Marvin Lewis: Using No-Huddle Eliminates "A Lot Of Other Things"

According to Joe Reedy, the Bengals finally decided to go with the no-huddle "midway through the third quarter", having a 13-point deficit against the Cleveland Browns. During Marvin Lewis' press conference on Monday, he said in response to using the no-huddle exclusively:

"I think when we use it, we eliminate a lot of other things, so you're kind of stuck in one drawer. If that drawer isn't working and not getting you what you want, then you're in trouble, because you haven't spent the time game planning some of the other things you have to do."

Not only did the offense start moving the football through the air, the running game finally heated up.

In the 23-20 loss to the Browns, the no huddle was the only time the running game got on track. When they went to no huddle, Cedric Benson had 6 carries for 45 yards compared to15 yards on 9 carries on other plays.

It's confusing when the no-huddle was used exclusively, mostly when Cincinnati was already playing from behind, that the offense doesn't find a way to use it more frequently. For example, why not use it to start the game, get off to a quick start and then go back to doing all of the other things and packages that forced us into the no-huddle situation in the first place?