What's the pass/run breakdown of playcalling by the Bengals offense -- charting trends

by Josh Kirkendall on Nov 20, 2007 3:04 PM EST in Analysis

We're going all over the map on this one...

Drives: This season, the opposing team has conducted 116 total drives (possessions). Of those drives, 41% ended with a score -- 26% end in touchdown.

Drives II: Of Kyle Larson's 37 punts (I'm off by one somewhere), the opposing team has scored a touchdown 11 times (30%), kicked a field goal six times, punted back nine times, thrown a pick to our defense six times, fumbled three times, returned the punt for TD and Hasselbeck was sacked for a safety.

Speaking of Kyle: Larson's only kick went 29 yards against the Cardinals. Larson is on pace for just under 60 punts this season -- which would, ironically, come close to his career low 60 in 2005. Instead of finishing drives with touchdowns and field goals, we end in interceptions, fumbles and turnover on downs. Hey, at least we're not always punting the ball.

Speaking of Kyle II: Larson's 42.6 yard-per-punt average is close to his rookie season's average (42.2) -- his career worst. Larson's 34.1 net-average is, by far, the worst of his career.

Carson vs. Opposing QBs: We wrote Monday that Palmer is throwing the ball 40-or-more times per game in more games the past two seasons compared to the two seasons that preceded that. However, if you take his yearly average, 2004-06 has hovered around the same numbers. It's 2007 alone that's showing the aberration to it all. Which coincides with the chart below that breaking down the percent of plays ran and passed.

Season	Games	Passes	Per Game
2007	10	380	38.0
2006	16	520	32.5
2005	16	509	31.8
2004	13	432	33.2

Just because comparisons interest me, here's the rush attempts per game throughout each season during Palmer's seasons, compared to the team's (not just Palmer) pass attempts. It's really an unconnected thought -- though some might make note that Bob Bratkowski has consistently run the ball in the 44-45% range from '04-06 but falling in 2007. And no, this doesn't take into consideration "garbage time" -- the period of the game where you run out the clock or go pass happy, down by a couple of scores, mounting a come back. They're just raw.

Season	Total	Rush/Gm	Rushes	Pct	Passes	Pass/GM	Pct
2007	655	27.5	275	42%	380	38.0	58%
2006	994	27.1	435	44%	523	32.7	53%
2005	1018	28.7	459	45%	538	33.6	53%
2004	1004	27.3	437	44%	536	33.5	53%

Numbers from NFL.com

Moving on...

"Henry showing signs of maturity."

When talking to Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry after Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. I couldn't help but feel that the eight-game suspension handed down by the league did the young receiver some good both as a player and a person.

In the locker room, Henry was focused and all about business. He took a professional approach when speaking showing signs of maturity — something that has been questioned as of late. It was obvious that time away from the game gave the third-year player a better perspective of what was important to him and that is playing football.

If I choose to be a tad bit more patient before applying the "maturity" tag to Henry, forgive me, Big C.

Did you know that referees are also commentators about a player's performance?

Tony Steratore, the back judge seen jawing with Whitworth during the game, couldn't be reached for comment afterward.

As for Whitworth, he claimed after he questioned the calls, "(Steratore) got offended ... and said some things I thought were inappropriate for a ref to say. He acted really unprofessional. He said 'that's lousy' and 'you're lousy,' stuff like that."

With all the blown calls we've seen in the past two years, in college and the NFL, do you think the refs really have any room to call someone else's performance "lousy"? Kettle, black are popping into mind.

Also in the bag.

DeDe Dorsey's blocked punt for touchdown Sunday was the first since 1989.
Bring back the shovel: Willie Anderson spoke out about the team's work ethic saying, "We need to get back to old school where you dig a hole with a shovel. That's hard work. That's grimy hard work but the job still gets done. We've got to get back to that mode. The talent is still there, but we're a little too 'Hollywood' right now."
The Bengals/Steelers game on NBC's Sunday Night football is on as scheduled.

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