Well That Was Fun

The Bengals moved to 6-0 in the AFC North in one of the most boring games I've ever seen.  Quick hit thoughts, leave yours in the comments:

• I'm not going to knock the playcalling.  There were a lot of runs, they were somewhat successful, Carson looked terrible, and the Browns are terrible offensively.  Still, it's somewhat disturbing that this team refuses to step on the throat of inferior opponents.  It cost them last week, it didn't this week, but either way that's not the mark of elite teams. 
• Since Week 5, look at the Bengals' point totals:  17, 45, 17, 18, 17, 16.  Outside of the Bears' game, the offense hasn't been acceptable.  I think we all know 17 points per game won't get it done against the Colts, Patriots, or Chargers come January.
• Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall.  Someone needs a find a way to lock these guys up as soon as possible.
• I had the Bengals' D in fantasy.  1 sack, no turnovers.  Disappointment.  Not that anybody else cares.
• Nice to see Andre Smith out there.  Didn't see much from him either way, but it's still nice.  Looks like they'll ease him into the lineup in tackle eligible alignments as the right tackle.  He could be a nice upgrade on running downs in that regard.
• The Shaun Rogers/Carson play was terrifying.  Can't believe Shayne can still kick a ball 52 yards.
• Glad to see the ball stay out of Josh Cribbs' hands.  He's their only offense at times.
• Eric Mangini is so bad.  I have no clue what he was complaining about at the end of the first half on the horsecollar play.

Comments

[whodeybaby]

Yes we have been able to run the ball. But, I feel like it is way to obvious when we are going to throw it. Teams sniff the pass and only bring 3, making it much harder for Carson to get open looks on receivers. I would love to see some more exotic wide out packages; or something. But still.. Who Dey! First ever AFC North sweep

[TJanns]

Yes, very nice to sweep the AFC North.

But, why the HELL can't this team throw the ball?

Perfect point made in this post. They will not be able to run the ball 40 times on the Chargers, Pats, Colts or Steelers. This team needs to score more points.

[SM]

Our offense is absolutely terrible. It starts with Bratkowski--he is such a coward. I found myself hoping for a Brown's score just so he would get the freaking message and start throwing the ball. Although I want the Bengals to win no matter what the score is, games like this are almost unwatchable. Just gutless football. That sort of play-calling will get us beat every single time in the playoffs.

Honestly, for all you d-bags out there who say, "Hey, a win is a win, we'll open it up when we have to." First, I'd tell you, never end a sentence with a preposition. Second: when we actually need to throw the ball, we will be so out of practice that we won't know how.

This game was so shitty it feels like a loss. Pathetic. HATORADE is flowing.

...SM

[Hofbraunow]

Thanks for the recap; now I don't feel so bad for sleeping through all but the last 3 1/2 minutes of it...

Hooray, they didn't lose

[Matt]

This team only has an issue in the second half. We jump to a 3 score lead then we let off of the accelerator. This team needs to keep the throttle down.... The play calling was good, but it seemed in the second half the team was okay with milking the clock..... milk the clock like the first quarter=win. milk the clock like the second half=oakland game...

[PutBratOnAHamSlicer]

As far as I'm concerned, Showtime, you are sugar coating it. Enjoyed your assessment, mind you, but it's too sweet for me! No way they beat the WORST wildcard team playing like they did today. What's with all the puss-passes to Coles....and why can't he catch them? I'm just glad I wasn't listening to the game in my car. I'd probably have driven into a bridge abutment. Shitless, shitless play calling(IMHO). Open it up, says I. Yeah, they won, but playing the Browns is like having a scrimmage.

All I'm saying is, they better find a way to put a SHITLOAD of points on the board if they're gonna try to stack up to Indy, Boston, San Diego.....and dare I dream, Minnesota.

[SM]

Although I am trying not to work myself into an Incredible-Hulk-like fury, I keep remembering that we squeaked out a win against the consensus WORST team in the NFL. They gave up 33 point to the LIONS!

Seriously, we should be very worried about the Lions. We have such a cowardly coordinator on offense that he will cling to a 1-point first quarter lead. I'm actually surprised he didn't start kneeling on the ball after we kicked our first field goal. What a chump!!! I don't like using profanity, but Bratkowski is such a pussy.

[Rich]

I think the offense isn't playing great, but -
You play the game you need to play to win. Why do you fault them for not throwing when the run was working so well, controlling the clock, when they led from the start? I'm just asking....

Rich

[PutBratOnAHamSlicer]

Rich, maybe it's because there was the opportunity to s-t-r-e-t-c-h against the league's WORST stinking team! If you don't find out whatcha got with these buffoons, who you gonna try it against, San Diego? Brat needs to step on the remaining teams necks, and not let up. For Pete's sake, the diversity is there, particularly when you have a D thinking run, run, run. A mediocre team(Lions?) will shut that down quick(see Raiders vs. Bengals). Hey Brat! Grow a set!!

Anyway, you asked, so I gave mine.

BTW, in reply to: Honestly, for all you d-bags out there who say, "Hey, a win is a win, we'll open it up when we have to. First, I'd tell you, never end a sentence with a preposition...", I guess the solution is to ask it like this: "Hey, a win is a win, we'll open it up when we have to, asshole." There. Problem solved. Hopefully(but not likely), the Polish Prince will "open it up" next week.

[guttersnake]

After watching the tenacity against the Steelers only to witness the heartlessness in the past two games, I wonder what is going on with the Bengal's offense. Part of me started to day dream (sometime during the third quarter) that perhaps all this nancy-pants offensive play calling is part of a bigger strategy. With three relatively weak games before squaring off against Minnesota, maybe it's a set up? Maybe somewhere in the sky-boxes of Paul Brown Stadium there is an evil genius who decided that we could win these three games simply by persistent running, thus throwing off any scouting attempts by the Vikings. It could be the most grand opossum play ever!

...but then I woke up. No one in Cinci's coaching staff is that clever...but some of them are that stupid.

~GS

[MattH]

I think Carson and the receivers are probably already getting out of sync from not throwing in games, which is why we looked really off on some of those passing plays. We cant have weapons like Palmer, Ocho Cinco and Coles and not use them. Its like hunting with a double barrel shotgun but only loading 1.

[TJanns]

Look what Minnesota and San Diego did today. Both are in first place. Both were playing inferior division opponents, and both THREW the ball and jumped on them until it was out of reach. 200 rushing yards and 38 minutes TOP is nice, but they only won by 9 points against a team that gave up 37 points a week ago.

I hope, hope that Guttersnake is right, and the Bengals are trying to save up certain plays and game planning for the Vikes, Chargers and the playoffs.

Excited and scared at the same time. This team will get blown out in the playoffs if they don't find some better balance soon.

[Billy]

About the low scoring at least two of those games were against steelers and ravens D

[Odey]

I don't think not willing to step on the raiders throats was the problem last week...we out played them we played Defensive game like we did today...The Problem was 2 Redzone turnovers & then Little Dre fumbling it at the end...

Take those 3 plays away & Raiders get a sound whipping...

PS,Having 0 Pass rush didn't help we only hit bruce once yesterday & 0 Sacks.

[Odey]

Just to throw it out there...

How many Offensive Pass Happy teams have won the superbowl in past 10 years?
How many Well Balanced teams with a good Defense & Running game have won it?

Offensive Pass Happy
Colts
Rams Greatest Show on Turf
Steelers(2009 Flavor)

-Though the funny thing is Both QB's had pretty Bleh games in the superbowl

Run & Play Defense teams
Ravens
Patriots x3---(They weren't a pass happy team until they got Welker & Moss and how many superbowls have they won with them?)
Giants--- Ward,Jacobs & Bradshow + a Dominate Defensive Line
Buccaneers---Defense...Run the bowl and QB plays manager
Steelers--- (you know that successful franchise who has dominated us for past 10 years by Running the Ball & playing defense)

[Grunz]

The o-line has been horrible in pass protection the last two games. Carson either does not have the time or has to step up into pressure to make his throws, which is generally when he is off-target. The playcalling has been so vanilla but if CP has time to make his passes then Cincy scores tds instead of fgs. Getting FGs and not TDs is what is going to be the downfall.

[HappyNat]

Odey,

They don't need to be pass happy, but they need to be able to pass the ball a little bit. Sure we piled up big rushing yards against the worst team in the NFL, but we only scored 17 points. Sure our D looked good, but it was against the worst team in the NFL. That doesn't bode well for when we play a team with more than 4 NFL caliber players on the roster.

The team needs to find some fire on D and O if we want to even consider winning a playoff game.

[BMN]

All I can say is this: none of this strategy is bad at all if only it were to result in less FGs and more TDs. That is all.

[CurseofBoJackson]

Finish Drives! DAMN!!! Finish a drive please. Brat moved away from his more typical "establish and abandon" game plan yesterday, perhaps his next step can be to make play calls to win games, not avoid losing them.

[FeedMikeBrownToAquaBengal]

1. They won't win a playoff game with the zero-pass rush they're getting.
2. Ditto for the lack of protection for Palmer.

Either one of those two factors would doom a playoff run. The teams that win usually have a ferocious pass rush in addition to stopping the run; and they generally keep their QB upright.

[TJanns]

We will find out what this team is made of the next three weeks. Detroit, @ Minnesota, @ San Diego.

Being able to run and play D is nice. But the Vikings and Chargers can not only score, they are both playing great Defense right now. I think everyone's concern right now about the passing game is that if somebody shuts down the Bengals running attack, can they throw? Right now, I don't think they can.

And we all need to get out of denial here. Palmer doesn't have that many weapons. Coles is 31 and past his prime. Caldwell still only in 2nd year, and Chad gets double teamed, and likes to fumble when he makes big plays.

Silver lining, we ARE talking about playoffs in late November. Feels nice for a change.

[PAl]

As a hugh Palmer fan, I don't think Palmer is right. Could his 100% healed elbow not be 100%? No way, the Bengals and their crack medical staff would never hide that.

[FeedMikeBrownToAquaBengal]

I don't think Palmer's at fault for the passing game woes. The OL isn't giving him that great a pocket. Plus TJanns is 100% right about the lack of weapons. Remember they basically HAVE NO TIGHT END! (throwing to Foschi is a tackle eligible play, basically). Ochocinco isn't being used to run fly patterns, and Coles and Caldwell are slot/possession receivers who aren't as good as TJH was and aren't very big. Not to mention that they don't get much out of their running backs in the passing game (especially when compared to great Bengal offenses of yore)

I have been saying for a few weeks that they need to get Chase Coffman on the field. If he cannot block, line him up in the slot. He's a huge target that will force the safeties to play more inside.

[wheredidkijanago]

The problem is that they always play to the other teams level. Unfortunately, one of the few consistencies is that they play to protect the lead once they get past the 1st quarter. Palmer has missed some throws but in no way would I put the fault on him. The B Man needs to get more aggressive.

* More post patterns across field
* Coles is NOT a deep threat.. please stop scaring me
* I miss Henry as a POTENTIAL deep threat even if we never threw to him
* Caldwell is underrated as a reciever.. please don't have him return kicks anymore
* Never hand off to JJ
* I love CJ's tenacity this year
* Does BSCOTT have very similar running style as Chris Johnson or is it just me (I am not saying he is the same player, he just reminds of him in his ability to switch direction)
* I miss Ced... more than you can imagine
* Spread the darn field!!!!

I will get off my soapboax now....

[MJ]

Bengals are undefeated in the division and are in 2nd place in AFC. They are currently lined for a first round bye and home play off game. Jesus do you guys complain while getting blowjobs?

[he went to jordan is the best playcall rich eisen has ever had]

wow - quite a few troubling things here.

1. just because it's the last thing i read - how can you be missing ced? b. scott had over a hundred yards against oakland and would have had it yesterday if the line hadn't got called for their trillionth hold. oh yeah, and if larry johnson didn't ALREADY have over a hundred too.

2. we won. that's the objective. we're not trying to win pretty. yesterday's game was never in doubt. who cares if it's boring.

3. the oakland game is a fluke. a mental regress but not indicative of bengals' teams past. traveling west combined with a let down from two hard fought division games combined with stupid redzone turnovers and the stupid/uncommon fumble on the last kickoff nabbed us.

4. so patheic and cliche to keep saying, "after the lions, vikings, chargers, well know what this team is made of". get the hell over yourselves. this teams has shown some awesome grit this year. comeback wins even after a huge letdown on a garbage play to start the season, a division sweep, road win at greenbay when everyone was saying same old bengals. their d is blatantly better and deserving of praise. calm your balls you whiny knob slobbers.

5. passing in the nfl is not, 'use it or lose it'. carson needs time to throw which he did not have the last two weeks and the o-line needs to stop getting penalties every drive. yes the play calling is predictable and not that aggressive, but we have a boat load of wins which almost all of you thought was blasphemous at the beginning of the year. we have a denver loss which was tragic and a raiders loss which was infuriating. we got worked by houston. i am enjoying it all. and as long as they win i don't care how uneventful the games are.

6. there's a max of 4 teams that could win a playoff game in the AFC and i think they can be in it with any other three teams you name. are you kidding me with the chargers? why do you not respect our d? we have not been blown out of any game this year. throw out houston and we're under a minute away from being undefeated.

7. glad i won't be seeing you at any of the playoff games we have in cincy. go ahead and justify it to yourself that you're entitled to come to indy and the superbowl.

[jim]

Bob sucks but,there is a coach out there who use to be a decent o cooordinator but of course we couldnt pay him and keep katey in the lifestyle she is accustomed to

[TJanns]

To MJ and the dude that posted his list of '7'.

8-3 is awesome. 6-0 in AFC north is fantastic. sweep of steelers and ravens is better than a blow job.

but, and BUT, now it's time to focus on the playoffs. which is also awesome. see, this is what most fans of consistent playoff teams do every year come december. we start looking at what could be a weakness come january games.

because, if this team doesn't win a playoff game, and hopefully make a nice run at it all, i for one, could give two shits about them being 6-0 in the afc north this year. just like Pats fans i know, even though happy about the 2007 undefeated regular season, only talk about one thing from that year. losing the super bowl.

this is why WDR is around. because this franchise is currently facing it's 2nd playoff season and division title in 19 years. this doesn't happen often, or hasn't anyway.

[TheCarlPickensClause]

I don't understand you guys. Yes, boring game to watch but when did we, as Bengals fans, have the right to ask for style points?? ESPECIALLY against their second biggest rival. Take the win. The Browns are terrible. Awful. The play calling wasn't great, but we now know that the Bengals have three RBs on the roster who can go off for 100+ yards weekly. You think that that combined with a second (maybe first after tonight) ranked run defense isn't a recipe for success in the playoffs? That's EXACTLY how you win in the playoffs and in shitty weather.
You guys want a "bombs away" offense like in 2005? THAT team wasn't built to win in the playoffs. As ugly of a game that was to watch yesterday, I'd take a result like that with our stout D, over the freaking 2003-2008 Marvin defenses where every freaking third down was made by the other team regardless of the yardage, but hey we could score points at will, right? Give me a break--stop bitching just to hear yourselves.

My observations:

--As I said, we have 3 RBs who can go off any week. Pretty nice luxury. LJ looked like a runner possessed.

--The O-Line, while great in run blocking, has been stunningly terrible in protecting Carson the last two weeks.

--Time for Andre. Roland is struggling.

--I love this defense. The Samoans and the DBs are ridiculous. Ndukwe has really picked up his game.

--Graham made every FG/XP attempt yesterday! Yee haw.

--Huber has to be one of the MVPs this season. You didn't really realize how bad Larson was until we got Huber. Wow.

[Gfox]

Completely okay w/ the Cleveland game. My problem is still the Oakland game. The running game wasn't really working w/ all of the 2 yard or less/negative runs, and yet they kept coming w/ it.

They win the Oakland game and then win this game in the way they did, no big deal. Maybe if LJ runs more (instead of Leonard's 13 carries) in the Oakland game they win. Maybe if they don't call a random hand off to JJ they win. Maybe if they don't have Caldwell back there to return that kick they win. There were obviously mistakes by the players in that game, but the coaches didn't exactly put the team in the best position to win.

Maybe it's just a transference of ticked-offness from that game that's leading to some of the complaining. Or at least that's my theory. They've also tried to keep the play calling on both sides of the ball fairly vanilla the last 2 weeks, not much blitzing and not much on the offense. If this kind of stuff happens in the Minnesota game coming up (unbalanced offense, lack of pressure on the QB, poor line play on passes) then they've got a problem.

I'm not taking anything away from these last 2 games when judging the team, unless of course they put up a stinker in Minnesota.

[Thomas C. Huskey]

[quote]Eric Mangini is so bad. I have no clue what he was complaining about at the end of the first half on the horsecollar play.[/quote]

I thought it was pretty obvious myself -- he was trying to argue it was a fumble. Which just goes to show how poor of a coach he is.

[PaulyOH]

I was at the Browns game - first row in the corner of an end zone. Thoughts:

Yes it was boring, but the Bengals wanted to run the ball down the throats of a bad run defense, and they were successful. I'm not complaining about the win.

There are, however, multiple problems with the passing game that need to be addressed.

1. Predictability. I guessed right on run/pass probably 95 percent of the time. This really hampers the o-line. It's a lot easier to get a strong rush on the passer when you KNOW a pass is coming...you KNOW there's no real run threat.

2. Carson Palmer. Granted, they were getting a good rush, but Carson looked very uncomfortable in the pocket. Don't know what's up with that.

3. No deep threat. The loss of Chris Henry is huge...not have the threat of a long ball is killing the Bengals. Carson said the Browns were playing the deep safties and taking away the long ball. So what? Sometimes you have to chuck one or two deep to keep em honest. Hell, on 3rd and 10, a 50-yard bomb can be as good as a punt.

4. Lavern Coles. He's a terrible football player and I don't want to see him on the field....ever. He's a big wuss who alligator-armed at least two passes Sunday, and the fact that he still has communication problems with Carson this late in the season is inexcusable. Caldwell and Purify each deserve more snaps over Coles.

If the Bengals can improve some, and it doesn't have to be a lot, in these areas, they can still make a run in the playoffs....Running the ball and stopping the run...still the best indicators for playoff success.

[FeedMikeBrownToAquaBengal]

I don't have any problem running the ball a lot but not with a small lead. In Oakland they started trying to run out the clock with a two score lead in the second quarter. They continued trying to run out the clock with a one score lead in the second half. You just can't do that. Any little accident and it's a tie game. Against a Tom Brady or one of the other good QBs, that's just an invitation to the other team to take the game. Even Gradkowski was able to take advantage as it turned out. In this game they were only up 13-7 after the Browns got their score. That's one play away from trailing the Browns, the worst team in the NFL.

But I think my biggest problem with what they did in Oakland and against the Browns is that they didn't try to activate Coffman or Jerome Simpson. They didn't use the game against weaker opponents to try a few new things that would come in handy against the Vikes and Chargers and Jets (and if they make the playoffs). [I am glad we finally got to see HippopotaSmith because I think he has to win the starting RT job for them to win a playoff game]

[PAl]

MJ, the only complaint about a blow job is the one you're giving Mikey. The law of averages says that Mikey will stumble into a winning season every once in a long while. The purpose of this website is to try to force Mikey to make an honest effort EVERY YEAR to provide the best team to the city that he he can. As history shows us, this is something he will not do unless he sees the economic benefit to the Brown family that it provides.

Keep slurping, maybe we will even win a playoff game within the next five years.

[HappyNat]

MJ,

I don't complain while getting a blow job, but I do offer "constructive criticism". If you don't do that you aren't getting the best blow job you can get.

[Hofbraunow]

I don't complain either, but I do moan sometimes

[Karen]

Way for Larry Johnson to stick it to the Cleve's D...107 yards is pretty impressive.
LJ is back blogging on LockerBlogger.com!!! He gave a shoutout after Sunday's win to his fans on there...

[Admiral Ackbar]

Thought it would be worth mentioning that the Bengals defense has now allowed the fewest points in the league. If Zimmer doesn't get Defensive Coach of the year then the voters are ridiculous.

[Wyatt]

P-Doc nailed it today (quoted for veracity):

"2 thoughts after watching Nawlins absolutely dismantle New England last night: The Pats aren't quite living on rep, but they're knocking at that door and... if the Bengals think they can beat teams like the Saints (that'd be the Vikings, Colts and San Diego) by running off tackle 35 times, they're kidding themselves.

The Saints don't use 12 plays to go 65 yards, then kick a field goal. They score touchdowns.

BTW, is this the golden age of QBs in the NFL? D. Brees was perfect last night, literally. B. Favre is having an MVP-type year. P. Manning is P. Manning. P. Rivers deserves mention. As does T. Brady. Meantime, the Bengals are busy making Carson Palmer the greatest hand-off specialist in the history of the league."

I've held off on commenting, choosing to let someone who gets paid to do it voice my thoughts (although I tend to believe I'm a better writer than most of the guys on CBS Sportsline or ESPN.com, I also let way too much of my writing get colored with emotion, especially as it pertains to the Bengals). Thankfully, Doc was the one to nail it, as he's one of the better writers around the 'net. Regardless, his assessment is dead-on and echoes a lot of what's been said on here already.

[Steve]

I am beginning to question the purpose of this website and this so called revolution. I loved coming here last year to beat a dead horse. Now the site nitpicks a highly successful football team and doesn't do anything outside of this medium. Where are all the stunts from last year? Are the billboards still up? Is the lacks of stunts (urinal cakes) and trips to opposing cities proof that the revolution doesn't exist if the team is winning? Seriously this so called revolution is dead. Again last year I loved the clever jokes, but you guys don't even do that anymore. The only thing done this season were the planes at training camp. At the first sign of Bengals success the revolution has hibernated for the season. Maybe you guys need some more racist chin bits, because those were always really clever. And I am sure the first response to this post is that I am either a relative of Mikey or an employee of the Bengals.

[CurseofBoJackson]

Doc has a great writing style, he's a bitch however, rudest talk radio host I've ever heard, and that includes the cutman. We could beat anyone in the league outside of NO. That being said, we aren't going to beat MN and SD with that game plan, I hope I'm right in thinking that there is some method to the madness of OAK and CLE, and probably will continue with DET eh? Give MN and SD nothing on tape of the past three weeks that is of value, do I dare give this staff/FO that much credit?

[TJanns]

Steve,

I think most are trying to enjoy this RARE winning season(well, 'non-losing' until they get win #9).

I can't speak for WDR, but I still want change in the front office of this organization. The lack of depth at WR and TE have hurt the passing game. Will it hurt down the stretch? Only time will tell.

And, Smith's holdout has hurt this O-line. Yes, this offensive line has played above what anyone expected, and I think that's a credit to O-line coach Alexander and the grit of Cook, Whitworth, and Williams.

Look at the Colts. They don't run well, and who knows if they'll win the SB this year, but, they lost Harrison and then Gonzalez to injury, and 2 ROOKIE WR's have played big. That's just good management.

I'm happy with 8-3 and 6-0 in the division. But, I want a playoff win or two at least, and right now, I don't see this team doing that.

[MikeBrownGivesFreeBlumpies]

Steve, go get ya a blumpie and you'll feel better. Seriously, I'm with you on the acerbic, sardonic comment thing. I could use the laughs, and that's what I was getting when I 1st checked out this site. Another thing, WDR, what happened to the cartoon dealio this site had going on? Some of them were pretty warped.

Having said allthat, I'll say this. The offensive game plan blooooooows!

[Steve]

TJanns-
Everyone on this site loves to say they want what the Colts have. We want our franchise ran like the Colts. The Colts have major major holes on their roster. The idea Garcon and Collie are playing well because the Colts roster is so deep is inaccurate. The reason why the Colts can play with no running game, no DBs, no DTs, and switch their LT at the start of the season is because of Peyton Manning. I love Carson but he isn't Peyton, not even close. It looked like he might be earlier in his career but this year he doesn't even look close.

[TJanns]

Steve,

I agree a lot of the Colts success is because of Manning. But, you still have to draft the right players. The Colts didn't want to draft Jerome Simpson at all I bet. Collie and Garcon were scouted well. But, I agree with you. Carson, just isn't all that we thought he'd be after '05.

This is my point with everything right now about this team and bitching about the offense. From Don Banks at Si.com:

"

I'm not sure Cincinnati can go real far in the AFC playoffs (against the likes of prolific passing teams such as Indianapolis, New England and San Diego) with Carson Palmer throwing for just 110 yards, as he did Sunday in a 16-7 win over the Browns. But that power running game and the Bengals defense should serve Cincinnati very well as the weather turns nasty for the rest of the regular season."

[McknightDollie]

Do you recognize that it's high time to get the credit loans, which will make you dreams real.