10-19-2015, 10:44 AM
Hey Bengals fans.
Nice win...your team looked good as we all expected.
My apologies for not getting here yesterday, as I went home to put in some much-needed dad time with the kids (I have twin toddlers).
Not a lot to be surprised about really: the Bills' offense came out hot (they always seem to run the scripted plays well), and kept things close as long as they still had some weapons in the passing game. Once Sammy went out, you could tell they were in trouble. Sitting in the stands, it was easy to see that Woods was going to get a bit of extra attention, and they'd play zone in the middle to keep Clay from breaking loose. Without anyone else to pressure the back 7, it was going to get ugly. Not enough play-makers to get over against a pretty good defensive unit...at least not without excellent QB play, which we knew we weren't going to get from EJ.
Defensively, I said from the get-go that my concerns were the interior of the back 7 and Rex's inability to make adjustments. Lo-and-behold, we get a TD to a RB out of the backfield (because we don't have a LB or safety that recognizes that stuff quickly enough), and a lot of completions on slants between the LB and safety coverage. Still, I admire the way the D held their own in the 1st half despite being put in brutal situations by undisciplined ST penalties yet again. The drive starts they literally handed to the Bengals were appalling...you can't do that against good teams and expect to win. The inability to adjust reared its ugly head again in the 2nd half, as nearly everyone knew Dalton was going to come out and look to exploit the middle zones. Surprise surprise, Jones has 4 catches against inside coverage on the opening drive. I will say that the 40-yarder was a spectacular play; perfect throw and a great catch. Not sure if Gilmore can do anything about that, though I think Graham is not supposed to be trailing that play from the backside. The Jones' TD on that drive was a perfect example of a scheme issue: Bernard swings out to the flanker position pre-snap, and Graham creeps up to cover him. Good. Smart football...except, for reasons beyond my understanding, Preston Brown runs out there and backs Graham off to the goal line. Um, Rex? You just removed your best tackler from the box, in a short-field situation, against a team that likes to run underneath screens. That's...well...stupid, and it deservedly resulted in a TD.
Anyway, some other random observations from the game:
- Dalton did a nice job of recognizing when guys like Rambo and Duke Williams were singled up and getting the ball out quickly.
- I don't know why he's so stuck on it, but Rex seems more interested in being creative than effective, as I don't think I've seen him let the front 4 just go after people the way Schwartz did last year
- Bernard and Shady look a lot a like in terms of running style. Both are fun guys to watch.
- I was really surprised that Cinci didn't get more of a pass rush earlier in the game, especially when Cyrus-the-turnstile came in at RT on the 2nd series. I wonder if they were simply holding the edges to prevent Manuel from running...
Anyway, congrats on the win, good luck the rest of the way, and feel free to stop by our board anytime. We have plenty of fans from opposing teams (we have a few regulars from Dallas, Cleveland, Green Bay, and NE--really, really good posters) that come by and provide perspective.
Be well.
Nice win...your team looked good as we all expected.
My apologies for not getting here yesterday, as I went home to put in some much-needed dad time with the kids (I have twin toddlers).
Not a lot to be surprised about really: the Bills' offense came out hot (they always seem to run the scripted plays well), and kept things close as long as they still had some weapons in the passing game. Once Sammy went out, you could tell they were in trouble. Sitting in the stands, it was easy to see that Woods was going to get a bit of extra attention, and they'd play zone in the middle to keep Clay from breaking loose. Without anyone else to pressure the back 7, it was going to get ugly. Not enough play-makers to get over against a pretty good defensive unit...at least not without excellent QB play, which we knew we weren't going to get from EJ.
Defensively, I said from the get-go that my concerns were the interior of the back 7 and Rex's inability to make adjustments. Lo-and-behold, we get a TD to a RB out of the backfield (because we don't have a LB or safety that recognizes that stuff quickly enough), and a lot of completions on slants between the LB and safety coverage. Still, I admire the way the D held their own in the 1st half despite being put in brutal situations by undisciplined ST penalties yet again. The drive starts they literally handed to the Bengals were appalling...you can't do that against good teams and expect to win. The inability to adjust reared its ugly head again in the 2nd half, as nearly everyone knew Dalton was going to come out and look to exploit the middle zones. Surprise surprise, Jones has 4 catches against inside coverage on the opening drive. I will say that the 40-yarder was a spectacular play; perfect throw and a great catch. Not sure if Gilmore can do anything about that, though I think Graham is not supposed to be trailing that play from the backside. The Jones' TD on that drive was a perfect example of a scheme issue: Bernard swings out to the flanker position pre-snap, and Graham creeps up to cover him. Good. Smart football...except, for reasons beyond my understanding, Preston Brown runs out there and backs Graham off to the goal line. Um, Rex? You just removed your best tackler from the box, in a short-field situation, against a team that likes to run underneath screens. That's...well...stupid, and it deservedly resulted in a TD.
Anyway, some other random observations from the game:
- Dalton did a nice job of recognizing when guys like Rambo and Duke Williams were singled up and getting the ball out quickly.
- I don't know why he's so stuck on it, but Rex seems more interested in being creative than effective, as I don't think I've seen him let the front 4 just go after people the way Schwartz did last year
- Bernard and Shady look a lot a like in terms of running style. Both are fun guys to watch.
- I was really surprised that Cinci didn't get more of a pass rush earlier in the game, especially when Cyrus-the-turnstile came in at RT on the 2nd series. I wonder if they were simply holding the edges to prevent Manuel from running...
Anyway, congrats on the win, good luck the rest of the way, and feel free to stop by our board anytime. We have plenty of fans from opposing teams (we have a few regulars from Dallas, Cleveland, Green Bay, and NE--really, really good posters) that come by and provide perspective.
Be well.
