I wonder... about Sunday and Bengals running backs

by Kirkendall on Dec 28, 2007 1:23 PM EST in I Wonder..

Having some wondering moments? Me too.

I wonder...

...what we should expect against the Dolphins.

I hate to sound confident -- they've burnt my expectations like a wild fire -- but there's no reason that the Bengals can't pull this out. At first, when the Dolphins were making a run at being the most defeated NFL team of all-time, I wasn't just scared of losing -- I was petrified. Like most of you, I didn't want another chapter of Bengals futility to remind us that our struggles are far from being distant.

Then again, the Bengals have played down to their competition all season. They lost to the 5-10 49ers -- who are currently riding a two-game winning streak winning three of their past five. They lost to the 7-8 Cardinals -- who are decent, but lost after the Bengals did a poor job protecting the football. The Bengals also lost to the 4-11 Chiefs, barely beat the 3-12 Jets and were smoked by the 7-8 Bills. These are teams that all of us expected the Bengals to win.

...will Kenny Irons be ready next season?

In a piece by Mark Curnutte, Irons feels like he's on target of "being medically cleared in time to participate in training camp next July."

...then what?

With the season Kenny Watson is having, it's hard to simply say to him, thanks, but you're going back to your old role. Most expect Rudi Johnson to be playing his final game of the season Sunday -- if he indeed plays. And sadly, you have to always have someone on the roster or practice squad to replace the oft-injured Chris Perry. So if Irons comes back, and he plays, what should we expect?

I think Watson has provided enough to be given a shot as the team's feature back. If Rudi Johnson leaves, that will give a three-man competition for the team's feature back.

...what about DeDe Dorsey?

To me, that all depends on Chris Perry. If the team keeps Perry, then I don't see Dorsey on the active roster. I also don't see Dorsey willing to sit on the practice squad waiting for Perry to get hurt. To keep Dorsey, the only thing the Bengals can do, with the talent at that position competing for playing time next season, is hope that another team doesn't pick him up.

However, that completely changes if the team decides to let Perry go out of fear of injury.

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Wondering................

I see Cincy losing this game.

player moves makes Cincy a little weaker on offense.
miami has a better defense than Cincy and....
miami has a better pass defense and should keep Cincy in check.
miami is weak on rush defense but both teams are playing for next year so I don't expect Cincy to do much in the rushing area.
if Cincy loses it helps their draftposition. if miami loses it won't hurt their postion.
there is nothing in this game that Cincy needs.

As far as running backs......I figure that Wilson will have a great game and that should add some confusion to next year.

Fact is that I think that Marvin made poor judgements on both Dorsey and Wilson. So if Wilson has a great game it will look like they have an abundance of talent at running back. Not true. Remember that Watson had 130 yards in 2 games but fumbled near the last carry in both games.

Perry, Irons, Wilson, and Dorsey may work at TB and Jeremy is set at FB but Cincy needs to go out and get a steady RB.

by davidincincinnati on Dec 28, 2007 10:10 PM EST 0 recs

Bengals should win...

...but I've thought that before. I guess we'll have to watch and see if they actually put forth the effort or not. On a slightly different note, what do you make of this article?

Tom Blogical

by Tom Blogical on Dec 29, 2007 10:22 AM EST 0 recs

Marvin Interview......

Great interview and great information. I believe some of what Marvin says and again don't believe some of it.

I follow the concept of starting from scratch because basically that is what they do each year after a season is over. Of course you can't get rid of everyone and they will work to keep as many talented players as they can. Of course some goood players will go because that always happens. There are some interesting thoughts to losing some of the players. Look at the Colts, they don't have a trio of fine receivers like Cincy does but they pass the ball and win consistently.

I also agree with the thoughts that the team had enough talent to win some of the games that they lost. Per Marvin's comments I believe that he feels that Cincy is a better team than Seattle and they should have won that game and should have easily won the other games that he mentioned. If they would have won them they would be in the playoffs.

I also agree with his assessment of his QB and that the team or players weren't making the plays that they should have made. I feel some of it has to be his fault because I don't think he had the team ready to play when they entered the season. I feel that things that happened during preseason hurt the preparation of the team. The playing of LBs through the preseason and then cutting them set the defensive team back and Henry getting reps when he wasn't going to be eligible to play until the 9th game of the season hurt the offense too.

Overall I think there are several moves to be made that will get the team back on the winning side.

The coaching needs to be looked at and a decision needs to be made as to whether they can get the job done.
They rank low in sacks and they do not have an adequate pass rush to compliment the pass coverage. Two things have to happen on the defensive side of the ball next year. Pass coverage needs to be tightened up which will help the pass rush and Cincy has to go after some DLM who can rush the opposing QBs.
The offensive line needs to be stabilized. This might mean they need a new tackle and maybe a new center.
The coach needs to take control of the team. He needs to be able to bench players who make mistakes. If Chad and Palmer aren't on the same page then he needs to have the stature to sit one of them down. Same with the defense. If a player misses his assignment or is putting out the effort then he needs to bench them.

Sorry for the long post.

by davidincincinnati on Dec 29, 2007 12:46 PM EST up 0 recs

RE:

Great post David. And don't worry about length. We could write a 500-page book about our frustrations with this team.

"I feel some of it has to be his fault because I don't think he had the team ready to play when they entered the season."
100% agree. And from the interview, it appears that Lewis acknowledges as much.

"They rank low in sacks and they do not have an adequate pass rush to compliment the pass coverage. Two things have to happen on the defensive side of the ball next year. Pass coverage needs to be tightened up which will help the pass rush and Cincy has to go after some DLM who can rush the opposing QBs."
Again, 100% agree. I am, however, encouraged with our secondary and I still believe Johnathan Joseph will show better results next season. I'm holding onto the "he's not 100% this season" argument for the time being. I just hope I'm right. But I admit, my strength for that argument is fading. And we definitely need to play the receivers tighter. Then again, it also doesn't help that we consistently fail to get to the QB on blitz and pay $8.4 million for a defensive end that's recorded TWO SACKS.

"The offensive line needs to be stabilized. This might mean they need a new tackle and maybe a new center."
Definitely a new center. I really don't think highly of Eric Ghiaciuc. Though it appears that the Bengals will keep Willie Anderson (Lewis interview) and are working on getting Stacy Andrews signed. I don't see them going after a tackle... at least not yet until we know what happens with those two.

by Kirkendall on Dec 29, 2007 2:06 PM EST up 0 recs

Re

Great return post Josh and great observation on the center / tackle issues.

I guess the clink in the armor was them immediately picking up an experienced backup center in the offseason as insurance.

As for Willie, I think that they will bring him to camp next year and give him the opportunity to make the team as usual. In reality Levi's performance was nothing to crow about either and I wonder if there is a problem there also.

Speaking of Levi, the discouraging thought about most of these injuries that the team has been plagued with over the last couple of seasons is that they have taken nearly a year and half for the players to get back to playing shape.

Both Willie and Levi's injuries have lapsed over two seasons much like Pollack's injury. Looking at Kilmer and some of the others who were out for the whole season it makes Palmer's recovery look like a true miracle.

With regard to Justin Smith and his high salary I too have to admit that I am truly disappointed with his numbers. One would have thought that with his and Geathers skills that there would have been better numbers this season. I can't exactly fault some of Smith's performance based on some of the coverages I've seen him play but I think it's time to straighten out the mess and cut away the deadwood.

My guess is that they will match whatever offer another team makes on Smith unless it is above a certain number. For one they will not match an 8 million dollar offer and I doubt if they will match a 4 million dollar one either. After averaging 7.5 sacks per season 2 sacks this year just doesn't cut it. It's time for Cincy to package some trades in order to get a high draft pick so that they can go after a beast on the DL. With that they'll also need another DT who has size and can rush as well. Maybe they can have Meyers and Pecko as starters and pick up a seasoned veteran for depth.

After that they will have to concentrate on LB and DBs. Late in the draft they will have to address whatever offensive needs they have line OL and RB.

Just my thoughts.

by davidincincinnati on Dec 29, 2007 2:44 PM EST up 0 recs

RE

"With regard to Justin Smith and his high salary I too have to admit that I am truly disappointed with his numbers. One would have thought that with his and Geathers skills that there would have been better numbers this season. I can't exactly fault some of Smith's performance based on some of the coverages I've seen him play but I think it's time to straighten out the mess and cut away the deadwood."
I agree on both fronts. And I do think that the defense suffered on the Geathers to OLB experiment. But you're right. You'd think with Geathers and Smith, there'd be more, not less, opportunities to sack the QB. And as long as the coverage plays soft allowing those short hook patterns, quick slants... and god forbid, those damned 15-yard in routes that always seems to be there, then the quarterback falls into that rhythm with quick releases that voids out Smith's and Geathers' production.

"Speaking of Levi, the discouraging thought about most of these injuries that the team has been plagued with over the last couple of seasons is that they have taken nearly a year and half for the players to get back to playing shape."
Good segue to the medical staff. They certainly haven't put to bed that the medical staff isn't fumbling their diagnosis. Chris Perry has been vocal that the medical staff's assessments haven't been good -- even excusing that as his reason for missing the season; too late to get anything repaired for that respective season.

The Bengals have a lot of work to do this season, don't they? LOL...

Well, at least it will keep the off-season busy.

by Kirkendall on Dec 29, 2007 3:12 PM EST up 0 recs

re: regarding the off-season.

It would not surprise me at all if the Bengals cut loose at least a dozen players at the end of the season. They have around 20 people on the injured lists and counting the 53 regular players they have a ton of decisions to make.

Do you think there are any chances for trades?

by davidincincinnati on Dec 29, 2007 6:55 PM EST up 0 recs

Trades?

There's no one that wants any of our defenders that couldn't be picked up in the draft or FA. The only guys I think that could get traded, with a good deal of value in return, is Chad, T.J. and Palmer. And we know that Palmer won't be touched. Chad's only a possibility because we're getting that feeling, though not really spoken about publicly (i.e., rumors, so take it for what its worth). We'll see. It'll make the off-season a little more interesting... maybe.

by Kirkendall on Dec 30, 2007 12:16 PM EST up 0 recs

RE

I thought it was a very revealing interview. And it's about time that Lewis put away his cloak and answer honestly questions that we already suspected the answer to.

To me, he seems clearly frustrated, if not more, as we are.

The next question is, what will he do about it?

by Kirkendall on Dec 29, 2007 1:58 PM EST up 0 recs