Bengals struggle in California; Benson "doubtful" to play against Oakland

by Kirkendall on Nov 20, 2009 11:24 AM EST in Analysis Comment 19 comments

Californeya has the internet gold rush. So the Bengals have broken several trends this year. They've swept the Steelers for the first time since 1998. Dating back to last year, they've won five straight road games for the first time in franchise history. With a win over the Cleveland Browns, the Bengals will go undefeated in the division for the first time in franchise history -- they've won five divisional games in only six seasons (2009, 2005, 1996, 1990, 1989, 1984).

Another trend remains. Games on the West Coast. Specifically, in California. The Bengals have lost 26 of 35 regular season games in California. Dating back to 1992, they've won only one of ten games. The Bengals history in California is terrible enough that if you take the Bengals all-time record and remove regular season games played in California, the Bengals all-time winning percentage jumps ten points. (Note: I'm a South Park junkie).

Larry Johnson could play Sunday. C Trent Rosecrans writes that Larry Johnson "said his first practice as a Bengal on Wednesday went smoothly, and he's just happy to be practicing." This is important because it's believed that Cedric Benson will miss Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders. Joe Reedy writes that "Benson did not practice for a second straight day, meaning that it is unlikely he will play on Sunday at Oakland." To be honest, I'm interested to see what Johnson can do behind this offensive line.

Moving on...

Great piece by Hobson, detailing the defense on third down.

Charles Robinson writes that Larry Johnson created enough of a disruption with the Chiefs, that he forced his way off the team and joined the 7-2 Bengals.

Don Banks lists Mike Zimmer as a potential head coaching candidate.

The job Zimmer has done with the Bengals defense this season speaks for itself, and if Cincy rides its magic carpet all the way to Miami, who knows how far it might advance a Zimmer candidacy? Strange as it sounds, Zimmer's time in front of the HBO cameras on "Hard Knocks'' probably raised his visibility level significantly within league circles, even though he was known as a quality teacher of the game long before last summer.

Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bernard Scott rushed the football 13 times. Geoff Hobson writes that the Bengals don't want to give Scott "that many touches any time soon."

Sad news: Chris Spielman's wife Stephanie passed away Thursday night.

How great has Kyle Cook been this year?

CNati's Scott Priestle takes a look at Dhani Jones.

Notes regarding the Bengals games in California.

All-Time Record	279	356	2	.440
Games in California	9	26	0	.257
All-Time Record w/o California	270	330	2	.450

Games played in California since 1968.

Season	Location	Result
2007	San Francisco	L, 13-20
2003	Oakland	L, 20-23
2003	San Diego	W, 34-27
2001	San Diego	L, 14-28
1998	Oakland	L, 10-27
1996	San Francisco	L, 21-28
1996	San Diego	L, 14-27
1994	San Diego	L, 10-27
1993	San Francisco	L, 8-21
1992	San Diego	L, 10-27
1990*	Los Angeles	L, 10-20
1990	San Diego	W, 21-16
1990	Los Angeles (Rams)	W, 34-31
1990	Los Angeles	L, 7-24
1989	Los Angeles	L, 7-28
1988	Los Angeles	W, 45-21
1985	Los Angeles	L, 6-13
1984	San Francisco	L, 17-23
1982	San Diego	L, 34-50
1981	San Diego	W, 40-17
1980	Oakland	L, 17-28
1978	Los Angeles (Rams)	W, 20-19
1978	San Francisco	L, 12-28
1978	San Diego	L, 13-22
1977	San Diego	L, 3-24
1976	Oakland	L, 20-35
1975*	Oakland	L, 28-31
1974	San Francisco	W, 21-3
1974	Oakland	L, 27-30
1973	San Diego	W, 20-13
1972	Los Angeles (Rams)	L, 12-15
1971	Oakland	L, 27-31
1970	San Diego	W, 17-14
1969	San Diego	L, 14-21
1969	Oakland	L, 17-37
1968	Oakland	L, 10-31
1968	San Diego	L, 13-29
* Playoff game.

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Smoke em if ya got em..

If Benson is inactive Sunday and Larry Johnson gets the nod, I hope his engine is still turning and we see him do some major damage. If he is going to be on the team I hope our line gives him the holes to plow over Oakland and we can all move past whether or not he’s going to burn down the locker room. Hopefully in the last few weeks he went through some chemo to remove the KC cancer and is now ready to power us forward.
If LJ goes on Sunday, what do we expect his role to be? First down power?

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Nov 20, 2009 11:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

LJ should be well rested at least

Hasn’t played since week 7, so with some time off, and now a nice dose of motivation to prove his worth here in Cincy, it should be interesting.

Also, I like that this in turn motivates Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard to step up as well, even though I think both have been playing really well regardless.

Lets hope we get a couple of rushing TD’s, and a couple of passing TD’s for Chad and Coles.

by UpStateMike on Nov 20, 2009 12:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

keith rivers

do we know his status for the game? was his injury severe? maybe we rest him this week against oakland since brandon johnson had such a fine game

by bcbengalfan on Nov 20, 2009 11:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Its a calf injury..

I bet B. Johnson goes again. Bengals.com keeps saying Rivers is the most likely to not be active Sunday.

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Nov 20, 2009 12:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Johnson was a beast against the Steelers

Great Plan B to have.

First time I shot her, shot her in the side.
Hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died...

by btcoop71 on Nov 20, 2009 1:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Mo said and I agree..

B. Johnson could start on most NFL teams the way he has been playing.

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Nov 20, 2009 1:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Conquer The Left Coast !

With Cedric “doubtful”, I’m glad we’ve got LJ. This will be a good test for us, and it will be interesting to see how the Bengals respond. Who Dey !

by laibach on Nov 20, 2009 12:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

On the Mike Zimmer comment...

…does anybody know if Zim actually wants to be a head coach? People used to approach Monte Kiffin all the dang time with head-coaching offers, but he realized (as folks like Dave Wannstedt, Romeo Crennel, et al should have) that he was born to be a defensive coordinator and shouldn’t try making that leap.

Not arguing whether or not Zim should be a head coach…I think he’d do a bang-up job…but has anybody ever heard him say whether or not he’d ever want to make that jump?

by TheWalrus1971 on Nov 20, 2009 1:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sort of think I remember...

a statement by him mentioned to his dear wife that he wondered about the hiring of young coaches, and was concerned he would be considered too old now. Don’t quote me.

by Welsh on Nov 20, 2009 1:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t have specific links or anything, but I remember people saying he was upset at getting passed over for head coach positions numerous times in his career.

by indesignkat on Nov 20, 2009 8:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The ever expanding injury report is concerning

JJo limited all week
Trent, downgraded to questionable (how awesome of a surprise has he been)
Crocker with his calf.

Our depth is much better this year, a big part of our success, but there are limits.
It would be awesome if we could put up huge 1st half leads the next three games, and give these guys a chance to heal up for the stretch run.

by R.F. Mehl on Nov 20, 2009 1:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Trent

Somebody ought to do a little research on this guy. Has he been getting more snaps as the year has gone on? It seems to me that at the beginning of the year, we were struggling covering #2 and #3 receivers, but when Trent started to see his PT increase, all the sudden guys like Mike Wallace didn’t look so dangerous.

This is our year!

by Carsonorbust on Nov 20, 2009 2:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

very true

Crocker was covering the slot because David Jones was not healing quickly enough. Now Trent is our third corner and D. Jones is 4th.

by featherman on Nov 20, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

when Roy Williams was healthy, they would bring Ndukwe in for nickel situations and have Crocker cover the slot receiver. This approach had it’s pros, in that we had increased tackling ability when teams tried to run out of 3 receiver sets, but Crocker go beat ( or committed PI) frequently, and I’m guessing the other safeties had to focus on helping Crocker more than supporting Hall and JJo.
Now that Trent is showing he can play, we have increased coverage ability, and the run defense hasn’t suffered to much. He certainly did a good job shutting down Hines Ward, although when teams put a CB (see 4th string Sapp for Minnesota) opposed to a LB on Ward, he hasn’t do much in any game.

Trent isn’t a burner but he’s 6’2" which is great for playing zone underneath and deflecting passes

by R.F. Mehl on Nov 20, 2009 3:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i'm so glad we drafted that guy.

he was born to play nickel in the NFL.

by GrooveLeg on Nov 20, 2009 3:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Morgan Trent is a very solid nickel corner. he could be an Ed Reed type safety with more time. He has the corner speed but also has the tackling and the size you would expect from a safety.

by Danimal, Destroyer of Worlds on Nov 21, 2009 2:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

In Trent's case

The combine numbers don’t lie. Dude is wicked fast for his size.

by Danimal, Destroyer of Worlds on Nov 21, 2009 2:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

At U of M

Who could really apply themselves to their potential when they are a rebuilding program?

by Danimal, Destroyer of Worlds on Nov 21, 2009 2:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting west coast statistics

Must be the food you eat when you are out there. Bengals were bad, but I can’t believe the Bengals were that bad on the road in the west but what do I know. Is it the Bengals only or other teams as well that we have the kind and number of injuries? You really need a two to three deep team and players that are versatile enough to play multiple positions.

by Richard L on Nov 22, 2009 4:21 AM EST reply actions 0 recs