Daily Banter: Bengals Are Now A Top Ten Offense (And Sixth Best Passing Offense)
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 1:01 PM EDT
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PrintDuring Peter King's recent Monday Morning Quarterback, the NFL Insider wrote:
5. I think this thought occurred to me while watching Carson Palmer struggle in the first quarter of the season: He's owed $53 million over the next four years, but whether there's a salary cap next year or not, the Bengals could cut him and not have a dime count against a cap.
Interesting that the thought occurring to Peter King happened during Palmer's best performance since crushing the Chicago Bears on October 25, 2009 where he recorded four touchdowns in the first half alone. Refusing to bite into another week of questioning the future with Carson Palmer, I won't say anything about value, cost against overall production.
POWER RANKINGS ARISE! SB Nation ranks the Bengals 19th.
PASS, RUN, PASS, RUN. ESPN's James Walker writes:
In running the Bengals' offense, should Cincinnati be a run-first team or a pass-first team in 2010? This is a question Marvin Lewis, Bratkowski & Co. can't seem to figure out through the first four games.
The truth is, Cincinnati is slowly returning to their passing roots, having called a pass play on 60% of the 276 offensive snaps through the season's first four games. True, Cincinnati faced an uphill battle that forced them to pass the football 51 times against the Patriots. Having a deficit throughout most of the game against Cleveland forced the Bengals to unbalance their attack to be passing heavy. While it could be an indication of the team's overall philosophical change, passing a lot when you're losing isn't uncommon.
| Opponent | Total Plays | Called Runs | Called Passes |
| @ New England | 76 | 25 | 51 |
| Baltimore | 67 | 31 | 36 |
| @ Carolina | 75 | 37 | 38 |
| @ Cleveland | 58 | 18 | 40 |
| 276 | 111 | 165 |
I believe deep down that Cincinnati's effort to be a run-first team is honorable. But it's also becoming somewhat obsessive in that the philosophy isn't working like it did last year. What's wrong with just doing whatever it takes to win the game? No huddle. Pass like crazy to setup the run. If that doesn't work, you could, oh I don't know, adjust?
CINCINNATI'S OFFENSE IS SLOWLY REBUILDING, HOWEVER. After Cincinnati's explosive performance against the Browns, the offense jumped five spots, ranked as the 10th best offense and the sixth best passing offense in the NFL. With two performances of 400 yards or more, and only one performance below 300 yards, the Bengals offense is slowly making their return.
Therefore, it's time to reevaluate things. One, while Cincinnati's offense is improving, their Red Zone offense is a complete wreck. Moving the football between the 20s with ease does nothing for you when you're averaging 19.8 points/game. It's almost like we're the New Orleans Saints, who are tied with the Bengals with points scored and are ranked worse than the Bengals in total offense. Bet you didn't see that coming.
The second thing to reevaluate: Cincinnati is an average football team right now. Maybe it's time to lower expectations with a quarter of the season in the books.
MARVIN LEWIS TAKES EXCEPTION. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis took exception on Chinedum Ndukwe's hit on Ben Watson that drew a personal foul.
“I don’t think Chinedum’s was an error. You just have to keep coaching them within the rules, in which Chinedum hit him within the rules, Lewis said. “He was in the numbers, it wasn’t with his helmet and so that’s all you can do. It wasn’t even his shoulder. That’s all you can do, is just keep trying to do it the right way. Those guys try to tackle with their arms as much as they can but if they have to take the guy out low they have to take him out low, but they don’t want to risk themselves. You just have to keep going.”
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Josh
I beat you with the Peter King by about 15 minutes. Funny, Great minds think alike.
Unbelievable
Interesting that the thought occurring to Peter King happened during Palmer’s best performance since crushing the Chicago Bears on October 25, 2009 where he recorded four touchdowns in the first half alone. Refusing to bite into another week of questioning the future with Carson Palmer, I won’t say anything about value, cost against overall production.
Are you serious? We lost because Palmer couldn’t score a touchdown in 2 out of 3 opportunites in the redzone. Who cares about his big numbers when he couldn’t do sh*t when it counted. By the way that 78 yd TD to Terrel Owens only happened because the defender slipped and fell down. For me, Palmer played like sh*t.
Funniest thing ever read
Carson Palmer’s 121.4 passer rating = jimbasa definition of "played like sh*t
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Blinded by numbers I see. Naive is what you are sir.
Quit glorifying a guy who’s never getting you to the superbowl.
I actually wouldn't play in the Super Bowl.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
No come back needed.
I don’t care back and forths. Try to read this without a condescending tone that I’m sure the question would bring. I’m honestly just curious if anything that this team could do would please you.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
With the talent that we have...
Win every winnable game in convincing fashion. That would make me content.
With the talent that we have, every game is winnable.
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 3:49 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I hate that
Convincing fashion part. Winning a game by one point or 100 is the same at the end of the year.
This point shows me that you are one of the “yeah but” people. So even when the Bengals win it is not good enough.
Convincing fashion doesn't mean
Winning by 30 points each game. It means showing the world that you deserve to win. It means showing the opponent that you are clearly bettter. It means sending a message to all other teams that you are a team to be reckoned with. It means giving your players the confidence that they need to face any foe, as great as they might be.
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 4:03 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I also think he didnt play all that well
another thing is stats really dont matter in the NFL, he had those nice stats and we only scored 20 points, which is the same amount vs the Panthers
In Zim We Trust......Collaros for Heisman...An Avid Reader of Cincyjungle.com
by TennBengalfan on Oct 5, 2010 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Crazy
So you don’t blame the defense at all for giving up 23 easy points to the Browns and Seneca Wallace. or you don’t blame the ineptitude of the playcalls in the redzone?
Yeah I do but...
Stop glorifying Carson Palmer is what I’m asking because as far as I’m concerned, the entire football community is criticizing Carson’s lackluster performance this year as well, not only me. The only ones who are not are naive Bengal fans abundant on this blogsite.
Actually
We spent an entire week complaining about him. The same posts where, oh imagine that, you spend your entire time bitching about the Bengals on a Bengals website.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd rather be bitchy than complacent
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 3:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
i'm with ya on Palmer
Everybody see those stats and is like wow he is back, but if you really watched the game he didnt play all that well.
In Zim We Trust......Collaros for Heisman...An Avid Reader of Cincyjungle.com
by TennBengalfan on Oct 5, 2010 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Which player on the team had a better game than he did?
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Why even compare? It's not a competition amongst Bengal players.
Quarterback is the most important position in football.
Palmer wasn’t clutch. Point blank. A gazillion yards or 0. We ain’t blaming the refs or Pat Sims holding call at the end of the game for losing the game if you know what I mean. The blame is always going to your leader.
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 3:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Understandable
But the question wasn’t answered. Which player on the Bengals team had a better game? While the QB might be the most important, he still remains as one man. What happened to special teams, losing three points on a blocked FG. Or the field position the Browns had. Or the inability to stop Hillis when the time was expiring.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
It still doesn't excuse his poor performance in the red zone.
This post is about evaluating Carson Palmer among other things. Comparing him to other players doesn’t mean anything when you analyze his sole performance. And I know what you’re going to say. Look at his stats! Well, stats sometimes don’t paint the whole picture.
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 4:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
RE:
Right. Because once they reach the red zone, blockers don’t have to block and Cedric Benson, god forbid, doesn’t have to pick up more than two yards once he’s inside the 20.
BTW, Palmer has a passer rating of 96.0 in the red zone with three touchdowns — and I haven’t updated my “stat book” from Sunday. So yea, he’s shit.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Again, blinded by stats
Time will tell buddy. End of discussion.
by jimbasa on Oct 5, 2010 6:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Fair enough
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 5, 2010 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Complacent?
Last I checked, we’re all seated comfortably on Sundays… I don’t see how fans incessantly whining helps the team get better. Whatever is said here, I doubt the players and coaches are complacent. Criticism is one thing but Cincy fans drive me crazy with their bitching. Hopefully we don’t ever go to the Super Bowl because I’d hate for them to disappoint you by only winning by 3 and not looking pretty doing it.
by emeybee on Oct 5, 2010 4:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I am not ready to change expectations
Granted there is much to fix. We mustn’t give up early leads, we are much better when playing from ahead. We must work on penalties and protections. We must work on Kick returns.
That said, we are 1 game back in the AFC North, 1-0 against the AFC North leaders. 1-0 at home. We have 2 of the top 14 recievers in the league by yardage. We outplayed Cleveland, even in the loss, which was a problem on the road last year too (I think we outplayed Oakland and SD but either made mistakes to give the game away or gave up an early lead we couldn’t overcome.) We still have 12 winnable games. No one is running away in any race. KC is the only undefeated team. We need to put together a complete game against TB, then use that to springboard out from the Bye into the heart of the schedule and win some games. We still have 7 home games.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
right on....
But cleveland did outplay us.
by quickslant on Oct 5, 2010 1:53 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, I don’t think either team really outplayed the other. The ridiculous penalty against Ndukwe before the half turned out to be the difference in the game.
that plus the blocked FG because Roland is an idiot and blocked outside not in
And also that BS defensive holding call
Well said.
As long as losing doesn’t become normal and they can take care of the rest of the divisional games, there’s still a great chance.
"Before I write I let my mind go blind and let the Lord do His thing. " -Tupac Shakur
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it looks like work." -Thomas Edison
Wait til next year...
This team is looking more and more like a Cubs team…. “Wait til next year” was their motto! I guess we will have to wait til next year to finally dump Bratkowski as OC ? His play calling absolutely sucks! He can’t adjust! I live in Dallas and they were having the same problem with their OC Jason Garrett, but guess what? He adjusted and the Cowboys look better and won! Will we ever get rid of this clown Brat?
Dear Bengals,
Take a page out of Parcells book please
In Zim We Trust......Collaros for Heisman...An Avid Reader of Cincyjungle.com
by TennBengalfan on Oct 5, 2010 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Peter King's thoughts....
5. I think this thought occurred to me while watching Carson Palmer struggle in the first quarter of the season: He’s owed $53 million over the next four years, but whether there’s a salary cap next year or not, the Bengals could cut him and not have a dime count against a cap.
So I thought the same thing Josh did at 1st:
Interesting that the thought occurring to Peter King happened during Palmer’s best performance since crushing the Chicago Bears on October 25, 2009
But the thing is that King had this “thought” while watching Carson Palmer struggle in the first quarter of the season ….not during the Brownie game…..
I thought it was just pictures of Tom Brady
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
Guys, it was one game
There is nothing to get excited about until he does it 3-4 games in a row. He may have started a run but one game does not make a run. Now if he does it the next 2 games and we go into the Pittsburg game 5-2, then we have something to get excited about.
We have a lot of other problems than CP and everything affects everything. If the Oline can step it up just a bit and the DL can do the same a lot of things can change in a hurry. Just in case you didn’t know ML and Brat as well know a hell of a lot more about football that anyone here as far as I can tell. If the running game is working some will say “why don’t we just keep runnin it”. If the passing game is working many will say “why are we running it”. The truth is both depend on the other. I really don’t think many here really understand that. At least that is the impression I am getting.
CP bashers, I have only one comment to you. CP is the only viable QB option this year. After the season we may need to make a change, but unless you have a better option all of your bluster is just a tempest in a teapot. It seems to me that if he is our only hope we have nothing to lose by getting behind him. But then bitching seems to be viewed as an enjoyable past time for a few. Hey if it makes you feel good – go ahead, but the downside is that others can easily mistake you for an asshole. I’m just sayin.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
Anquan Boldin
Was the Week 3 offensive player of the week.
142 yards / 8 catches / 3 TD’s against Cleveland.
Anyone for TO for Week 4 ?
222/10/1
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