The offense is healthy enough and the rust should be off by now. We have too many possible weapons for us to score 10 points or less. Next two games should be hard but I’d expect them to win at least one, good teams beat good opponents. If we lose to the Browns then we suck. Coaches also have to realize we are a passing team, not running, why else would we have an ‘elite’ QB.

1. Andre Caldwell is the 3rd down receiver we thought Coles would be.
2. Coles is not the 3rd down receiver – Palmer relied heavily on him on 3rd downs, and 4 dropped balls on 3rd is over 50% of the failed 3rd down conversions
3. That offensive pass interference on Chad was the most outrageous BS too-tight call by the ump. BUT, they called the same thing later when Broncos did it. Tightly officiated game. Oh, and it was just 1 game, not the whole season, NOR is it “the season as a microcosm”. Just 1 game. Now
4. Chad played great. Loved his intensity, blocked in the 3rd qtr on runs, but I didn’t look for it in the 4th qtr. Haven’t seen him block in a while. He’s being the consumate team player. Soak it up. He’s gonna be what Chad and Housh were COMBINED last year.

Why would anyone even suggest that Carson Palmer is a weak link? This is nuts. One bizarre, fluke play and now people are are analyzing 3 years worth of games to point the finger at #9. If that pass would have hit the ground or been tipped a few inches awry and out of the in-stride grasp of a lucky half-ass WR, the Bengals would have won that game with a formidable defense and clutch late game heroics by Carson and the offense. Now it’s handwringing time? My suggestion for worriers? Relax. My half-ass suggestion for the O? Open things up. Use all our weapons,e.g., (1)use Coffman for his pass-catching ability,which is phenomenal;(2)throw the ball to Henry;(3)get the ball into the hands of B. Scott, Leonard and Dorsey.

If there is no fluke reception and the Bengals win this game, we’d be talking about how this game was 3/4 preseason where Palmer was working out the kinks, shaking off the rust, and trying to establish timing with his receivers and 1/4 regular season where Palmer showed he is mentally and physically ready with that final touchdown drive. He’d be credited with only 1 interception because he wouldn’t have had to toss up that last second hail mary and we’d be saying how he might have had a 300-yard passing game if they had cut the dropped passes in half.

He needs better coaching, playcalling, and a better line.
I bet he hears defensive footsteps in his sleep….
Who could blame him for happy feet.

Not the problem. Dropped passes not going to be the problem-Caldwell should be number 2 and Coles should get the slot-assuming he will stop the dropsies. O-line big problem-they had their moments but inconsistent-esp. Collins. Play calling and adaping to blitz-huge problem. If they can play agressively-hey no huddle?- some of the time, the line will block better and Carson will come through like his last drive. The
offense has to dictate to the defense not the other way!

Did Denver have an snaps in the Red Zone? I don’t think that they did. That is notable.

When you come to Cincinnati, you’re not going to be surrounded by the best talent or coaching staff, thanks to MB. So could Carson be elite with a legitimate franchise? Absolutely. But at this point, his spirit has to be zapped, like most guys who stick around here too long. I think the guy has too much pride to pull an Archie Manning. He’s going to want out eventually.

I think two things are at the front of the crummy offense #1 the offensive line has not been the same since ‘05 and may never be that good again, however, I think it is getting better #2 I think the play calling stinks at times, Coach B. has been here for ever and I think he is getting stale on his play calling. Carson Palmer is still a good QB, not in Brady, Breese or Payton company anymore, but still good when healthy! He’s still a top 10 QB.

Bengals should have put more points on the board. The game did not have to come down to that fluky deflection. You need to score when you get down inside the red zone. Bengals’ ED – Execution dysfunction (# of times you fail to score TDs when you are inside that red zone) needs to be corrected. It does not matter who does the fixing, whether it is Lewis, Bratkowski, Palmer, the entire OL, or Benson’s RB crew. Guys, when you smell that line, you better be hungry.

Brat doesnt call a game consistent with Carsons ability.Get a new and competent OC in there to lead Carson, and wins will come, And kill Mike Brown and everyone related to him, when Paul died so did this franchise!!!

in 05 and 06 the bungles ran the no huddle. that made them a high power offense.the only time they ran the no huddle is when they had to at the end of the game. it seems that back then they were very successful at it. they still are. they marched down field and scored. i know you can manage the clock somewhat with the no huddle. it seems to me that this is what this offense is good at. so why not use it again. in 07 & 08 they didn’t use it either. carson is better suited for the no huddle along with chad ocho. this is what this offense needs for carson to be successful. OR IS THIS MB MAKING THE CALLS!!!!! I CALL THIS THE CURSE OF MIKE BROWN.

IMHO I agree it is not the QB’s fault. He will, of course, get the blame for incomplete/intercepted passes, but football IS a team effort and if just one guy goofs up, the whole team ends up as losers.
Sometimes its a matter of luck (see the last play by the broncos) of being in the right place at the right time. And some teams are luckier than others – it is not ability as most players in the NFL ARE good, and you can see that stuff like Tyne’s catch in the previous superbowl and Steelers winning (Steelers suck BTW!).
And a lot of times the zebras have blinkers on their eyes……
The team has had a lot of distractions these past few years and the guys have to focus and get their priorities straight now – it is ALL about winning and whether you win by big scores or little ones, that’s all that matters. The bengals are meowing pussycats right now and need to become roaring tigers fast.

you are way up on carsons pole. carson is great and you got it right about MB. carson will never be as good as he was with an o-line like this. these guys are ok but 2nd rated lineman. hope they get better but with MB running things dont see it happening. smith is a bust, hope not but he was picked by MB. just like the other smith that he picked in the first rd.

Brat – get aggressive or get out. Stop using the Oline as an excuse and play to our strengths. Pittsburg’s Oline isn’t very good and they win the SB. Do your job or quit so we can move on. You are not pulling your weight.

I am getting tired of hearing how good Carson is. – Show me.

Marvin – all of this is his responsibility. Much of our problem has to do with unforced errors. Wrong routes, dead ball penalties, people out of position, illegal guy down field and the like. That is a result of poor teaching and bad discipline. That is Marvin’s fault and it is his responsibility. He is always blaming the players. MB needs to tighten up Marvin’s wig. We have much better talent on the O than we are seeing. No way we should go 55 minutes without scoring against anybody let alone a mediocre D like Denver. I would tell him the same thing he told the players after a loss on Hard Knocks. FIX IT!! Fix it or quit, take Brat with you and let us get someone who will. Period!! At least half of our problems are on you not MB.

who hired marvin? what his his name? who has final say? who sticks his nose in where it dont belong? does all of this disrupts the team? do the players see this?do all of these answers give the players a different massage? marvin isnt perfect, neither is carson. like i said carson is not god. but when somebody like MB does what he does you are not going anywhere! I feel for the players that have talent. they are stuck with the bengals just like us. I can only hope things can change. starting with MB. we have a curse THE CURSE OF MIKE BROWN!!!!!! GOD HELP US

MB is an easy target and he makes himself one but our raw talent is better than our record. A good coach makes average players above average. Look at what Zimmer did with what we had in one year – with a slew of injuries replacement players off the street. I am not an apologist for MB. I don’t like him either but as far as I can see MB’s influence pretty well ends at the locker room door. I just don’t think the players have respect for ML and it shows in the lack of fundamentals. ML knows nobody likes MB and he hides behind the axiom " MB calls the shots not me". MB may not get us the best talent at all positions but the big problem is that ML is not getting all he can form what he has. He has stuck behind Brat way too long. There is more to being a coach than slogans and screaming.

MB has every right to run the team the way he sees fit. It is his team. You have a right not to like it and complain about it. I’m no fan of his. If he worked for me he would not have had a chance to out up a big losing streak. I would have let him go after a couple of years.

If we were playing to our talent level I would put it all on him but we have enough talent here to be very competitive if ML and his crew were getting the best out of them. We did not lose to Denver because of MB. We lost because ML did not have the team properly prepared – period. Way too many players committed way too many unforced errors. Coles has a history of being a very good WR. He just didn’t have his head in the game. MB does not put the game plan together, call the plays or motivate players. That is Marvin’s job and he is not getting it done and he hasn’t for years. Marvn needs to “do your job”, “keep shoveling” and sacrifice. He needs to “Fix it”. It is not all MB’s fault – in fact little of it is.