The Daily Banter: Andre Smith Struggled "Beaten Off The Line Regularly"

by Josh Kirkendall on Aug 21, 2010 3:00 PM EDT in Analysis

+ Bengals offensive lineman Andre Smith didn't play so well, according to Joe Reedy. "He was called for two penalties and got beaten off the line regularly." While Smith's inaction during the offseason could bring about some anger that prevented him from recovering on time, I find myself having a hard time blaming Smith too much. You could count the amount of practices he's had on one hand. If he's not confident on the playbook, due to lack of repetitions, it would make sense if he were beaten regularly.

Smith admitted that he didn't play well.

"It didn't go as well as I would have liked," Smith said. "I have a long way to go but I'm just happy to be out there with my teammates, against another opponent."

Still, ultimately, Smith's inaction during the offseason led to this point. So he's also not void of the blame. Two preseason games left.

+ If you live in Dayton, but missed out on the tickets handed out for the Bengals practice at Welcome Stadium this Sunday, then tune in to Fox 45, who will broadcast the entire practice from 3PM to 6PM.

+ Late last week we conducted an interview heading into the game against the Eagles at BirdsFan.com. It's a little late, but it mostly applies to the season.

+ James Walker writes that the first team defense is still struggling to get to the quarterback. While ultimately, he's right, I do think they did better against the Eagles, knocking Kevin Kolb down several times -- just a millisecond late.

+ Former Bengals defensive lineman John Thornton really likes the Bengals defensive line, but advises that Domata Peko has to play a little stronger.

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Comments

the one thing i will say

is look how bad gresham looked in his first preseason game with as many practices. and look at how he looks now. completely different. we’ll see how smith looks by the last week of preseason. if he’s still bad, then i’ll worry.

RIP Slim.

by brandone on Aug 21, 2010 3:07 PM EDT reply actions

My thoughts on the game.

Everybody looks to be improving. First the D looked good, and I think they will continue to improve in the next few games. Carson looked horrible to start, over throwing many targets, and setting them up for big hits. However, he calmed down and look good in the second quarter. Penalties are starting to get rediculous, but I have faith it will get straightened out. The Palmer to Ocho connection doesn’t seem to be there at all this year. Andre is looking more and more like a bust, but I agree with the comment above. The rookies are playing so good they are getting me more excited than my girlfriend does.
My final thought is we can not cut Cosby, he is a stud. I was thinking what teams would pick him up and I think a team that would be quick to make a move would be the Squeelers. They don’t have a lot of depth at WR and they don’t have a great punt returner. I would puke if Cosby ended up in the Pit, which I think would be a likely scenario if we cut him. I want Cosby and Briscoe (only because I don’t think he clears waivers and has potential). I think Simpson clears waivers and is PS again.

by bengalbowl on Aug 21, 2010 4:53 PM EDT reply actions

simpson has never been on the PS

and can’t be. he’s been on the active roster for more than an entire season which automatically makes him ineligible.

he’s always on the 53, but hardly makes it to the 45.

RIP Slim.

by brandone on Aug 21, 2010 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

smith

first of all i am a huge bengal fan, smith fan not so much. if anyone remembers watching hardknocks last year when they showed him working out at home his feat was horrible, technique was horrible. they should have ended talks with him then

by Brian Stewart on Aug 22, 2010 12:16 AM EDT reply actions

I understand your point, but I can't think of a team that is going to just not do anything with their first round pick.

by Craig Conrad on Aug 22, 2010 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Brian, Bengal fans feel your pain bro BUT Andre Smith has excellent feet and is a powerful run blocker.

If Andre Smith had not left the scouting combine or went through that agent BS he would have been the first OT taken last year. Why do you think Marvin was so pissed at Smith……..he knows how good he can be. At RT Andre can be elite if he gets his big ass in shape.

Look at the home playoff lost last year to the Jets, Benson ran wild against a defense that nobody roughed up and the majority of his runs were on the right side with Bobby and Andre.

Give him some time. He has two more pre season games and more important are the practices in between.

Kenneth Lewis Moore

by lightskin350 on Aug 22, 2010 2:34 AM EDT up reply actions

Lets not get down on Andre yet

Remember the whole team looked bad after just a few practices against Dallas… And the Eagles are a premier pass rushing team. He looked good last year in limited action and once he gets caught up to speed he should be do very well this year also.

by The Dealio on Aug 22, 2010 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

O contrair

this is the perfect time to get down on Andre. Because of his lazy approach to preperation he has had “just a few practices.” Not the first time either. He would be a lot closer to full stride if he used better self disipline. It is our God given right as Bengals fans to kick an Eff up, when he Effs up. Doesn’t mean I won’t “at a boy” him if and when he removes his head from his arse.

by steve whodey on Aug 22, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

w all due respect to Thorton..

Telling Peko to play stronger. Cmon now son…he may need to may need to kiss the baby on that one.

by quickslant on Aug 22, 2010 6:03 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Offensive Sync

After watching the game on Friday night, I must say I’m still concerned about our offense. As Geoff Hobson points out (and usually he drink more kool-aid than anyone), it just doesn’t feel like the offense clicks at high level. Granted, it’s the preseason, but if you watch the Pats, or the Colts when Peyton is in, or the Saints, those guys just feel so coiled, so explosive, like they can go for 4 TDs in a moment. Right now, we look solid — decent on offense and stout on D — but we don’t look like an offense that is explosive enough (or imaginative enough?) to run through our schedule kickin’ a#@ and takin’ names.

It’s very hard to tell if it’s Carson or the play calling or the protection, or a combination of the 3, but like last year, we just don’t appear to be ready to make chunk plays through the air. At the moment, it looks like Carson is either throwing 6/7 yards outs or 40 yard vertical passes (low-percentage) bombs. Where are the 18 yard seams and crossing patterns? We really will need them.

Thoughts? Agree? disagree? Is that just not our offensive look anymore since we’re focused on pounding? Personally, if we’re going to beat the Pats, Saints, Colts, and make a real run, I think, even with our D, that our offense is going to have to perform at a much, much higher level.

by Cincy's year on Aug 22, 2010 10:46 AM EDT reply actions

Options @ QB

Why not give CP authority to call the plays for the entire game with check-offs from Brat or Lewis should they see a flaw in an opposing defense to prey upon. He’s a polished vet who knows team personnel and can run an offense. Two preseason games left……give him a shot.

by sofakingood on Aug 22, 2010 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

too robotic

Not everything goes to plan and when it doesn’t we (CP) cannot function.

by quickslant on Aug 22, 2010 11:05 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I agree and disagree,

It is too robotic, I agree, but CP only functions after the plan fails. They go into the no huddle and CP calls his plays and that is when they succeed. (see last year) I think Brat puts them in a situation that is robotic and CP has to try and pull them out at the end of the game. But yeah, CP can’t function until he has full control to do what he’s best at.
Brat needs to step aside most of the time and let CP do his thing.

by WHYUS!! on Aug 22, 2010 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Unless Brat can do something magical this year....

We need to get rid of this joke of an offensive coordinator!

by DonMegga on Aug 22, 2010 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, how about

Brat pulling off a magical Houdini act and F#$%ing disappear..

by WHYUS!! on Aug 22, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions

+ 1

I’m as big of a homer as anyone on this site, but people Carson is just not that good, and bobby b is the worst o coordinator in football. I liked some of the different looks we saw with formations and the like, but Carson missed receivers all night and nearly got Chad killed throwing into coverage. The comment below about being too robotic is dead-on. If we do anything in the playoffs it will have to be with a stout defense, a stud RB and mediocre play at QB.

by Bengals NFL Champs on Aug 22, 2010 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I couldn't disagree more

Palmer is having a fine offseason. He’s completing 67.4% of his passes (5th best in the pre-season). Granted, his avg is still low, at 6.8 yards per… but that can be attributed to the playcalling. I think once the season gets going they’ll vamp it up a notch, and have less vanilla playcalling (I hope).

The other weakness i see is the penalties. We currently have 29 penalties for 269 yards lost…just on O! That leads the NFL by far and is basically two touchdowns and a field goal’s worth of points just in penalties. It stalls drives on O, and continues drives on D. If we clean that up, people are going to stop talking about Palmer, and start talking about how improved our O is with TO, Gresham, and Shipley

by The Dealio on Aug 22, 2010 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

This I can agree on

by WHYUS!! on Aug 22, 2010 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I wish I had a nickel

for every sentence on this blog that starts or ends with “I hope” this or, “hopefully” that. We’re going to “crank it up a notch” when the season starts and have less vanilla playcalling…guys we’ve been dancing to this record forever. Are teams throwing everything they have at us at this point? What happens when they do? Is bobby b gonna be harder to figure out in critical situations this year because we’ve improved at receiver?

I do agree on the penalties, though, its utterly ridiculous.

I’ll be right there screamin’ who dey every Sunday, but Ced is the only one on offense who I’m confident is gonna show up every Sunday ready to punch someone in the mouth

by Bengals NFL Champs on Aug 22, 2010 6:24 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I can one up you on the homer-ness

but Carson has to settle down back there. The one legit pick he threw had a lot of problems. First, the Govenor missed his assignment that lead to the pressure. We are lead to beleive he is the best on the line. Second, he had Gresham wide open, 12 yards away from the nearest green jersey. Third, I don’t think Carson likes to get hit. OK, maybe that last one is a good thing. But he just seems a little more skittish in his old age. Not as many regular season picks as early in his career, but off target balls as a result of the rush.

by steve whodey on Aug 22, 2010 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Hard to judge from preseason but

it just looks like the same old Brat play calling. He was supposedly going to blow up the playbook and incorporate more downfield calls during the offseason.

Maybe he did, but we’re sure not showing it. And the argument that it’s preseason and we don’t want to put it on film carries some water but not a lot. Gresham and Shipley are really going to help, but they are still rookies.

by Cincy's year on Aug 22, 2010 11:14 AM EDT reply actions

I would disagree with this...

We were throwing a lot of different formations at the Eagles in the last game. Double tights, Gersham all over the place, unbalanced and stacked lines, two Rbs in the backfield, etc.. There were a lot of looks. This was not last year’s offense by any stretch of the imagination.

The reality is we have a lot of new guys on the offense in skilled positions. It is going to take some time for chemistry to develop. My sense is that we have been focusing on short passes, timing routes etc in order to develop that necessary rapport. I also sense that most of the plays we are watching on offense are scripted. We want to run X play—even if it doesn’t make sense in the situation. I know that is frustrating to fans but it is preseason—this a practice game.

I agree our offense needs to improve and it is improving. I know what you mean ab out the 15-20 yard routes—we haven’t seen much of them. Those usually come with really good play action, which we haven’t seen much of either. Hopefully these are things that we will see in the next game and more importantly once the real season starts.

by goffchile on Aug 22, 2010 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions