Thoughts on Last Night

[NCBengal]

Bodine is going to struggle since he is new and getting used to the speed of the NFL game. He missed critical blocks on run plays.

Our pass rush was non-existent for the first team. Why was Gilberry put at DE and not in the middle? And it's obvious Geno is not 100%

I have to admit that I thought Andy looked much more comfortable in the pocket and hung in there on plays.

Tate is still Tate and completely useless on special teams.

 

[DanBengalfan]

yea, all this talk about keeping Geno Atkin's and releasing Johnson and not having money for both of them. lets keep the one who's not 100% and then rush him out there and watch him get hurt again. I don't know enough about his injury to say whether he'll completely recover though, but he looked like shit.

 

[alf8478]

NBC only replayed his bad plays, he was in Carson's face in the Pick 6 and one or two other passes from what i remember.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Bodine is going to struggle since he is new and getting used to the speed of the NFL game. He missed critical blocks on run plays.

Our pass rush was non-existent for the first team. Why was Gilberry put at DE and not in the middle? And it's obvious Geno is not 100%

I have to admit that I thought Andy looked much more comfortable in the pocket and hung in there on plays.

Tate is still Tate and completely useless on special teams.

I thought Bodine, overall, did well. Missed some blocks, but made some others, and unlike the past few years, the pocket wasn't collapsing up the middle because of inept center play.

Pass-rush was ok. I think you will see more blitzing from the LB's as the regular season kicks off. Saw a few CB blitzes, but nothing heavy.

Agreed...Tate...but he's going nowhere.

yea, all this talk about keeping Geno Atkin's and releasing Johnson and not having money for both of them. lets keep the one who's not 100% and then rush him out there and watch him get hurt again. I don't know enough about his injury to say whether he'll completely recover though, but he looked like shit.

Atkins was signed last year before he was hurt. The money was already spent.

Also, it was his first live action since he tore his ACL...how is he supposed to look? Like his former pro-bowl self? It's going to take some time, and some games, for him to get back into form. He may not look like the old Geno until week 3-4-5. If you are expected Pro-Bowl Geno on week 1, you don't live in reality.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I thought Bodine, overall, did well. Missed some blocks, but made some others, and unlike the past few years, the pocket wasn't collapsing up the middle because of inept center play.

Pass-rush was ok. I think you will see more blitzing from the LB's as the regular season kicks off. Saw a few CB blitzes, but nothing heavy.

Agreed...Tate...but he's going nowhere.



Atkins was signed last year before he was hurt. The money was already spent.

Also, it was his first live action since he tore his ACL...how is he supposed to look? Like his former pro-bowl self? It's going to take some time, and some games, for him to get back into form. He may not look like the old Geno until week 3-4-5. If you are expected Pro-Bowl Geno on week 1, you don't live in reality.

I agree with all this.

1st team offense didn't do so well on the ground, we had terrible field position most of the first half, but we still managed to move the ball and chew up some time. We had two drives in the 2nd quarter that ate up 10 minutes and resulted in 2 FG's. It also required us to move the ball considerably to score those two times.

Running game had a hard time, but we were facing the #1 rushing defense in the NFL from last year.

 

[alf8478]

It looked to me like we were running well to the right, and going nowhere left or up the middle

 

[ckhokie]

I agree with all this.

1st team offense didn't do so well on the ground, we had terrible field position most of the first half, but we still managed to move the ball and chew up some time. We had two drives in the 2nd quarter that ate up 10 minutes and resulted in 2 FG's. It also required us to move the ball considerably to score those two times.

Running game had a hard time, but we were facing the #1 rushing defense in the NFL from last year.

Wasn't just on the ground. 1st team passing game looked like shit too. The Cardinals DBs are good, but the QB and WRs didn't seem to be on the same page much of the game. Dalton was a far cry from the Dalton we saw last week.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Wasn't just on the ground. 1st team passing game looked like shit too. The Cardinals DBs are good, but the QB and WRs didn't seem to be on the same page much of the game. Dalton was a far cry from the Dalton we saw last week.

The defense the Bengals faced is also a far cray from the defenses faced the last two weeks.

Dalton was still respectable with 13/21 for nearly 160 yards...while it would have been nice to put more points on the board, it wasn't a horrible performance against a really good defense that was playing at home.

 

[NCBengal]

The Cardinal defense is very good. And our field position just sucked all night for the first teamers. I would have liked to seen a better run game and I think using Hill more is obvious. Gio cannot push the pile like Hill.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I agree with all this.

1st team offense didn't do so well on the ground, we had terrible field position most of the first half, but we still managed to move the ball and chew up some time. We had two drives in the 2nd quarter that ate up 10 minutes and resulted in 2 FG's. It also required us to move the ball considerably to score those two times.

Running game had a hard time, but we were facing the #1 rushing defense in the NFL from last year.

then don't rush him out there, let him ride a freaking exercise bike and drink Gatorade.

 

[DanBengalfan]

looks like I quoted the wrong text.

oh well, it doesn't matter.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

looks like I quoted the wrong text.

oh well, it doesn't matter.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Yeah, because, you know, the best way to get back to pro-bowl form is to not play at all

 

[flamingrey]

I agree with all this.

1st team offense didn't do so well on the ground, we had terrible field position most of the first half, but we still managed to move the ball and chew up some time. We had two drives in the 2nd quarter that ate up 10 minutes and resulted in 2 FG's. It also required us to move the ball considerably to score those two times.

Running game had a hard time, but we were facing the #1 rushing defense in the NFL from last year.

The 10 minutes for 2 drives is great, but the only concerning part is we have to net more than 6 points on those kind of drives.

 

[flamingrey]

The defense the Bengals faced is also a far cray from the defenses faced the last two weeks.

Dalton was still respectable with 13/21 for nearly 160 yards...while it would have been nice to put more points on the board, it wasn't a horrible performance against a really good defense that was playing at home.

The difference being he didn't show he's on the verge of bucking the trend against very good defenses. He still looked uncomfortable in the pocket on quite a few plays. We know he can dominate bad defenses. He needs to improve against those very good defenses and heavy blitzing defenses.

 

[bengaldoug]

Dalton did make one very good throw under extreme pressure to Sanu for a first down, but he mostly struggled under the pressure again. We'll see if he can buck the trend in the future. The opener at Baltimore should be a good test, since he generally has played poorly against them in the past......


As for Geno, imo he just needs reps............

 

[CrashDavisSports]

The 10 minutes for 2 drives is great, but the only concerning part is we have to net more than 6 points on those kind of drives.

I agree, we need more TD's, but we had 4 drives in the first half start inside the 10 yard line because of piss poor special teams or penalties on punt returns.

It is hard to score TD's against top 5 defenses when you have to drive 90+ yards the entire first half it seemed to get those TD's.

We had really poor field position, and the run game certainly didn't help Dalton any in this game.

Even with those odds stacked against him, he still threw for nearly 160 yards for over 60% and no turnovers.

I am really hating the number of penalties called this year. It is slowing the game down too much. Between the injuries and penalties, that game lasted over 3.5 hours. It is slowing the game down, and really affecting field position for the defense. Too many automatic first downs due to iffy stuff.

 

[bengaldoug]

I agree, we need more TD's, but we had 4 drives in the first half start inside the 10 yard line because of piss poor special teams or penalties on punt returns.

It is hard to score TD's against top 5 defenses when you have to drive 90+ yards the entire first half it seemed to get those TD's.

We had really poor field position, and the run game certainly didn't help Dalton any in this game.

Even with those odds stacked against him, he still threw for nearly 160 yards for over 60% and no turnovers.

I am really hating the number of penalties called this year. It is slowing the game down too much. Between the injuries and penalties, that game lasted over 3.5 hours. It is slowing the game down, and really affecting field position for the defense. Too many automatic first downs due to iffy stuff.

If they keep calling interference and illegal contact as tightly as they are now, everyone is going to be scoring 40ppg.......

 

[CrashDavisSports]

If they keep calling interference and illegal contact as tightly as they are now, everyone is going to be scoring 40ppg.......

There is no doubt. Just in that game last night, there were at least 6 penalties I thought was a little ridiculous. Ticky tac. I mean, some of these hands to face, a little hand and arm play with the WR running down the field, etc.

The cut block called on Jeremy Hill was just stupid. When he hit the guy, near t he upper thighs, the rusher was not even being touched by another blocker. Michaels and Collinsworth were pretty much saying the same thing all night too.

Plus, the amount of penalties from this preseason to last was up like 500%. That is just insanity. The new get tough flags may ruin the game a little this year until they decide to ease up again next year.

When games start going 3.5 to 4 hours in regulation, and the scores are 40-35 every game, every week, they will be forced to change it. Because it is no longer capable of having a good defense, only one that is capable of slowing down an offense.

 

[Cincyfan78]

What bothers me about the penalties is that they are calling them even if the contact had no bearing on the play. The one on Standford last night was laughable at best. They both every so slightly made contact with one another, and he neither committed Pass Interference nor did the contact prevent the QB from trying to complete the play to that WR. They are calling it as Black/White, which should never be the case. Otherwise, there would be holding, PI, Ill.Contact, etc..etc..called EVERY play. The goal is to get the calls made that effect the outcome (potentially) of the play.

I don't mind calling the contact, but just like any other penalty: If the penalty is not occuring in such a fasion to effect the play, put the hanky back in the pocket, you know?