Cincinnati Bengals Links and Notes: Wednesday 9/16

by jsl413 on Sep 16, 2009 7:00 AM EDT

It's time to stop talking about Denver. We won't see them again for a couple of years. Instead, let's start looking forward to next week's opponent, technically a potential Superbowl preview, the Green Bay Packers.

Kirkendall put up a post over at the Acme Packing Company (Packers) blog. If you're interested in chatting with Packers fans or reading the Q&A, head over to check it out.
ESPN's power rankings saw the Bengals slip 2 spots to 26. Jeffri Cahidi surmises that the Bengals are cursed. SI.com hasn't updated its power rankings, but the Bengals were 21 (even though the defense and offense, individually, were ranked at 16 each).
RotoWorld says Chris Henry is not the 3rd receiver in 3-WR sets, which is why his numbers were low in week 1. Andre Caldwell plays the slot, but really, I expect Ocho/Henry/Caldwell to be the 3 top WR by the end of the year.
Is Andre Smith's contract reminiscent of Ricky Williams's contract? Jason Cole at Yahoo! Sports thinks so. Late on Tuesday, the Smith contract story was Yahoo's top NFL story.
After stepping away for a day, Joe Reedy gives a report card on Sunday's game. I think he was a bit generous to Carson Palmer, who unfortunately did not play all that well. He's pretty harsh on the defense though.
The Stamford Advocate, whatever that is, thinks Carson is a "fantasy" risk this year. I think the world is jumping the gun on Palmer. There's no reason to believe his mental and physical capability have dropped off. I don't buy the bull people say about him being tentative on his formerly injured knee. I think he's suffered without Housh and with a weak o-line, but he's still an elite player.

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"Carson Palmer, who unfortunately did not play all that well"

Personally, I didn’t think he played badly at all. Between the 25 dropped balls and (as usual) untimely penalties, for a guying playing in only his fifth regular season game in the past 20 months, I thought he was incredibly sharp.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 8:01 AM EDT reply actions

He was not bad, but he was not remarkably good

And the offense only scored 7 points. He was excellent on the last drive, but beyond that, he was hit or miss. I’m as big a Carson fan as any, and he is definitely not even close to the most pressing problem on this team, but he wasn’t infallible.

by jsl413 on Sep 16, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Wow, you're ...

a pretty tough audience. He was 21 for 33 (with 6 dropped passes) for 247 yards, and a 63.6% completion rate. So he should have been something like 27 for 33, for 247 yards. Most of the 6 drops were key drive killers, too.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

i thought he made some nice calls at the line

and he and Chad were locked in. i agree, pretty great game by Carson—those 6 drops killed all momentum so who knows what we could have done if Coles catches those balls for first downs.

by GrooveLeg on Sep 16, 2009 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions

What was he before the Broncos dropped into the prevent defense?

That’s a classic misleading “Jeff Blake” stat line.

by bodacio on Sep 16, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

What game were you watching?

When did the Broncos have a big enough lead to go prevent? They appeared to me to be in their base defense, even on the last drive.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Exact same game

What team goes base defense when the offense is going 3 or 4 wide and needs to drive the length of the field for a TD? Bend but don’t break. But you’d suggest Palmer, Phillip Rivers, and Tom Brady just happened to magically find their stroke near the end of the game? Do you watch any games?

by bodacio on Sep 16, 2009 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions

The Bengals didn't ...

go 4 wideouts the last drive. It was Chad, Coles and Caldwell. I think Henry came in for Coles a couple plays. And from what I could see on TV, Denver wasn’t in a prevent. Regardless, had not all the drops occurred, Palmer’s stats would have reflected how well he played; it had nothing to do with Palmer’s last 5 passes. Your Blake comparison made no sense … they’re 2 totally different QBs.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Most times you’re going to see at least a nickle with 3-wide, which isn’t quite prevent, but softer than a base. Apologies for the slight exaggeration.

Drops happen. If we want to include them, let’s take away lousy passes that receivers go out of their way to snag. Good teams don’t delve into such minutia. Results are the only thing that matter…unless you’re a Bengal fan. For us, almosts and what ifs rule the day.

My Blake comparison made perfect sense. I was referring to the stat line and the manner in which those stats were accumulated, not style of play. Blake was notorious for playing lousy for 3 quarters, then padding his stats in the 4th when the defense got soft. If you hadn’t watched the game, you’d think he’d played pretty well.

Still, this is more indicative of the coaching staff and front office than Palmer, himself. I’m just having a tough time drawing anything positive from the offensive effort. I hope Marvin and Brat see things differently and don’t assume it was all bad luck.

by bodacio on Sep 16, 2009 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

6 drops?

You have to admit 6 drops on one game, for one NFL QB, is more than minutia. While I’ve blacked out most of it, I recall at least 3 or 4 would have have gone for big yardage, and kept drives going. I think he even had a long pass play called back for holding. Okay, take away the last 5 passes … if his WRs just catch the damn ball, he’s 22-28. When Palmer has the tools around him, he’s nothing like a Blake … Blake would not have engineered that last drive.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I remember plenty of Blake/Pickens late game action. However, the defense blew most of those games, too, so most people chose to forget.

by bodacio on Sep 16, 2009 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess my metric is points.

And the offense failed miserably in Bronco’s territory. I didn’t get to watch the whole thing, but some of that blame was shouldered and I think should be by Carson. If you take away some of the drops, maybe it’s a different game.

by jsl413 on Sep 16, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

at least two of the drops were on perfect passes that would’ve put the bengals in position to score. if that changes, it changes the game and people aren’t bashing carson.

by Raging Clue on Sep 17, 2009 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

actually, would’ve been closer to 280 or 300 yards, other than that you’re 100% right.

by Raging Clue on Sep 17, 2009 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

bring back the no huddle

that last drive was awsome just like the 05 &06 seasons. its the only advantage we have. its what carson is comfortable doing. it showed in the final drive. its what the O should be doing. does anyone agree?

by WHYUS!! on Sep 16, 2009 10:07 AM EDT reply actions

yeah i wonder why we got rid of that.

by GrooveLeg on Sep 16, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions

gives carson too much control and brat not enough, has always been my guess. brat’s a bit egomaniacal.

by Raging Clue on Sep 17, 2009 8:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Craigslist ad: Bengals Offensive Coordinator

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/bus/1374042940.html

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 Sep 16, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

pretty funny. i wonder how many responses it has gotten.

by GrooveLeg on Sep 16, 2009 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh man I wish that was real instead of a fake.

by FriarBob on Sep 16, 2009 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions

that is totally hysterical!!!

I was chatting earlier with a Bills-fan friend and told him that before they fired Turk Schonert, the Bengals and Bills should have simply traded offensive coordinators! Think about it: Cincy needs an OC with a more-complicated-than-Pop-Warner offense (Schonert said he was fired because his offense was too complicated for Dick Jauron) and Buffalo needed an offensive coordinator whose offense was simple enough for Jauron…it would have been a perfect trade!

by TheWalrus1971 on Sep 16, 2009 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions

You do realize...

Fantasy football is based on pure statistics, rather than a gage of talent. If he is suffering from the loss of TJ and a subpar O-Line, his stats take a hit, making him a questionable fantasy play. Bengal fans: Defend to the death first…think later.

by bodacio on Sep 16, 2009 11:26 AM EDT reply actions

I don’t think that the score was indicative of Carson’s play though. You have to think that Cincy had some first day jitters and all the drops are a fixable problem (we hope). He still threw for nearly 300 yards and was near the red zone enough and has enough legit WR targets to make a decent fantasy impact this year.

This is our year!

by Paul Cannon on Sep 16, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Agressive Offense

I think going back to two years ago when our defense was awful the Bengals Braintrust(hahaha) decided to Run first to control the clock and take pressure off of our Def.
With that decision our high powered Off. took some philosophical steps backwards.
I think we should be no huddle balls to the wall until we get a nice lead then pound it.
All that being said the Bengals actually played just well enough to win with stingy def. and ball controling offense.

By the way Carson Palmer is still our best Player. He has done nothing to make me think otherwise.

by featherman on Sep 16, 2009 11:39 AM EDT reply actions

carson probably is risky as a fantasy starter this season

1) suspect o-line. they don’t pass protect that well. sure they are big and do ok run blocking. but watch defenders run past them on the sides and get in the backfield. who expected the 335 beef to run a 4.5 40. they dont. the line is sluggish and will be all year. with gaps of inexperience breaking rhythm and gaining penalties or yielding sacks.

2) benson ain’t the answer. hope scott gets the starting role sooner than later. carson is going to be alone out there with a running game avg 3 or less yards a carry. with every d in the nfl just waiting for him to throw.

3) bratt. should have been gone. another season of his uninspired offensive playbook will make carson’s numbers grind slowly.

4) see all of the above, and wonder how any qb could play a full 16 game season without being injured for a game or two. or more.

by palewook on Sep 16, 2009 2:14 PM EDT reply actions

I'm pretty much ...

with you on these, except I do think the OL shows signs of becoming a productive group. They’re somewhere between the lines of ‘05 and ’08. But I’m not (at least yet) with you on the Benson thing. I think he’s showing he can be a productive number 1. But, ask me again in 7 weeks.

by Timzilla on Sep 16, 2009 2:43 PM EDT reply actions

I dont understand.

How was he not good? 1 int came from a tip. the other from a hail mary. take back those dropped passes and he played awesome. He performed when he needed to in the 4th quarter only to be fucked over again.

by Diesel2405 on Sep 16, 2009 3:54 PM EDT reply actions

7 points, man.

I know some of that can be blamed on drops, but bottom line is, if he plays as well as we know he can, we put more than 7 on the board.

by jsl413 on Sep 16, 2009 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions

the problem is, he played well, and everything around him collapsed, as per usual. your putting way too much of the point total on his shoulders. all he can do is execute and throw, and he did that well.

by Raging Clue on Sep 17, 2009 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions

someone said the offense struggeled when they blitzed.

Thats not on carson. Thats on the terrible adjustments made by Brat. If they are going to continuously blitz you counter-act with short quick hits to recievers and screens. Brat didnt adjust b/c he is a terrible coordinator. he needs to go on this offense will take off. Man the Bills OC looked good in his play calling monday. Why do we have Brat? He has a game plan set for every team. However if it isnt working he has no idea how to adjust and take advantage of the defense. He is a clueless moron and fits right into the Mike Brown mold of doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.

by Diesel2405 on Sep 16, 2009 3:58 PM EDT reply actions

Peyton Manning has ignored Tom Moore’s calls for years. Perhaps Carson should go rouge and start calling his own plays at the line.

by smoormandiddy on Sep 16, 2009 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Not exactly correct. Peyton picks from a list of three plays that Tom gives him which one he likes best.

But Carson has called his own plays before. And I really wish he would do it again. Whether he has permission or not.

by FriarBob on Sep 16, 2009 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions

agree wholeheartedly.

by Raging Clue on Sep 17, 2009 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions

hmm

I wouldn’t give Carson the MVP trophy but I wouldn’t say he was horrible. Let’s not forget he took something like two-three possessions worth of pre-season snaps, and outside of those, he has not played in an NFL game in 11 months. Frankly, he and the inexperienced OL should only improve. Hopefully sooner as opposed to later.

by Cedric Benson Boat Party on Sep 16, 2009 4:13 PM EDT reply actions

no sh$% smoormandiddy

carson should call the plays at the line. didn’t he do that in 05 & 06? that is what he is good at. he can read the defense. its up to the O-Line to read the D too. that is why i said bring back the no huddle. this O is set up for it. MIKE BROWNS FAULT!!! MIKE BROWN U SUCK BIG ONES!!!!!!

by WHYUS!! on Sep 16, 2009 5:13 PM EDT reply actions