More Creativity Needed on Offense

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-18-2018, 09:49 AM)SnakeEyez925 Wrote: The offense looked more creative in the early stages of the season, maybe because it was "fresh" to most of us and they wrinkled in some cute stuff like RPO's with AD/AJ.. and the quick game with all of the bubble screens, etc.

But after the wins vs. Baltimore and Atlanta in September... the offense became clearly stagnant.  Eifert, Mixon, and Price were both lost for long periods of time and it felt like the rug kinda got pulled from under the unit... they looked bad vs. Carolina and Pittsburgh despite the close scores.

I think it's a combination of two things: Defenses were able to digest the Bengals' offense at 4-1 after a month of the season and "catch up" to it.  Lazor did make a conscious effort imo early on to "protect" his QB and mask the OLine with his quick and screen game.  After a month, there was enough tape out there now that the rest of the NFL can see and adjust to what we were doing.  The bubble screens, swing pass screens to Mixon, etc... none of that stuff has been "working" really anymore since early on.  Teams like ours that struggle with running the ball, those passes are how Lazor was trying to compensate on early downs.

Additionally, after almost 10 years of the same scheme, the Bengals were doing some things differently and with their weapons healthy it was working.  But that production began sinking into a trench from that point forward with the loss of Eifert (and to a lesser extent, Mixon.)
We've had no threat to control the middle of the field and our star RB being out pushed the safeties back out of the box.  Then injuries have began piling up and the OLine began regressing back to the dumpster fire of 2017.

Yes, Mixon returned.. but we still can't consistently run the ball against any decent defense.  The Raiders do not count.  

It still starts with the offensive line. We get too many penalties and we get way too many defenders hitting our RB 2-3 yards in the backfield before he has a chance to even make a read or cut.  

In no way am I defending Lazor, because while I was very pleased with how he was using the pieces when we were 4-1... I have seen a lot of why he also fell out of favor in Miami since then:  He throws the ball way too much considering our personnel, and they just look too predictable.  But it has been amplified by the weakness of our OLine and it's inability to control the LOS.  As a unit they are better pass blockers than run blockers, so again we look pretty damn soft up front.

Very well said my man.....and welcome to the board.

You are spot on, as far as I can tell.  I'd also point out something that I read in the preseason, and before Eifert went down, (and then Kroft) about the TEs.  Lazor said we were going to see a lot of the TE in this year's version of the offense.  Until after Atlanta, we did.  I recall seeing all three of them on the field at times, and a helluva lot of two TE sets.  That gives you a plethora of options in the run game and passing game.  It can help with the oline struggles as well, obviously.  Once Eifert and Kroft went out, that was it.