Bengals Early Bird Special

by Ryan Harper on Aug 22, 2011 8:01 AM EDT

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - AUGUST 21: Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals looks to pass against the New York Jets during their pre season game on August 21, 2011 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Good morning everyone! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. There wasn't enough alcohol to help us fans make it through Bengals latest game.

One day fours football fans wanted to find out who was the most loyal to their team. A Chicago Bears fan, a Green Bay Packers fan, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and a Cincinnati Bengals fan. They all decided to climb to the top of a high mountain.

The Bears fan wanted to prove that he is the most loyal fan. To prove his point he yelled at the top of his lungs, "This is for the Chicago Bears!", and jumps off the mountain top. The Packers fan, not wanting to be outdone by his rival also yells at the top of his lungs, "This is for the Green Bay Packers!", and jumps off the mountain top.

Now it was the Bengals fan's turn. And knowing that he is the most loyal fan in all of football, he yells at the top of his lungs, "This is for the Cincinnati Bengals!", and pushes the Steelers fan off the mountain.

Alright here is a look at what you may have missed or overlooked from the weekend.

In the second game of the preseason the Bengals lost to the New York Jets 27-7. Well, it's progress if you look at it. At least we scored a touchdown this time.
The Bengals were without 15 players against the Jets. Early it was speculated that Carlos Dunlap was going to miss the game. And he did. Jermaine Gresham was a game-time decision for the Jets game.
Check out our weekly podcast.
The connections between the Bengals and Jets. Also check out the five things that you should have watched for on Sunday.
In the latest roster prediction it was revealed that the secondary remains wide open, injuries have hurt the linebacker position, bolder bloggers would lock in the entire defensive line, seven offensive linemen are locked for the 2011 roster, another factor into deciding the final roster is the number of tight ends to keep, and 17 players from the offense are locks for the 2011 roster..
Cornerback Adam Jones could return to practice sometime this week. Let's hope he doesn't miss a beat once he returns.
In a preview of the Bengals vs. Jets game five positions and players that could impact the Bengals roster was discussed.
A player report card of Clint Boling and Max Jean-Gilles against the Lions.
According to Geoff Hobson the Bengals are interested in former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor. They Bengals will have part of the staff attend his workout.
The Bengals decided not to pick up Andre Smith's option. This means that his contract is set to expire after the 2012 season.
Cold Hard Football Facts ranks the Bengals at 29th in their power rankings.

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Comments

Here's what I see in Dalton...

The kid is very smart. In his third quarter of playing NFL ball he was diagnosing Rex Ryan’s blitz packages and audibling into appropriate plays. When you talk about growing pains for a young QB, that’s the kind of thing you’re talking about and his learning curve seems to be smaller than most.

But that’s what worries me. Will his accuracy improve as he adjusts to the speed of the game and the nerves of playing in the big leagues? Probably. But only on the short and intermediate stuff. And it would certainly help if Randy moss Jr could start hanging onto passes even if the ball’s a little wet. The problem is he has no deep ball. Like, none. The couple of times I’ve seen him throw it, and this includes scrimmages and practice footage, he just loads up and flings and he’s never within 5 yards of where he’s supposed to be with it. So what, right? That’s why we brought Jay Gruden in. West Coast and all that jazz. Ok, sure. But it’s the single thing that’s going to keep Dalton from ever being a top tier NFL quarterback. He’s smart enough and has the intangibles to be a Chad Pennington or a Jon Kitna or even a Matt Hasselbeck, but he’s never going to be anything more than that. Of course this is all in my opinion and based on a ridiculously small sample size – and I hope to god he makes me look like an idiot – but in Dalton I see an NFL backup whose smarts will let him bounce around as a journeyman starter for a long time.

Ok boys, lay into me.

by eric nyc on Aug 22, 2011 8:19 AM EDT reply actions

he has a ceiling of matt hasselbeck

Not saying that’s bad, but he’s not going to be your franchise guy. He can be a very good starter and be in the middle of the pack of NFL qbs.

by JCompton41 on Aug 22, 2011 11:22 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

LOL @ "lay into me."

Even if he’s not our new wonderboy, I think he’s good enough for the WCO this year and next. Doesn’t mean we can’t draft another one next year and keep him as an actual good backup (like Kitna) and at the very least, trade bait a la Kolb, Cassel, and you get a fresh pick out of it for another year.

Sure. Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth - Mike Tyson

by UpStateMike on Aug 22, 2011 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Are You a COACH or FAN?

Really we don’t know how far Dalton can throw the ball does it matter? He’s been doing what’s asked of him and after watching Gruden talk at the halftime about how our offense is called at the line of scrimmage ….The kid will be fine ! P.S. He can make all the throws

by Eye Of Tiger on Aug 24, 2011 6:38 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

sounds about right, starter for us, back-up/ injury starter for everyone else

by ashunte23 on Aug 22, 2011 8:37 AM EDT reply actions

A lot of improvements from the last game. If they can get that much better every game, we might have a chance!

Dalton is showing a ton of promise. For a rookie playing in his 2nd professional game with damn near zero preparation he’s doing fine. He’s obviously going to make mistakes, he’s going to look scared, and he’s going to play like a rookie; but he’s making nice plays, nice checks, and has looked generally comfortable aside from a few yips here and there. That scoring drive was impressive especially when you consider the stoppage of play (end of 1st qtr) right as they were gaining steam. The line played exceptionally well and Dalton led a nice drive.

He also got a wet-condition game under his belt. If we can get some snow for the next preseason game…

"I slyde my boehner into sexsalad...."
Sounds like a johnu1 production. --jch24

by GrooveLeg on Aug 22, 2011 9:26 AM EDT reply actions

I like what I see considering the circumstances

Rookie QB with rookie #1 WR and very little time to prepare. These guys are all young and still developing chemistry and learning the new system. I was impressed the score was 10-7 at the half (17-7, but many starters came out just before the half). That’s pretty good against a well established Jets team. I agree Dalton has to work on his deep ball, though. Didn’t look good at all. But I think that’s something he can fix eventually. I hope.

by M Shop on Aug 22, 2011 9:38 AM EDT reply actions

Way too early to predict

Eric, you may be right, but IMHO it’s waaaay to early to make that kind of evaluation. Let’s have this conversation in 2012 after he’s had at least a year under his belt.

by Who dey in LA on Aug 22, 2011 10:36 AM EDT reply actions

Dalton didn’t look as bad as it looked. Aj Green was very suspect looking last night, dropped passes everywhere. I was at the game and it was a monsoon, way worse than it looked on TV; hopefully that was the problem with Green.
The starting defense looked much improved Zimmer lit a fire under them for sure.

The game was not as lopsided as it looked. IMO

"Next season will be better" circa 1990
Twitter @Rcklarue

by Yarin on Aug 22, 2011 1:01 PM EDT reply actions