Quarter Season Stat Ramblings

Well, the first quarter of the season is over. If you wish it, I'll grade each position. Give all positions on the Bengals offense an "F". Give the defensive front a "C-" based on decent (not great) play by the defensive tackles and adequate run support by the ends (though my low grade is in large part due to the lack of a pass rush from the front four). Give the linebackers a "C" for being solid, though failing to be play-makers and game-changers. Largely the best unit on this team, I'm giving the secondary a strong "B".

Let's go through a few things during the team's first quarter (all stats are from the official NFL Game Statistics Information System).

• The Bengals have called 24 rush attempts up the middle (inside both guards). That's 25% of all called rushing plays.
• The Bengals have called 34% of their rush attempts outside of Andrew Whitworth (left guard). This means anything outside of Whitworth; including sweeps.
• The Bengals are averaging 5.06 yards-per-attempt when running behind Stacy Andrews -- ranks 8th in the NFL. On the other hand, the Bengals are averaging 0.88 yards-per-attempt behind Andrew Whitworth (ranked 32nd in the NFL) and 2.0 yards-per-attempt when rushing outside Levi Jones (also ranked 32nd in the NFL).

The chart of where the Bengals throw the ball. The first number (Plays) is how many plays it went short left, or deep right, etc.. the second number is where that number ranks in the NFL. Avg. is the average yards gained per attempt with the NFL ranking below that.

Here's the percentage of plays by the offense based on downs (and yards to go).

First Down

Second Down

Third Down

You can clearly define the Bengals 23-26 overtime loss to the Giants, as the best offensive performance. Seriously? Yep. Look at these numbers, then compare them to the average of the other three games.

Since I'm not smart enough to find the average of time of possession, the Bengals held onto the ball for 33:15. In the three other games, the Bengals held onto the ball for 23:45, 27:26, 25:58.

Drafting for No-Catch Receivers. Two of the first four draft picks in the 2008 NFL draft taken by the Bengals were wide receivers. Neither have a catch this season.

Reggie Kelly vs. Chad Johnson. Who would have thought that Reggie Kelly and Chad Johnson would be tied for the second-most receptions on the team when the season started out? On pace for 44 receptions, Kelly's career-high was 31 with the Atlanta Falcons in 2000. His career high with the Bengals is 21 receptions for 254 yards receiving in 2006.

Touchdowns. Chris Perry has the team's only two rushing touchdowns. T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson split the team's only two receiving touchdowns.

Running the Ball. Clearly, the Bengals do not split rushing attempts. Behind Chris Perry's 72 attempts is Kenny Watson with seven rushes. However, what's worse is that Ryan Fitzpatrick recorded 41 yards rushing and now is second on the team. Even worse than that, is that Fitzpatrick did that in one game!

Defense on Fourth Down. The Bengals defense has not allowed a fourth down to be converted in four tries this season.

Turnovers. The Bengals have a -4 turnover ratio.