It's Not The Amount Of Fouls: Penalties That Killed The Bengals Chances Against Cleveland

by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 4, 2010 11:57 AM EDT in Game Recaps

CLEVELAND - OCTOBER 03: Safety Chinedum Ndukwe #41 of the Cincinnati Bengals breaks up a pass to tight end Benjamin Watson #82 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on October 3 2010 in Cleveland Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Dating back to 2000, the Cincinnati Bengals are averaging 99.2 penalties per season through 2009. They're recorded as many as 114 fouls (2009) in a season, yet we've seen that they can display a level of discipline, recording only 75 flags in 2008. Yes, the 39 penalty swing between 2008 and 2009 is very observant. They are on pace to give up 32 first downs on penalties alone to the opposing offense, which is a pace that would be far and away the highest during Marvin Lewis' tenure.

Against the Browns, the Bengals were flagged for a defensive (Pat Sims) and offensive holding (Andrew Whitworth), offensive (Chad Ochocinco) and defensive pass interference (Dhani Jones), a low block on an interception return (Morgan Trent), unnecessary roughness on Chinedum Ndukwe and a false start on Carson Palmer.

Combined, Cincinnati's penalties gave the Browns three first downs and stalled a drive on offense.

As Kevin Goheen points out with a pinch of my personal flair, it wasn't so much the quantity of the penalties as it was when the penalties happened.

For instance, Sims' defensive holding led to an automatic first down that sustained Cleveland's time-expiring drive that prevented Cincinnati from making a final come back. The pass interference on Dhani Jones (we're assuming face guarding) was on third down, giving the Browns a new set of downs and an eventual touchdown. The personal foul on Chinedum Ndukwe, which was arguably a bad (really, really, really, really bad call), stopped the clock pushing the Browns to the Bengals 17-yard line. With the stopped clock, Cleveland was able to run another offensive play to score a touchdown. They didn't and Phil Dawson converted a 31-yard field goal to give the Browns a three-point half time lead.

Week	Opponent	Penalties	Yards Lost	1st Downs
1	@ New England	2	5	0
2	Baltimore	9	56	1
3	@ Carolina	8	69	4
4	@ Cleveland	8	79	3

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TICKY-TACK

There were some real ticky-tack penalties called yesterday, I particularly point out the pass interference on Dhani Jones and the defensive holding on Pat Sims. There seem to be a lack of calls against Cleveland too. But, it doesn’t matter – the Bengals had a chance to win the game and they didn’t. Just another one of those frustrating things that bother us when we lose one we should have won.

by BengalsTom on Oct 4, 2010 12:21 PM EDT reply actions

it was called a face guard on Dhani

but as Sevenrings pointed out yesterday, that isnt a foul in the NFL. I agree the officials were terrible once again but it did not cost us the game.

In Zim We Trust......Collaros for Heisman...An Avid Reader of Cincyjungle.com

by TennBengalfan on Oct 4, 2010 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions

penalties

Yes they did cost us the game. We are not good enough to over come those penalties. Period.

by James Schmid the great on Oct 4, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

But have you noticed?

Even though the penalties greatly affected the game, not one of our players have been complaining like ravens players? It’s called class. And our bunch has it.

You know who else doesn’t? Tj ward. That hit on ship was ridiculous and dangerous. And the fact that he said he would do it again… Idiot.

RIP Slim.

by brandone on Oct 4, 2010 1:26 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

excellent point about our players (and theirs).

that said, the jones, nduke and sime penalties were horrific – and did affect the games outcome. they might not be THE reason the bengals lost, but i absolutely believe that each of them contirbuted to the defeat.

frankly the sims penalty was bad enough to give fodder for those who think the league is fixed IMHO (and i’m not one of those guys, but….)

by bones on Oct 4, 2010 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah. As I said a couple of weeks ago now, the refs are human, they are going to make mistakes. But until/unless proven otherwise, they aren’t cheating and deliberately handing the game to one team. It sure LOOKED a lot like that yesterday, but it was probably simply bad luck. And yet we still had a shot, even with all the bad calls seeming to go against us and/or for Cleveland.

Still hurts. Still is annoying. But the refs are just human. They should be penalized badly in their rankings and preferably fined and required to take classes or some other form of training to help them do a better job in the future. But unless we find rock solid evidence to the contrary, they didn’t “cheat” us out of that game.

by FriarBob on Oct 4, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

i was really only kidding about the fix.

dang zebras. maybe now we’re even for some of those tough calls baltimore got…….

by bones on Oct 7, 2010 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Ward

can suck a big hairy nut. He’s still whining saying the unnecessary roughness call was “unfair” and that he doesn’t plan on tackling any different because of it. What’s really unfair is seeing Caldwell drop a pass in the fourth quarter that I’m sure Shipley would’ve caught. Oh well, I hope he gets what’s coming to him.

OH Yeah! Duffman's pelvis is thrusting in the direction of the problem!
TO: "Coach said he would address that."

by duffmane on Oct 4, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I have no problems with the penalties - if they are called consistently...

the no-call on a clear PI with Owens in the end zone coupled with the phantom PI called on Dhani Jones is simply inexcusable. If the refs call it close – fine call it close – but at least call it close against BOTH teams.

That said, the Bengals had a shot to at least tie the game up at the end. They did not execute. Moreover, the ensuing defensive series was inexcusable – everyone in the stadium KNEW that Hillis was going to get the ball. Why the Bengals did not stack 10 men in the box, keep contain, and FORCE Wallace to beat them is beyond me.

Oh well, the national media is already down on the Bengals, rating them in the bottom half of the league. Its up to the Bengals to prove them wrong at this point.

"Ryan, Things in here don't react too well to bullets." - Marko Ramius

by TarZander on Oct 4, 2010 4:31 PM EDT reply actions

prove them wrong, again..

Wait! They keep letting the fans down, year after year. So how will they do it again? I shouldn’t have wrote that. Same mediocrity from this Marvin teams.

by WHYUS!! on Oct 4, 2010 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

funny how we ride high one week and are dog meat the next. national media can be quite entertaining that way (side note – did anyone esle think yesterday’s game was the first time those TBS announcers saw the reds play all year? wow).

by bones on Oct 7, 2010 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions