Bengals Week Seven "Goat Of The Week" Award

Unlike the weekly MVP award that we give out here at CJ, the "Goat of the Week" award will be much more difficult to lay out. Why? Well, frankly, there are so many performances (I use that term loosely) that could be scoffed at from Bengals players. Nevertheless, we'll try.

Cast your vote and sound off on who you think that the Week Seven "Goat of the Week" Award winner should be.

Andy Dalton, QB: The major criticism on Dalton over the years has been that he reliant on the talent around him to be successful. Fair and accurate or not, he didn't do anything to quell those jabs on Sunday with a lot of the offensive stalwarts out of the lineup. He finished with 126 yards passing, zero touchdowns and an under 50 percent completion rate. Great quarterbacks consistently show the ability to raise the play of those around them and while Dalton has done that from time to time, it isn't on a consistent basis--Sunday was case in point. Still, almost everyone around him played horribly and a lot of his issues were a by-product of that.

Giovani Bernard, RB: Seven carries for 17 yards from your "big play back". As with Dalton in the passing game, not all of the issues running the ball were Bernard's fault, but he was a complete non-factor. Aside from the occasional big play here and there, Bernard has been bottled up for a good chunk of the year.

Andre Smith, OT: In our "Unsung Hero of the Week" posts, we like to nominate offensive linemen for the award, as they usually go unnoticed. Unfortunately, as it often goes with the big boys up front, Smith was noticed for all of the wrong reasons. Smith hit the no-no trifecta for a lineman, giving up sacks, pressures and committing penalties on Sunday. After a solid start to the season, Smith has had his struggles the past two weeks.

Vincent Rey, MLB: The special teams ace has filled in for Rey Maualuga in the past and has done pretty well. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case on Sunday. Rey was charged with helping bottle up the tight ends and running back, Ahmad Bradshaw. Neither happened. Bradshaw went off as a runner and receiver, and Rey showed his inexperience as a starting defender early on in the contest. Indianapolis tight end Dwayne Allen had a touchdown reception in which Rey took a poor angle in chasing him down to stop him well before that.

Geno Atkins, DT: We never thought that we would see this guy's name on this award nominee list, but we have to throw him on here. Zero tackles, two pressures and zero sacks. It isn't the type of performance that one expected from the Pro Bowler against a mediocre Colts offensive line. Did I mention that the Colts had 171 rushing yards on the day?

Domata Peko, DT: Though he has been long-viewed as a locker room leader, Peko has played poorly for most of the season. He has been seen constantly getting pushed back at the point of attack. He will make plays on stretch runs pretty frequently, but when the opposition runs right at him, Peko has trouble standing his ground. He finished with five total tackles.

Greg Little, WR: We'll give a little bit of a benefit of the doubt with Little, as he joined the team mid-week and was thrown into the fire after not being employed for the first six weeks. Still, he had a golden opportunity to give the Bengals offense a much-needed first down and, guess what? He dropped it. Even with the team in catch-up mode, Little only had one catch for 13 yards.

Leon Hall, CB: Another captain was the victim of a missed opportunity that was a microcosm of the game against the Colts and this 0-2-1 slide that the Bengals are on. Hall missed a golden opportunity to tie up the game at the end of the first quarter with a pick-six, but dropped it. Aside from that, T.Y. Hilton burned Hall on some routes and then he left with a back twinge.