Atrocious

I'm running out of synonyms for terrible.

I was positive that the Bengals would win on Sunday.  We have a team with a one armed QB, a has-been running back, and a porous O-Line coming into our house.  Further, the Cardinals are one of the few franchises that surpass the Bengals futility (OK - over the last decade and a half maybe, but we really can't touch their historical ineptitude), coming into Sunday's game having only won 6 road games in the past few years.  Yeah, it could be close, but with the Bengals' offense, they can't possibly score enough to win...

Oh wait - the Bengals are inventing new ways to lose every week.  I imagine it like this:  Marvin Lewis spins a wheel similar to Wheel of Fortune's big disc with various ways to lose a game on it - things like "Special Teams Ineptitude," "Offensive Meltdown," and "Tackling Woes."  This week, it clearly landed on "Carson Palmer plays like Ben Roethlisberger without a running game:  poorly."  I'm still waiting for the "Bird Flu knocks out TJ Houshmandzadeh for the year" game, or perhaps the "Entire team suspended by Roger Goodell for unpaid parking fines; Ray Lewis declares innocence in double murder investigation" game.

Carson had a bad game - a bad enough game that it wasted a fairly good defensive performance.  Some of the interceptions - mainly the pick on the quick slant to Chad - were pretty darn good plays.  Others, however, defy explanation, where Palmer was throwing into double coverage or very good single coverage.  Everyone has a bad game, however, just ask Mr Commercial himself, Peyton Manning, after his 6 interception performance against the Chargers.  

What amazed me was that the Bengals failed to adjust in the passing game - clearly the Cardinals were dropping 8 on almost every play.  As such, Square-Ins and deep posts don't seem to be the route of choice.  Maybe a flea flicker would have been apropos?  A pump fake perhaps?  Get the coverage moving through some deception.  I don't think Carson was under a huge amount of pressure all day, so he had the opportunity to do some things that require a little more time.

De De Dorsey is an exciting, fast player.  He's a change of pace back from the lumbering Johnson or the shifty Watson.  The problem is, however, whenever he enters the game, the defense knows he is getting the ball.  The Bengals still don't trust him to block on passing plays.  The solution - how about having him AND Watson in the backfield at the same time?  The Bengals may lose the TE on passing plays, but this may allow them to run more diverse plays (e.g. ones when Dorsey does not get the ball) when Dorsey is in the game.  That was an exceptional play to block the punt, by the way.  I actually said that the only way for the Cardinals to recover would be a catastrophic play like another interception return for a TD - I HATE being right.

Chris Henry - please, please, please concentrate.  Chad - please, please, please hold on to the f*cking ball.

Though the defense played a good game, it was not a complete game.  They still resorted to mental errors and missed tackles in the first half.  Dexter Jackson once again made a rookie mistake without the excuse that he's a rookie.  In the second half, however, the Bengals did an excellent job of getting pressure on Warner to force quick throws.  Geathers plays a lot better with his hand on the ground; he really made some good plays blowing by OT Levi Brown.  Hall did a good job, as did Deltha O'Neal.  The bottom line is, however, that sometimes the defense needs to win a game in the NFL (or all the time if you're a Raven).  The Bengals still failed to make a "play" on defense (not counting the blocked punt).  Further, they need to hold teams to field goals - do that and the Bengals may have won the game despite the turnovers.  They showed progress, but they are definitely not there yet.

At 3-7, the season is effectively over.  Marvin Lewis needs to prove that he can motivate this team to play hard, even in a bad season.  A win at Pittsburgh and at home against Cleveland might make the season tolerable.  7 wins, when the Commisioner, the Referees, and God himself (at least it seems that way with all of the injuries) are against the Bengals would be an accomplishment.

Look at it this way:  The Ravens, the Steelers, and the Redskins LOST on Sunday.  That makes the Bengals loss sting a little bit less.