Cedric Benson Needs To Become A Greater Factor For Cincinnati's Playoff Push

He’s a lousy receiver and a sub-par blocker so when he’s in the line-up, they assume run, which makes his life difficult. And because he’s a lliability in the passing game he doesnt help dalton. Does the running game need to get better? Very much so, but let’s just say, this is bensons last year in stripes.

If Benson doesn’t have a good drive to start the game I’d bring in Scott and switch their roles. Let Scott get 2/3 series to Benson’s 1 series.

At the very least if Benson is not performing and when Scott gets in he has a few good runs the coaching staff need to be willing to stick with the guy that is performing on that day and gives us the best chance to establish a running game. Against the Ravens Scott was the player that gave us the best run threat yet they continued going back to Benson who was regularly stopped for no gain.

But Scott brings:
-Speed
-Pass Catching
-Elusiveness
-Willingness to play

His numbers have slowly dwindled down since that magical 2009 season where he was the focal point of the offense. And now under Gruden’s system, I don’t think his style is the ideal fit to make this offense as effective as it can be. Scott is a better fit, but I don’t think he’s at the level to be a full-time starter. If he was, he would’ve already taken Ced’s job away by now.
If we can draft or sign a Darren McFadden type who is a more dynamic type RB that can run and catch equally well, yet has the big playmaking ability, that would be a huge pickup for this team. Averaging 3 yards per carry just ain’t gonna cut it for a starting tailback.
It would be beneficial to the Bengals and Benson himself if he could play at a level circa 2009 because we all know the recipe to success in the playoffs is a solid running game to open up more passing opportunities for Dalton. Yeah, there have been championship teams who have had a sub-par running game(Pts, Packers) but we don’t have the astronomical passing attack and talent that those teams had.
If we can get 85-90 rushing ypg out of Ced for the rest of the season, this team will put themselves in a better position to win games.

Say what you want, this Offense is more potent and has greater chance of success with Benson pounding consistently! I agree with Chili Dog. Gruden keeps changing and that tends to throw off the line blocking schemes. They know what they got with Benson running. They have no clue how to block when Scott is dancing around! With Benson pounding, then blocking, Dalton has more success.
Keep Benson in and stay away from friggin QB option and feriggin halfback optiion passes! runs! Teach Dalton how to get yardage with his feet too cause lots of time he could have run for positive yardage when his receivers were covered.
A solid simple gameplan, an we will continue to win!

That physical smash mouth style, to me, is the Definition of football. But OMG are his hands TERRIBLE! He is no threat to catch a pass out the backfield and we need a solid screen pass threat. I’m sure Jay G. could do a lot more with Scott as the main guy.

Benson had more attempts in 2010 than in 2009, didn’t he? The difference was not a change in attitude about running the ball, but rather than our yards per attempt simply plummeted. Therein lies the difference. Our running game sucked in 2010 because it SIMPLY SUCKED, not because we didn’t try to use it.

We had only slightly less rushing attempts as a team per game in 2010 than in 2009, but I’d say that was much more likely due to the fact that we were so frequently playing from behind, rather than running the ball to protect the lead.

Benson simply had an outlier year in 2009 when he had a good year. The stats from the rest of his career are mediocre to poor, depending on the situation.