...I was thinking the same thing Sunday. After about the 20th time Palmer dropped back and stood there...and stood there...and stood there...and stood there (all while I'm screaming "throw the damn ball, Palmer! at the TV), I turned to a friend and asked, "when did the Bengals trade for Drew Bledsoe"?

Seriously, all season he's been an immobile statue who holds onto the ball too long -- in other words, Bledsoe. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, Bledsoe had some good years, but he's definitely a step or three down from Troy Aikman, another popular Palmer comparison.

i think palmer's a future HOF quarterback and will have some great seasons left in him. Look at for sure HOF guys like Favre and you'll see that they have some mediocre seasons in them. I guess Palmer and the bengals in general are going through that

Are you suggesting that Palmer isn't really that much better than Palmer? You ought to trade in your stripes for such heresy.

The Bengals have played 5 defenses in the top third of the NFL in their 5 games (according to Football Outsiders). Only CLE and NYJ suck in that list of opponents.

The Bengals pass offense is 4th in the NFL (again, according to Football Outsiders). The Bengals are 20th in rush offense, 22nd in pass defense, 23rd in rush defense and 30th in special teams.

Picking on Palmer -- far and away the best thing the Bengals have going -- is just plain wrong. Palmer, Johnson, Housh and an above average pass blocking offensive line are the only things that give the Bengals any hope of winning from week to week.

Back to those rankings: man they do they depress me. I finally am of the opinion that Marvin isn't a genius after all. He probably needs to go (and soon), but it is going to take a few more disappointing seasons before it happens.

First and foremost - where has the hurry up offense gone?  The only time I saw it last week in any kind of steady fashion was in the second half.  Why have the Bengals all but abandoned it for the most part?

Carson flourishes in the hurry up and it keeps an opponent's defense on the field - AND TIRED.  Routes start opening up underneath since the tired CB's will be playing our stud wideouts with more cushion.

Beating the coverages underneath will then allow for a much better vertical game - ie. - one on one.

One other thing - Carson doesn't feed the ball to Reggie Kelly and/or Jeremy Johnson enough.  They've got good hands too.  They need to make the opponent's defense account for Reggie and Jeremy also.  Most opponents can put it in the bank that the ball isn't going to Reggie or Jeremy on almost every down that they are in.  That little nugget provides better blitzing packages or better coverages for a defense.  

Is this Carson or is this a product of the offensive system?  I'm more ready to say that it is more of the system than it is Carson at this point.

"First and foremost - where has the hurry up offense gone?  The only time I saw it last week in any kind of steady fashion was in the second half.  Why have the Bengals all but abandoned it for the most part?"

The hurry up/no huddle has gone away because the defense sucks. They need to keep the O on the field as much as possible.

"Picking on Palmer -- far and away the best thing the Bengals have going -- is just plain wrong."

I don't see kirk picking on Palmer here, just wondering whether he's a bit more average than we all thought or hoped. Sadly, I think that may be true. We'll see.

...my personal expectations of Palmer have dropped.

He is still a good QB, but he has been very one-dimensional: a classic drop-back passer with a great arm. Surround him with good protection and multiple weapons and you get the Palmer of 2005.

But he's not mobile, his decision-making is average and, most importantly, his play fake moves are terrible. He can't generate any misdirection.

So, when the protection and/or the weapons aren't all there -- as they haven't been for the last two seasons -- Palmer's plate is bare. He's not shown me that he's the kind of QB who can pick the team up and carry it on his shoulders.

Again, that doesn't make him a bad QB. Every quarterback's play is going to fall off to some extent if they lose key guys on the offense. But Palmer doesn't seem to have any tricks to pull out of his sleeve when that happens.

They aren't even trying to throw to the running back or the TE. A 3rd WR still hasn't shown up. And Brat may be able to draw up nice plays; but, if he can't find a way to get the ball to someone other than the 2 WRs, that are doubled all the time, then it's time to find someone who will.

Hopefully Perry came make an impact this week. Maybe they'll remember that Watson can catch the ball.