The MMQB crew attended Bengals training camp on Wednesday to watch the joint practice with the Vikings.
You should definitely check out their write up from Albert Breer and his thoughts from practice here. One of the more interesting things in the article was Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther saying he’s asking the Bengals offense to push the defense to test their constraint and ability to hold back on fighting.
“If you lose it here, you’re gonna lose it in a game,” Guenther told Breer. “They’re (Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones) two very good players, very competitive guys. They want to win at everything. Every drill. Everything. They don’t want to lose at anything. That’s how I want them to be. But they have to understand, they’re flagged by other teams. Other teams are going to try to get them out of their game, by doing some other things to them. They have to take the next step as a pro and walk away.”
This is certainly true and it’s an interesting way to challenge the Bengals’ defense to take the next step forward, a step that hopefully will prevent some of the after-the-whistle antics that contributed to January’s Wild Card loss. And according to Breer, the Bengals coaches are pleased with what they’ve seen so far in using this method of testing the defense.
Additionally, as he often does during the NFL season, The MMQB’s Andy Benoit Tweeted out a variety of notes in regards to Bengals camp, specifically on Andy Dalton. The Tweets are quite insightful, so we’re going to share some here. (I recommend following Benoit for his great Tweets all season long!)
#Bengals Notes: OC Zampese must continue the formation variations that OC Jackson installed. Plays wells to Dalton’s presnap intelligence.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
This has and should continue to be one of Dalton’s strengths.
#Bengals Notes: Dalton at his best ID’ing fronts presnap and adjusting run plays accordingly.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Dalton also sharp recognizing coverages and understanding how play designs exploit them. Tactical QB more than physical QB.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Dalton type of QB who needs precise execution around him. An overseer of a well-designed system.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: CIN has gap scheme run game (lots of pull-blockers). Fits Jeremy Hill’s style.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Bernard one of best pass-catching RBs in NFL. CIN plays to this by stretching WRs deep to create space out of backfield.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: CIN has two guards who can pull-block in either direction (Boling; Zeitler). Expands run game potential.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: TE Eifert critical because he can split wide and face CB’s. That defines reads clearer and creates mismatches inside.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Eifert also a great seam route weapon. CIN second best seam route team in NFL behind Saints.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Seam routes great fit for Dalton because they’re aggressive throws that require touch more than arm strength.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: Moving A.J. Green around formation from snap-to-snap is critical to how CIN plays in ways that help Dalton.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: LT Whitworth one of best technicians in NFL. Were late season struggles in ’15 function of age or aberration?
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: H-back Hewitt a valuable piece in a well-constructed CIN run game. Movable blocker who creates more gaps post-snap.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016
#Bengals Notes: this defense played almost all straightforward two-high coverage last year. Need good DL and fast LB’s for that.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 11, 2016