(05-16-2022, 11:11 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: What has been the problem ? Can it all be blamed on the Oline ? Is our lack of being able to run the ball on 3rd and 2 up the gut that's killing us?  Has the play calling been some of the issue ?

Pretty much, yep.  There is a reason that the team went after OL with specific skill sets in free agency, and then proceeded to draft a mammoth, aggressive, run blocking OG in the draft.

Having a deadly passing attack is great, but not always effective in short yardage on a short field where the route tree is cut in half.  Sometimes you have to be able to line up and run the ball, without the opposing defense looking at you and saying "I wish a MF would..". 

(05-16-2022, 12:36 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: This is one area where I fell ZT and Callahan need to improve. I'd say every fan of every team feels this way. But it seems to me they get to predictable with their sets and play calls.

(05-16-2022, 12:41 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I agree

I'd be pretty surprised if Moss took off tearing it up this season.

This season we should know. Is Taylor not efficient as an OC in the red zone? Is Frank Pollack a good OL coach? I know an OC and HC in the NFL and heard Mike Zimmer and all praise Taylor’s schemes. I’ll be disappointed if this offense doesn’t really take flight

Need more Tee Higgins jump balls. That is all.

(05-16-2022, 02:13 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: This season we should know. Is Taylor not efficient as an OC in the red zone? Is Frank Pollack a good OL coach? I know an OC and HC in the NFL and heard Mike Zimmer and all praise Taylor’s schemes. I’ll be disappointed if this offense doesn’t really take flight

Who are the OC and HC you know?
And how close are you with them?

It was a combination of a lot of things. Poor blocking, Poor scheming, Poor execution.

On 3rd down in the red zone Burrow had a 60.7 rating (7-14, 57yds, 2 int, 3 sacks) and Mixon averaged less than 0.8 yds per carry (4 att, 3 yds)

(05-16-2022, 02:13 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: This season we should know. Is Taylor not efficient as an OC in the red zone? Is Frank Pollack a good OL coach? I know an OC and HC in the NFL and heard Mike Zimmer and all praise Taylor’s schemes. I’ll be disappointed if this offense doesn’t really take flight

Me too

(05-16-2022, 02:10 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Pretty much, yep.  There is a reason that the team went after OL with specific skill sets in free agency, and then proceeded to draft a mammoth, aggressive, run blocking OG in the draft.

Having a deadly passing attack is great, but not always effective in short yardage on a short field where the route tree is cut in half.  Sometimes you have to be able to line up and run the ball, without the opposing defense looking at you and saying "I wish a MF would..". 

Having a running game that's able to grind out those have to have it yards becomes more important as the season gets into the bad weather games late in the season.

Those high flying greatest show on turf O's get grounded a good bit come December and playoffs.

(05-16-2022, 05:13 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Having a running game that's able to grind out those have to have it yards becomes more important as the season gets into the bad weather games late in the season.

Those high flying greatest show on turf O's get grounded a good bit come December and playoffs.

In the past, perhaps. Not really true in the modern NFL anymore.

The #1 rushing offense Eagles, #5 Titans, #8 Patriots, #9 Cowboys, and #10 Cardinals all failed to win a single playoff game, scoring a grand total of 76 points in the playoffs between the 5 of them. None of them scored more than 17 points.

Of the top 15 rushing teams in 2021, only 2 of the teams won a playoff game.
#6 Bills
#7 49ers 

The Bills were only a top rushing team because their QB ran for 763 yards, which is not sustainable. The 49ers were only a top rushing team because they had a WR playing RB, which is not sustainable.

Both lost when they faced a superior passing offenses in the Chiefs and Rams, respectively.

The Bengals got outrushed by their opponents in every playoff game BUT the Super Bowl, where they lost because they couldn't stop Cooper Kupp (not that really anyone could in 2021). The Bengals/Rams Super Bowl was the 23rd and 25th rushing offenses and the 7th and 5th passing offenses facing off.

(05-16-2022, 11:11 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: According to Teamrankings.com we were ranked 23rd in the NFL in RZ touchdown scoring at 54.5 % in 2021, bottom 3rd of the league. In 2020 we were 30th at 50%. So we improved a bit but IMO it needs to jump a lot this season to stay in the hunt.

What has been the problem ? Can it all be blamed on the Oline ? Is our lack of being able to run the ball on 3rd and 2 up the gut that's killing us ? Has the play calling been some of the issue ?

We just can't have half of our RZ appearances end in FG's this season given our schedule. To me this has been one of our bigger issues and it needs fixed.

Nice thread BF74. This is where I expect the biggest improvement on this team because of the OL we brought in. The reasons
why we sucked were a combination of bad OL play as you say couldn't run the ball in short yardage and Burrow was pressured 
all the time in the Red Zone as well. With Cappa, Karras and Collins who are great run blockers and decent pass protectors this 
should take away the bad combination we had going the last few seasons on Offense in the RZ.