Evolution of the Bengals Offense

 

What’s up my fellow Bengal fans?

 

My orange kool-aid cup runneth over this offseason like never before.  There are numerous aspects of this Bengals squad to be giddy for. Let’s take a look at the evolution of the Offense, shall we? 

(And please, strike most of the second half of the 2009 season from your minds when considering most of this.  Rest his soul, SlimOne5’s field stretching ability was severely missed, and the Offense’s goals fell short from 2009 Week 9 on)

 

It all starts in the trenches

When Carson Palmer and the Bengals regained the trust of diehard and bandwagon fans alike, back in 2005, they did it with an explosive Offensive Attack and lots and lots of turnovers.  Throughout that wondrous run of 60-100 combined-points per game Sundays, many wondered how long these Bengals could sustain such successes. 

 

Early in 2006, the Offensive juggernaut fell apart from the inside out.  It was that ugly Week 2 matchup against the pesky Cleveland stains that the one and only Richie Braham suffered the deep-bone bruise.  From there, the likes of Eric Steinbach, Willie Anderson and Levi Jones are no more.  Only one of the Big Five remains, Big Bobbie.

 

Without a formidable Big Five, there would be no 1500 yard Rudi and 1500 yard Chad.  It has been a long time coming but finally, some five years later, an identifiable Big Five has been constructed.  Through drafting the likes of Anthony Collins, Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith while developing waiver wire lineman on the Practice Squad, Paul Alexander now has the key cogs that make the car go.  Once again, #9 can take the driver seat with confidence.  This new group, now with a year under its belt, has an incredible knack for showing Cedric Benson daylight.  It is now in its second year, a year which I believe we shall witness sustained success in the Rushing Attack and vast improvement in Pass Protection.

 Don’t Rush to judgment

With the frequent usage of a punishing rush attack, the new look Bengals in 2009 were not very popular amongst the fan base.  I’m still rather perturbed by the “fans” that would boo while the team was winning.  You witnessed the Steelers punish our beloved Bengals repeatedly with such tactics.  The tried and true method of “getting it done on the ground” has still not struck much confidence in these “fans,” but I digress.  Many a Bengal fan was bored to tears with the Big Packages and offset i-formations used ad nauseam.  “They’ll never win if they can’t pass,” some exclaimed.  “Carson is an overpaid handoff artist” some groaned. 

While I was probably in the minority, I’m rather pleased that the Bengals employed these “basic” offensive schemes.  Watching the opposition struggle to stop the run was for once their problem, not ours.  Again, football is won in the trenches.  The reality is, if an offense can effectively run the ball, it can control the game.  Now that this Offensive Line has paved the way for the likes of Cedric and Bernard and Leaping Leonard, they’ve built a familiarity with each other.  Not only can they run it down the Defense’s collective throats, but they can control the Line of Scrimmage. 

To me, the most fascinating thing about the recent fan frustration is the simple fact that they’ve seen this before.  What do I mean by this?  I will use the 2006 and 2007 seasons for example:  As a Defense, you must stop the run.  If you can’t stop the Run, you’re dead meat in the Fourth Quarter.  How many times in 2006 and 2007 did we watch our beloved Bengals get steamrolled by the likes of Willie Parker? Jamal Lewis? And pretty much any RB for that matter?  Why is there no satisfaction that Bengals turned the tables on this problem?  Marvin Lewis would be disgusted no longer.  They started over.  Now we have a foundation never before this evident.  The Offensive Line is now empowered with the ability to plow down Defenses.  With time and patience and continued construction, the Offense is ready to step up to the next level.

 

“but we didn’t draft an Offensive Coordinator”

As the 2009 Season progressed, we started to see the Big Five develop into a formidable and reliable unit – nothing like the debacle we witnessed in 2008.  By mid-season, the god of the golden arms found his niche in the new smashmouth identity.  We began to see a rebirth of the Play Action Palmer we had grown to love, and thought we had lost.  Many wonder, “why don’t they use more play-fakes?”  It’s elementary dear Watson.  Play-action does not work if you can not Run the Ball.  You can’t walk before you crawl.

(Proof of things to come lies in this game)

 

So many point the finger at Bratkowski’s alleged lack of creativity.  Please do not forget, he’s the same coordinator we had in 2005.  And while many have argued that “there were so many playmakers he wasn’t able to screw it up,” in 2005, I for one believe Bob Bratkowski will do great things this season.  I will first credit the O-Line and Ground Game as always, as the foundation must be set before a complete and balanced Offense can be constructed.  Now, Mr. Bratkowski has so many viable options for Carson to get back to his Defense-shredding ways that maybe Bob indeed “isn’t able to screw it up.”

 

It was 2009 Week 8 that Bratkowski and the Bengals’ mission were finally evident.  And to me, that mission was to create confusion through formation usage.  While this may seem like an obvious statement to many, please hear me out.  (Or just watch this for a prime example.)

Many fussed that the team should quickly steer away from the “boring” Rush-oriented Offense.  Many teams fail when making quick changes.  You have to credit the Bengals for sticking to their blueprint, for it is 2010 that we shall witness the fruits of their 2009 labor.  In the upcoming season, the team will have the ability to Pass out of Run formations (such as the link above) and Run out of Pass formations (which can be witnessed here.)

In the Benson TD video, envision Gresham instead of Rockhands on that play.  If the Defense is staring down three wideouts and a receiving TE, they can only devote so many defenders to stop the runner.  And with a tailback as physical and elusive as Cedric (and Bernard, too), that is no easy task. 

Going back to the Palmer TD pass to JP Foschi, lets reset the skill players with the 2010 crop.  While Benson would be the ideal tailback, this would work with Leapin Leonard and BScott just the same.  Fui Vakapuna is the FB, and the TE trio of Reggie/Gresham/Coffman is on the field.  Not only could the Offense gain the tough yards on the ground, but Palmer would have FIVE pass catchers in a Power-Rush formation.  Now that would be difficult to defend.  (Nine rush blockers plus five pass catchers = zero chance, beeyatch!)

Remember, none of this would be possible without punishing rush tactics and a big, physical Offensive Line.  But I’ll slightly concede to the masses with this:

The Bengals Offense may be deceptive, but Carson can still carve up some fools

Beyond my thoughts about formation deception, I would also like to point out Palmer’s uncanny ability to run a Spread Offense.  (Bucky Brooks breaks it down quite well, which you can see here.)

(Here’s another great example, this time with WR’s using downfield blocking, but in the pass game.)

This last clip demonstrates the importance of Rush Attack fundamentals for the wideouts.  To be an effective football team, you have to tackle and you have to block.  Many of our wideouts are very sound in downfield blocking.  Especially Bubba Caldwell, who’s skills can be seen in both the Benson playoff TD and the Coles TD in the last highlight.  Spending a season as Power Run Offense, the Receivers have polished their blocking skill - yes, even Ochocinco – which will pay dividend in the crazy pass formations they seem to be working on early.  If you pay close attention, you’ll notice the 4-wide sets in this OTA video. 

I fully expect the usage of 4- and 5-wide sets to be excruciating for opposing Defenses this season.  It’s one thing to have an awesome QB tossing the ball around the yard, it’s quite another to have elite wideouts on the edges in Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant, in addition to guys that can do damage in between the hashes such as Gresham and Coffman and Caldwell and Shipley.

To me, the question is not how good this Offense will be. The question for 2010 is this:  How much will it suck to be an opposing Defensive Coordinator on Bengals week?

What do yall think?

 

Poll

What do yall think?

67%

Can't wait to see the new offensive possibilities

81 votes

0%

Your an idiot, they should cut all the RB's and just use WR's

0 votes

20%

Bob Bratkowski sucks

24 votes

5%

This post is way to long, i didn't bother reading it

7 votes

6%

Where is the "mmm, donuts" option?

8 votes

120 votes | Poll has closed