After watching the game Thursday night, I had a tough time wrapping
my head around what I just saw. I have never seen a team (let alone the
Bengals) look so bad for most of a game and yet win by 21.
What I Did Like:
Winning (and winning ugly)
I predicted a blowout. Safe to say I did not foresee it
happening the way it did. It was an ugly win. A hideous win. In fact, if this
win was a woman, it would be Mama
June (you are welcome for that). But, it was a win, a win on the road, and
a win that the Bengals absolutely had to have. The beauty of this win is that
the Bengals looked as terrible as they have looked all year for the entire 2nd
and most of the 3rd Quarter, yet they still won. Name the last time
the Bengals played this bad an won, let alone won by 3 TDs. What I liked about
this win was that the Bengals showed (on national TV) that they could play
poorly and win on grit and will, something we have not seen Bengals teams of
the past be able to do.
Winning on National TV
Winning on national TV counts the same in the standings as
any other win, but for the Bengals, it means a little more. The Bengals were 0
for their last 9 on national TV. Despite recent success, the Bengals never get
much love from the national media because the only time the blowhards watch the
Bengals is when they are on national TV…therefore the last 9 times they have
watched the Bengals, they watched them lose, and often times, play very poorly
while losing.
Turnovers
There are few stats in the NFL that are as telling as
turnover ratio. In 2011, teams that tied in turnover ratio had a 50% chance of
winning. Win the turnover ratio by 1 and your chances jump to 69%. Win by 2 and
they go to 85%,. Win by 3 and your odds of winning are 97%.
On Thursday the Bengals forced 5 turnovers (+3) and blocked a punt…usually a
winning recipe. The Bengals defense has been playing well of late, but not
forcing a bunch of turnovers. That Thursday performance was what Bengals fans
had been looking for.
BJGE
5 straight impressive games by BJGE and 100+ yards now 4 of
the last 5 games. During that stretch, he has 543 yards and is averaging 5.1
ypc. BJGE started the season very disappointing, but he has stepped up big time
shortly after Bernard Scott’s season ending injury and now has a career high in
yards. He is now on pace for 1,234 yards and 7 TDs, numbers all Bengals fans
would have jumped on at the start of the season.
Run Blocking
Something is working in the run game that wasn’t working the
first 9 games. BJGE seems more decisive in his runs, and the line seems to be
keeping defenders out of the backfield. Either way, when your RB has 543 yards
in 5 games, it is safe to say the line and the RB are both doing some things
right. Now, if they can pass block at the same time…
Pat Sims & Wallace Gilberry
Pat Sims is rarely talked about, plays limited snaps, but in
the few snaps he does get, the guy just seems to make plays. Thursday he broke
through the line and blew up a handoff from Foles to Brown, leading to a
Wallace Gilberry TD, and leading to our next underrated and under talked about
player. Gilberry is a 5th year player the Bengals picked up in week
3, and in 12 games of limited snaps, he has 5.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 3
fumble recoveries, and 1 TD. That my friends, is good production from a
part-time player (for reference, that is 2.5 times Maualuga’s career sack total
– different position, just sayin).
Darrin Simmons
Look at the last two weeks: puts Dan Herron on Special teams
– deflects a punt against Dallas, blocks a punt against Philly; picks up Josh
Brown – 6/6 on FGs (including a 52 yarder), a 9
touchbacks, and one perfectly place short kickoff; short kickoff against
Philly – what a brilliant and well timed call! Now, if he would just make Adam
Jones the permanent PR and anyone not named Tate the full-time KR.
Emmanual Lemur
The guy doesn’t play much, therefore his stats are nothing
impressive, but for a mid-season pickup who plays very little, the guy seems to
always make at least 1 good play a game.
Dan Herron
He replaced the Bengals best special teams player, Cedric
Peerman, and all he has done?...is be the Bengals best special teams player
since replacing Peerman. In 2 games, he has deflected a punt and blocked a
punt. On top of his contribution on special teams, he looked very effective
when he carried the ball on Thursday.
Leon Hall
I am the first to crush Leon Hall. Look back earlier in the
season, and you can see the proof. But I will give him credit when credit is
due, and credit is due to Leon for his game Thursday night. Coming into the
night, Hall had as many INTs as me…0. On Thursday, he got his first pick, and
it was a huge, game changing pick. At the time of the pick, the Bengals looked
dead, were down 3, and looking like they would lose to the lowly Eagles and
blow their chance at the playoffs. Then Hall picked off a poorly thrown deep
ball by Nick Foles and returned it 44 yards to the Eagles 40, sparking a 6:32
stretch that saw the Bengals score 24 points and take control of the game.
Reggie Nelson
I love Reggie Nelson. One of the most underrated safeties in
the league, he is now 3rd on the team in tackles (76) , has 1.0
sacks, 2 INTs, 5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 6 passes defensed, and endless big hits. He is the closest thing
this defense has to a play maker in the secondary.
What I Did Not Like:
Pass Blocking
Jay Gruden says Kyle Cook is not the reason for the pass
blocking breakdowns.
Jay Gruden knows far more about offenses and pass protections that I do.
However, though Jay Gruden, Marvin Lewis, and all of the Bengals brass (and
possibly my readers) may disagree, I am not a moron. In the first 12 games,
Kyle Cook did not play. In those games, the Bengals gave up 27 sacks, or 2.25
per game. In the 2 games Cook has played, Cook split snaps with Robinson 50-50
and the Bengals gave up 11 sacks, or 5.5 per game. Oh yeah, and Dallas was 18th
in sacks and Philly 19th. Coming into the game, Dallas had 24 sacks
in 12 games, or 2.0 per game…they got 5. Philly, had 22 in 13, or 1.70 per game…they
had 6.0. Coincidence? Maybe. More than likely, it is an issue with a center who
hasn’t played for 15+ weeks.
Penalties
It is tough to win in the NFL. It is really tough to win
when you shoot yourself in the foot. The Bengals did just that on Thursday, to
the tune of 11 penalties for 94 yards. Last week they had 8 for 70. Luckily the
Eagles suck bad enough that it doesn’t matter, but it is tough to beat any team,
let alone playoff teams with those types of penalty numbers.
Andy Dalton
First the good. Dalton looked like hell, but found a way to
make some plays (TD run, fade to Green, etc) in order to allow the Bengals to
win. The Bengals haven’t had a QB like that since Boomer. Now the bad – Dalton looked
like hell, and did so for the 2nd straight game. Even Jay Gruden
admits he “took
a step back.” Dalton has looked hesitant the past two weeks. His passes are
off and he is missing reads. On multiple occasions on Thursday, he missed wide
open receivers, just like last Sunday. In Dalton’s defense, he may not have had
enough time to see them…not because of Cook, but just because. Nonetheless, he
has not played well. And I will agree with Gruden on one point, all the sacks
are not the line’s fault, sometimes Dalton just holds onto the ball too damn long
or doesn’t see the pressure…Thursday was a prime example.
Play Calling
Your QB is struggling (13-27). Your O-line can’t pass block
for their life (6 sacks). Your receivers are again dropping the ball. Your RB
is running well again (to the tune of 4.2 ypc), so why not keep running? Gruden
did call 41 runs to 27 passes, but, some of those runs were called passes where
Dalton scrambled. In fact, 14 of the runs were by Dalton, Leonard, Herron, and Tate,
so as far I am concerned, I that is 35 passes (27 passes and 8 Dalton runs) to
just 27 runs. Not a good mix when your passing game is struggling and your run
game is clicking.
Disappearance of the Offense
In back to back weeks now, the offense has marched straight
down the field on their first possession and then disappeared. Against Dallas
and Miami, it cost them the game. It looked like that may be the case again on
Thursday. Unlike the Dallas and Miami games however, the defense was able to bail
out the offense this week. I believe this defense is good enough to win a
championship. I also believe the offense is good enough to win a championship…when
they show up. The problem is the offense does not show up consistently enough
to beat multiple playoff teams in a row.
Inability to Put a Bad Team Away Early
The Bengals had the Eagle on the ropes less than 7 minutes
into the game, just like Dallas, and just like Dallas, they settled for a FG.
After forcing a fumble on the 2nd play of the game and walking down
the field for a TD, the Bengals blocked a FG and recovered at the Eagles 11.
The boos started ringing out and a TD would have likely ended the game before
it truly began. However, the Bengals offense was sacked once and progressed a total
of 5 yards and had to settle for a 24 yard FG, a win for the Eagles and a stop
that seemed to give the Eagles life. After the FG, the Bengals were outscored
13-0 and thoroughly outplayed over the next 32 minutes. Until Leon Hall’s
interception with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd, it looked like
the Bengals season was going down the toilet.
Jermaine Gresham
Sure, he lead the team in catches (6) and yards (63), but he
is so frustrating. Another crucial drop and another drive killing penalty for
Gresham.
2nd WR?
The Bengals really miss Sanu. On Thursday, the Bengals had 0
completions to a WR not named Green. 0. In fact, Jones and Hawkins had more
runs (1 each) than they had catches. That is not a good stat.
D-Line
It is not that the D-line didn’t play well at all, they did
have 2 forced fumbles and a TD, but this is a D-line that leads the NFL in sacks,
going against a poor O-line. This was the game the D-line was supposed to
dominate. They had just 1 sack and looked anything but dominating for most of
the night. On top of that, Carlos Dunlap had an inexcusably stupid penalty for
the 2nd straight week.
Chris Pressley Injury
He only plays about 20% of the snaps, but when you lose a
player at a position (FB) where you don’t have a backup, that is always tough.
Looking to Next Week:
With the Cowboys helping the Bengals today, the Bengals now
own a 1 game lead on the Steelers and the 6th seed, meaning a win
next week in the showdown with Pittsburgh would clinch a playoff spot for the
Bengals.
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