11-23-2015, 01:29 PM
Look, there are a lot of causes to why the game went down the way it did. But even after the whole game of mistakes and missed opportunities, in the end, it was the Bengals coaching decision on 3rd & 2 at the AZ 25 that left the game open ended.
While I'm not down on the team at all and think they will end up with at least the #2 seed in the AFC, I have not been impressed with the coaching the last two weeks. I think the offense has stopped doing what they do best and have gotten too cute or too set in their plan. The Defense is tough to blame because they got warn down in the 3rd when the offense couldn't stay on the field. I was super super impressed by the young guys who had to come in.
- Poor discipline with the penalties.
- Not adjusting well to the other team quickly enough or very well (the screen passes to Gio were open and working all night... yet they weren't a regular staple). Gio could have had 200 yards receiving if the Bengals had wanted. There was a weakness and the Bengals should have pounded that weakness and made the Cardinals change their defense.
- The decision to throw the ball deep and risk the clock stopping or an INT when it was 3rd and 2 on the AZ 25 with a 1:14 left is mind boggling to me. They could have ran for either an easy first down or gotten stopped and run the clock way down (AZ had NO TIMEOUTS) and still attempted the exact same FG they got with the throw. The run was working... RUN IT!!!!!
Look, the Bengals coaches have coached long enough that they should know better than to muck stuff up like that. It happens. I would rather it happen now at 8-2 than at 12-4 with something on the line. They can, hopefully, learn from it and get better.
For those who want to cry hindsight is 20/20 in defense of the coaches I would say this: Being wrong in hindsight means they lacked the foresight to understand the chain of events as they could have possibly unfolded. Not a good excuse to not understand throwing vs. running there. CLEARLY, the decision to throw on 3rd & 2 on the AZ 25 with 1:14 left is what lead to giving the Cardinals a better chance to win the game. The scenarios after running it in that situation were much better cards for the Bengals to be left holding than if they threw it. They gambled poorly and they lost.
Lets hope they fix it. Oh, and by fix it I mean find a badass center because Bodine was walked over last night.
While I'm not down on the team at all and think they will end up with at least the #2 seed in the AFC, I have not been impressed with the coaching the last two weeks. I think the offense has stopped doing what they do best and have gotten too cute or too set in their plan. The Defense is tough to blame because they got warn down in the 3rd when the offense couldn't stay on the field. I was super super impressed by the young guys who had to come in.
- Poor discipline with the penalties.
- Not adjusting well to the other team quickly enough or very well (the screen passes to Gio were open and working all night... yet they weren't a regular staple). Gio could have had 200 yards receiving if the Bengals had wanted. There was a weakness and the Bengals should have pounded that weakness and made the Cardinals change their defense.
- The decision to throw the ball deep and risk the clock stopping or an INT when it was 3rd and 2 on the AZ 25 with a 1:14 left is mind boggling to me. They could have ran for either an easy first down or gotten stopped and run the clock way down (AZ had NO TIMEOUTS) and still attempted the exact same FG they got with the throw. The run was working... RUN IT!!!!!
Look, the Bengals coaches have coached long enough that they should know better than to muck stuff up like that. It happens. I would rather it happen now at 8-2 than at 12-4 with something on the line. They can, hopefully, learn from it and get better.
For those who want to cry hindsight is 20/20 in defense of the coaches I would say this: Being wrong in hindsight means they lacked the foresight to understand the chain of events as they could have possibly unfolded. Not a good excuse to not understand throwing vs. running there. CLEARLY, the decision to throw on 3rd & 2 on the AZ 25 with 1:14 left is what lead to giving the Cardinals a better chance to win the game. The scenarios after running it in that situation were much better cards for the Bengals to be left holding than if they threw it. They gambled poorly and they lost.
Lets hope they fix it. Oh, and by fix it I mean find a badass center because Bodine was walked over last night.
