Film Review: Bengals Offense Throughout the Second Quarter -- Part Two

Editor's note: This is part one of a detailed description of the Bengals offensive plays in the first half of Sunday night's preseason game against the Jets. This post details the second and third drives of the second half.

The Bengals' second drive of the second quarter started at their own 20-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Dalton was under center with Brian Leonard in the backfield. Green was wide left and Simpson was wide right. Dalton took the snap and handed the ball off to Leonard, but there was no hole to go through. the defensive line collapsed on him and Leonard was only able to squeak out a yard on the carry.

The next play, the Bengals lined up in the shotgun with Dalton alone in the backfield. Simpson was wide right with Leonard in the slot and Green was wide left with Caldwell in the slot. Shipley also lined up between Caldwell and Whitworth at left tackle. Dalton took the snap and dropped back. Simpson ran a 10-yard hitch but the ball was in the air before he could get completely turned around. The ball went through Simpson's hands as he spun and hit his left shoulder pad and went out of bounds, setting up third and nine.

On the next play, Dalton lined back up in the shotgun with Leonard to his right. Green and Caldwell were to the left and Simpson was to the right. The Jets sent extra pressure around the left side but Whitworth was there and did a nice job picking up the blitz. Caldwell ran a 10-yard out and Dalton hit him perfectly for about a 12 yard pass and a first down.

The Bengals lined back up in the single back formation with Dalton under center. He took the snap and handed the ball off to Leonard who went left. The offensive line, especially Whitworth, did a great job at sealing their men so Leonard could get around the corner. Even Green made a nice block when his man came back to stop Leonard. Leonard ran the ball around the corner and was shoved out of bounds after running for about 12 yards, giving the Bengals another first down.

The next play was a near disaster. Dalton lined up in the shotgun with Green wide right and Simpson wide left. Dalton took the snap and dropped back and threw to his right. Dalton must have thought that Green was running a come-back route and threw the ball to where he thought he should have been. Green didn't come back, though. He was running straight down the field when the ball was in the air. Darrelle Revis, who was covering Green, dove for the ball but came up short.

On second and 10, the Bengals lined up in shotgun with Leonard next to Dalton in the backfield. Green was wide right with Caldwell next to him in the slot and Simpson was wide left. The team attempted to set up another screen pass. Dalton completed the pass to Leonard on the left side but David Harris sniffed out the play perfectly and stopped Leonard for a loss. Luckily, the Jets were called for an illegal hands to the face penalty and the Bengals got a first down anyway.

Leonard got the ball on a run the next play. The team lined up with Green and Shipley wide with Caldwell in the slot and Leonard alone in the backfield with Dalton under center. Leonard got the hand off and danced through a hole for a short gain. On second down, the Bengals ran a very similar play with a fullback and once again, Leonard was stopped for a very short gain.

On third down, the Bengals lined up in the shotgun with a running back to Dalton's right. Simpson was wide right with Green wide left and Caldwell in the left slot. Dalton took the snap and had a good amount of time to throw. Green fought with Revis to get off the line and made it to the first-down marker by the time Dalton through the ball. The route looked like it was going to be a come-back route, but just when Green stopped to come back, the pass was in the air and forced Green to dive towards the middle of the field. Revis, his back to the ball, never saw the pass coming. If he did, he could have probably intercepted it. Green had the ball in his hands but when he hit the ground it popped lose and forced the Bengals to punt on fourth down.

The Bengals didn't get the ball back until there were about 45 seconds left on the clock. Dalton and the Bengals just lined up in the victory formation and knelt the ball twice, letting the clock run out. 

When the team went into the locker room at the end of the first half, the Bengals were down by a score of 17-7