The Daily Banter: Time To Lower Expectations Of Bengals Passing Offense

+ Marvin Lewis on the whole embarrassing ending to the team's first half where Dennis Roland is seen still running towards the line of scrimmage.

“We’ve got to learn from that. It’s a great learning situation for us to have; for the quarterback to make sure if he’s going to get it to Jermaine (Gresham) that Jermaine is going to fall into the end zone, or else it’s got to go out the back so we can get the points,” said Lewis, sounding like he had the rookie QB. “That’s a good one to have on tape. Again, we hurt ourselves with the penalty. That’s one of those things where everybody is talking about why you clock the ball. Well, there’s an instance of why you clock it instead of getting up to run a play and having to have the cadence and all of that.”

This brings up the the other side of the debate. Wasn't it Carson Palmer that threw a pass short of the endzone with no time outs and the clock ticking away, as Marvin is suggesting? With 15 seconds left in the first half, Palmer hits Jermaine Gresham for a five-yard gain. It makes sense if the team is looking to convert a field goal beyond 40 yards. Or in Nugent's case, six miles. Still, the five-yard gain brought Cincinnati no real gains, moving the football to the five-yard line.

But the truth is, this never happens if Kyle Cook remembered the snap count. By not snapping the football when 10 players expected it, the team was called for a false start. Cincinnati was forced to use their third timeout so they wouldn't be penalized with a ten-second run off before the end of the half.

+ John Thornton is a man of common sense. He offers a small suggestion for you, if anything, to help you maintain good health during the upcoming flu and cold months.

Bengals fans are all saying the same thing as they did last two weeks, “What’s wrong with our offense?”. I think its time for Bengals fans to lower expectations for the offensive side of the ball. Do yourself a favor and raise expectations for your defense and special teams.

This is a wise suggestion. We always expected Carson Palmer of the old Golden Arm days to go all mad scientist with the weapons at his disposal. Perhaps it's time to lower expectations, believe in the running game and the defense and take whatever we can get with the passing game.

+ Joe Reedy released his weekly report card, giving Carson Palmer the worst grade this week writing "Whether it’s footwork, mechanics or decision making, something is clearly amiss with Carson Palmer."

+ Paul Daugherty has his own take on Palmer, writing:

He doesnt look comfortable back there. He short-arms throws, he bounces throws to open receivers, he doesnt look off defenders. Every check down is a handoff to Benson, right or left tackle.

+ Since his completed hail mary at the end of the first half against the New England Patriots that went for 51 yards, Palmer's "longest pass in the last six quarters is a 29-yard" pass to Terrell Owens against Baltimore.

+ Chad Ochocinco is in seriously bad shape. Along with the crack ribbed he tweeted about last week -- though he never appeared on the team's injury report -- Chad is now dealing with a swollen ankle, a right hand that won't close and a dislocated pinky (kinda gross).

+ Peter King, the guy that usually pretends to hate Cincinnati while secretly housing a crush on them since the mid-70s, writes: "I remember the days when the Bengals played ugly all the time. So to win ugly, to Cincinnati, is a thing of beauty." King also gave Kevin Huber one of the two Special Teams Players of the Week, writing:

Of the many great special-team performances Sunday, why pick a guy who averaged 38.2 yards per punt? Because Huber, a second-year punter from two miles away from Paul Brown Stadium -- from the University of Cincinnati -- dropped five of his six punts inside the 20, including two gems. He put a 45-yarder at the Carolina 4 and a 37-yarder to the Carolina 2. The Bengals stopped the toothless Panthers both times and got the ball back in great field position -- at the Cincinnati 47 and the Carolina 42. That is the unseen story in so many games, the field-position the punter hands the offense. And Huber was magnificent at that in Charlotte.

+ NFP's Matt Bowen has noticed Palmer's slow start this season, writing:

The Bengals are bad on offense right now and it starts at the QB position. Simple throws, the 3-step game, the out route, the underneath crossers. Basics, like the slant route, look poorly executed. Palmer does not look comfortable and he doesn’t seem to have any rhythm with Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco. You can get away with that against a Carolina team that is in trouble after 3 weeks, but that won’t sell going forward in the AFC North. I like the Bengals because of their defense and the amount of carries RB Cedric Benson can handle on Sundays, but you still need to make plays in the passing game.

+ Just when I thought that the thousands of links we send off to the Enquirer might bring a little love back our way, I was once again disappointed.