Mixed Results for New OC

[CJD]

(01-03-2017, 12:40 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Bengals finished in the top half of the league (15th) in points scored in the third quarter.

Needs improvement, but not nearly as bad as you claim.

And I actually agree with Marvin.  Halftime adjustments are usually more about execution than scheme.  I have been in the locker room at halftime with some pretty good coaches.  They were almost always concentration of failures in execution than scheme.  It was very rare that we would change anything schematic at halftime.

And they ranked 3rd in the NFL in points scored in the first quarter.

Here's the problem.

In the 4th quarter, Cincinnati is ranked 31st.

And in the 2nd quarter, Cincinnati is ranked 27th.

If you look at the numbers, the average among the 32 teams of points scored for the four quarters are 4.6, 7.0, 4.5 and 6.6 points, respectively.

The Bengals scored 6.1, 5.9, 4.3 and 4.1 points in the respective four quarters.

So...the difference between the Bengals and the average for the four quarters is +1.5, -1.1, -0.2 and -2.5. For a total net of +0.4 in the first half, and a -2.7 in the second half.

The 2nd and 4th quarters are obviously the more high scoring quarters. And this makes sense. Often times, a good drive in the middle or end of the first quarter results in points scored in the second quarter. Same with the 3rd and the 4th quarter.

So points scored in the 1st and 3rd quarter are typically in the early drives of the quarter, whereas a good portion of the points scored as a result of successful offense in those quarters are part of the 2nd and 4th quarter statistics.

So yes...from a pure statistical stand point, they weren't awful in the 3rd quarter. But that's ignoring the fact that 3rd quarter successes are often reflected in 4th quarter stats. And the 4th quarter just so happens to be the quarter that the Bengals struggle in the most...by a wide margin.

Are we parsing statistics or are we talking about what we see on the field? Because the results on the field tell every Bengals fan that the 2nd half is, by far, the weakest part of their game. And that can be directly attributed to the coaches not adjusting to what the other team is doing.

In a wonderful coincidence (or is it?), the Bengals' best quarter is the first quarter, in which they are actually quite formidable. Maybe that's because they have a strong game plan that is actually based on watching tape of their opponents? Could be. That's commendable. But as the game goes on, the numbers seem to indicate that they stick to that original game plan regardless of the adjustments and changes that occur throughout the course of the game.

Which, I believe, is what I was arguing in my original post.

So I appreciate your efforts in helping me to prove my point.