teams
seem to be feeding off one another and that is a good thing.
Having a Horrible Call Go the Bengals Way
I
actually was laughing at the fumble return for a TD that was called back.
Laughing because of how bad the call was, but also laughing at the disbelief of
how a terrible call finally went the Bengals way. How long has it been since
you could say that? If you rooted for the Bengals in the ‘90’s and ‘00’s you
know exactly what I am talking about. It seemed as though every call went
against the Bengals….and when you are as bad as those Bengals teams were, you
don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. For the first time that I can ever
recall, a terrible call helped the Bengals. Rather than being 27-17 with about
10 minutes left and all momentum in the Raiders favor, you saw the Bengals take
a 34-10 lead with about 5 minutes left and saw the Raiders self destruct….just
like what used to happen to the Bengals.
Adam Jones
How
good has he been this year on not just special teams, but defense as well?
Jones lead the Bengals with 6 tackles and added to that a sack and a QB hit.
Jones looks like the best CB on this defense right now.
Quick Start – Jumping on Bad Teams
In
year’s past the Bengals would let bad teams hang around long enough to beat
them, or at least make a game out of a game that had no business being close.
Hell, they did that this year with Cleveland and Miami and they lost. Beating
the Chiefs and Raiders, 2 of the worst teams in the NFL, is no great
accomplishment. But, jumping on them so quick and beating them as thoroughly as
they have is impressive and is very unlike Bengals teams of the past. The next
3 games are against teams not quite as weak as KC and Oakland, but weak
nonetheless. Let’s see if the Bengals can handle SD, Dallas, and Philly the way
they did KC and Oakland. If they do, they will be sitting pretty come playoff
time.
What I Did Not Like
Not
much to dislike in a this game, but there can always be improvements.
Another Poor 3rd Quarter
What
does this team do at halftime? Eat orange slices, drink Capri Sun’s, and watch
Sponge Bob Square Pants? The lackluster way this team and many of its’ brethren
before it have played coming out of halftime is disturbing. It seems as though
the opponent makes adjustments at halftime while the Bengals just worry about
whose mom is buying snacks after the game. They need to get this under control –
do that against playoff teams and you will lose.
Playing/Coaching with a Lead
This
overlaps the 3rd Qtr issue, but at times this teams seems uncomfortable
coaching with the lead. On Sunday the run was working. The Bengals were up 24-3
at the half. Why not come out killing the clock with runs, or screens? Why is
the classic screen seemingly a forgotten play to this offense? Seems to me that
Peerman, Leonard, Sanu, or Hawkins (when healthy) could do some damage on
screen plays.
Nugent’s Missed FG
My
trust for Nugent in the clutch is starting to waiver much like it did with
Shayne Graham. Nugent missed another kick at the end of a half. Sure, it was a
47 yarder, but in perfect conditions. It nearly turned a 24-3 lead into a 21-6
lead. Lucky for Nugent Carson Palmer went all Carson Palmer on the Raiders and
threw a pick and Nugent redeemed himself a few seconds later with a nice 55
yarder to end the half. Can’t count on getting a second crack at these end of
the half points.
End of Green’s Streak
Sure,
it’s an individual stat, but it would have been cool to see him break Rice’s
record. I will take the win, but I would have loved to see Green catch a TD for
the 10th straight game. Either way, when the ending of an individual
streak is one of the ‘bad things’ in a game, it must have been a pretty good
game.
