It could not get any worse than last week, right?? WRONG.The Bengals offense was again a no-show, managing only 215 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. The game featured severe wind gusts that certainly played a role in the passing game, but Titans QB Kerry Collins was able to deal with the conditions much better than Carson Palmer. The Bengals were only 3-13 on third downs, and they again failed to establish any significant drives. Cincinnati was only able to achieve 4.5 yards per pass play despite the fact that the offensive line provided much better protection to Palmer. With games at the New York Giants, home to Cleveland, and at Dallas coming up, the Bengals are staring an 0-5 start in the face and are conjuring up memories of the 1990s teams that often failed to win more than 5 games.
Other game notes
- Carson Palmer looks like a below average quarterback and has for the past ten games. Dating back to last season, Palmer's QB rating is 77, and he is averaging only 6.57 yards per
pass play in those ten games. He has no rhythm with his receivers, and he seems to have a tough time getting comfortable in the pocket. His lack of mobility has to be a concern, and his accuracy while on the move is poor. The Bengals desperately need to establish a quality running game to make opponents line eight men in the box. As of now, teams seem to be keeping both safeties back, preventing the Bengals receivers from running free. With no running attack, Palmer's play action passing, which is one of his strengths, is useless. It is impossible to diagnose exactly what is wrong with Palmer, but it appears that we may never see the play he exhibited prior to wrecking his knee. Even when playing poorly, it would be nice to see Palmer show some fire and emotion on the field, as it seems as though he is often resigned to whatever fate may bring. In other words, it looks like Palmer may be Bungalized. - ENOUGH. That would be my one word to Marvin Lewis regarding the too many men on the field penalties this team continues to commit. Actually, unacceptable, costly, immature, and undisciplined also come to mind. The defense was flagged for 12 men on the field as the
Titans were driving in the Bengals red zone, and not to be outdone, the offense picked up one of their own for having 12 men in the huddle. I cannot think of anything more elementary as counting how many people you have in the game, and I remember one of the first rules I learned in football was to tap the guy out when you come into the game. Now, obviously the NFL is more complex than that, but if you come into the game, shouldn't you notice if someone else came out. Same goes for the coaches, if you send a player in for a specific package, wouldn't you be looking to make sure someone else came out? In Marvin Lewis's case, I guess not. - The defense continues to look better at times, but they have been way too prone to giving up the big play in the first two weeks. In week one, the Ravens took advantage of Bengals mistakes with a Mark Clayton reverse and a Joe Flacco scramble that both went for long touchdowns. This week, Chris Johnson busted a draw play for 51 yards right before half, when it appeared as though the Titans were content to run out the clock. Chinedum Ndukwe was in the hole to make the tackle on Johnson, but he missed, and it resulted in a long gain that set up the Titans second touchdown to give them a 14-7 lead going into halftime.
- Antwan Odom looked good in his Cincy debut, picking up his first sack and forced fumble as a Bengal. Odom's quickness and long arms were apparent, and it was a much needed upgrade to the slow footed, short armed approach of Justin Smith. Frostee Rucker also has flashed some play making ability in the first two games, and if he can stay healthy, he has shown that he can be a valuable utility lineman for the defense. Rookie Keith Rivers continues to show why he was their number one pick this year, and he made his presence felt from the get-go, tackling Chris Johnson in the backfield on the first play from scrimmage. Rivers did make a mental mistake on the blocked punt that led to the Titans final score. He allowed Keith Bullock to go in free as he went to block a man on the outside. These are the types of mistakes Rivers will learn from, and as long as he continues to make progress on defense, those mistakes will minimize.
- Bob Bratkowski still does not understand the concept of play calling that involves attacking
the opponent's weaknesses. He called two straight runs at Albert Haynesworth on 2nd and 3rd and short, and the results were as expected, as Haynesworth and the Titans D stopped both plays for no gain. Bratkowski also called a slow developing run play on the Bengals only touchdown. It was fourth and a foot, and instead of having Palmer sneak for it, he had Palmer turn around and hand it to Chris Perry. The play worked, but they were fortunate that Perry was able to find a crease. Bratkowski's lack of imagination and creativity has contributed to the struggles of the Bengals offense, and I for one would love to see the reigns handed over to quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese (right) who allegedly has one of the brightest young offensive minds in the game. Oh, and Bob, a shovel pass does not count as being creative. - Has anyone seen Jerome Simpson?? The rookie receiver has failed to make a catch in each of the first two games, and I have seen very few plays where he is even on the field. The hope was for the second round pick to come in and compete for the 3rd receiver position, but I have heard that he is struggling in adjusting to going against the types of corners he never had to
face at Coastal Carolina. With the receiver position in flux at the time of the draft, it is again confusing as to why the Bengals selected a player who was not ready to contribute right away. The list of Marvin Lewis's projects is long with names like David Pollack, Ahmad Brooks, Frostee Rucker, Stacy Andrews, Matthias Askew, and Eric Henderson. Lewis has received little success from these players, for a litany of reasons. Two other rookies, Jason Shirley and Pat Sims, were inactive again for week two, and I am not sure whether that was because of injury or coach's decision. Sims and Shirley were both coming off of injuries, but they had practiced towards the end of last week, and they could provide some much needed depth at defensive tackle. Hopefully Lewis can begin getting some production from these players that he sees so much in, otherwise, it might be time to examine his ability to evaluate talent.
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