Our Offensive Line

[GodFather]

Will be interesting to see how the offensive line handles the Steelers this weekend because the "Amazing" Jets defensive line didn't have hardly the impact on the Bills last night that it did against us a week earlier. in fact, they got one of their top players (Richardson) back for the game who was missing from our game.

It tells me that our offensive line is going to be the biggest weakness this season. If the offensive line gets dominated again this weekend....dont blame on a superior defense, blame it on an inferior offensive line.

Get it together guys, Steelers are going to hit you hard, man up Sunday.

[xxlt]

Week one games are always weird. The Bills had the benefit of watching film, even during a short week.

New season, even a team with no changes in personnel or coaches, you don't really know what you are going to get. They have had months to effectively revamp their system and game plan for week one. Plus, none of the players has played a regular season game for months. All this is true for both teams, but I wouldn't crawl into your bunker and make a Paul Alexander voodoo doll just yet.

[J24]

The Bills didn't get to the Jets 20 until the final drive. They basically had two deep throws and that was it.

[3wt]

(09-16-2016, 06:24 PM)GodFather Wrote: Will be interesting to see how the offensive line handles the Steelers this weekend because the "Amazing" Jets defensive line didn't have hardly the impact on the Bills last night that it did against us a week earlier. in fact, they got one of their top players (Richardson) back for the game who was missing from our game.

It tells me that our offensive line is going to be the biggest weakness this season. If the offensive line gets dominated again this weekend....dont blame on a superior defense, blame it on an inferior offensive line.

Get it together guys, Steelers are going to hit you hard, man up Sunday.

Yeah, Lap said Wednesday night that the failures of both Zeitler and Bodine were basic failures, "football 101".  He clearly was mystified as to how they managed to play so poorly.

And the D-line was just as lame.  They were a sieve.  The Jets barely beat the Bills.  They're not the juggernaut we made them look like.

I understand the bend don't break concept, and you have to say it worked.  But it barely worked - and no thanks to the D-line.

We'll see if both lines rise to the occasion.  But I am concerned we have a fatal flaw.

And if Bodine does not improve this season I'm officially off the Alexander band wagon.  As stridently as he has defended Bodine there needs to be some substance.  Especially considering how Zeitler has turned out relative to DeCastro.  Those are two humongous whiffs.

[OBX Bengal]

(09-16-2016, 07:16 PM)xxlt Wrote: Week one games are always weird. The Bills had the benefit of watching film, even during a short week.

New season, even a team with no changes in personnel or coaches, you don't really know what you are going to get. They have had months to effectively revamp their system and game plan for week one. Plus, none of the players has played a regular season game for months. All this is true for both teams, but I wouldn't crawl into your bunker and make a Paul Alexander voodoo doll just yet.

I agree.  For example, in 2012, the Ravens beat us 44 to 13 in the season opener with Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator.  We finished 10 - 6 and went to the playoffs.  No need to panic.

[*Go Cards*]

O-line is a concern for me as well until they prove otherwise.

[GodFather]

(09-16-2016, 07:28 PM)OBX Bengal Wrote: I agree.  For example, in 2012, the Ravens beat us 44 to 13 in the season opener with Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator.  We finished 10 - 6 and went to the playoffs.  No need to panic.

Thats great but we're talking about the offensive line 

[GodFather]

The other thing that hides the flaws of our O-Line is Andy Dalton. During the Jets game a stat showed up that Dalton was in the top 4 QB in the league for quickest time releasing a pass. This takes the pressure off the O-Line because Dalton gets the ball out of hands quick and doesn't hold on to it long. But when he's dropping back like on Sunday with the Defense line waiting for him half, its a problem.

[Derrick]

(09-16-2016, 09:16 PM)GodFather Wrote: Thats great but we're talking about the offensive line 

I still think the OC needs to add a FB or some kind of pick-up blocker until the O-linemen prove they can do their jobs!

[SunsetBengal]

(09-16-2016, 07:24 PM)3wt Wrote: Yeah, Lap said Wednesday night that the failures of both Zeitler and Bodine were basic failures, "football 101".  He clearly was mystified as to how they managed to play so poorly.

And the D-line was just as lame.  They were a sieve.  The Jets barely beat the Bills.  They're not the juggernaut we made them look like.

I understand the bend don't break concept, and you have to say it worked.  But it barely worked - and no thanks to the D-line.

We'll see if both lines rise to the occasion.  But I am concerned we have a fatal flaw.

And if Bodine does not improve this season I'm officially off the Alexander band wagon.  As stridently as he has defended Bodine there needs to be some substance.  Especially considering how Zeitler has turned out relative to DeCastro.  Those are two humongous whiffs.

Not so sure that (bolded) has much weight on the situation that is being discussed, as divisional games are usually a bit closer and more intense than out of division games.  I didn't listen to Lap on Wednesday, but I'm guessing that the Cincyjungle article was pretty much recycling what he said.  And yes, they displayed some poor fundementals.  Not sure if Jets DL got into their heads early, and they never recovered, or if they were just that outmatched.

It will take a seriously dramatic improvement in Bodine for me to ever be on the Paul Alexander bandwagon.

[JumboTron]

(09-16-2016, 07:24 PM)3wt Wrote: Yeah, Lap said Wednesday night that the failures of both Zeitler and Bodine were basic failures, "football 101".  He clearly was mystified as to how they managed to play so poorly.

And the D-line was just as lame.  They were a sieve.  The Jets barely beat the Bills.  They're not the juggernaut we made them look like.

I understand the bend don't break concept, and you have to say it worked.  But it barely worked - and no thanks to the D-line.

We'll see if both lines rise to the occasion.  But I am concerned we have a fatal flaw.

And if Bodine does not improve this season I'm officially off the Alexander band wagon.  As stridently as he has defended Bodine there needs to be some substance.  Especially considering how Zeitler has turned out relative to DeCastro.  Those are two humongous whiffs.

True, but the game last night was not as close as the final score would suggest.  The Jets accounted for 493 total yards, 28 first downs, to go along with 123 yards rushing and 3 td's by Forte, and were also 62% on third down conversions.  Outside of the Bills hitting on two bombs and a costly fumble by the Jets, the game should have been a relative blowout. Add on top that they were on the road on a short week playing a divisional rival.  The Jets can play.

Very much agree though that the D-Line we are running out there is too good to have an overall performance like the one we saw last Sunday.  I think they will rebound in a very big way against Pit.  The interior O-Line just flat out needs to look like a totally different unit than a week ago.  I have faith Zeitler can do an about-face from the week one clunker.  Bodine?  Good lord, I hope so...

[*jason*]

So the Bills' O line looked better than ours vs. the Jets. You know what didn't look better? The scoreboard. Bengals undefeated, Jets and Bills not undefeated.

We are a nitpicking ass fan base if ever there was one.

[*bengalfan74*]

(09-16-2016, 08:51 PM)Go Cards Wrote: O-line is a concern for me as well until they prove otherwise.

Agree, I'm pretty concerned with the up the gut pressure Pittsburgh is bound to be bringing.  Doesn't take a genius to attack our weak link.

(09-16-2016, 09:46 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Not so sure that (bolded) has much weight on the situation that is being discussed, as divisional games are usually a bit closer and more intense than out of division games.  I didn't listen to Lap on Wednesday, but I'm guessing that the Cincyjungle article was pretty much recycling what he said.  And yes, they displayed some poor fundementals.  Not sure if Jets DL got into their heads early, and they never recovered, or if they were just that outmatched.

It will take a seriously dramatic improvement in Bodine for me to ever be on the Paul Alexander bandwagon.

I sure hope he fools me but I'd venture a guess Bodine is going to be a serious liability all season. And the PA show will continue on.

[BengalsRocker]

(09-16-2016, 09:47 PM)JumboTron Wrote: True, but the game last night was not as close as the final score would suggest.  The Jets accounted for 493 total yards, 28 first downs, to go along with 123 yards rushing and 3 td's by Forte, and were also 62% on third down conversions.  Outside of the Bills hitting on two bombs and a costly fumble by the Jets, the game should have been a relative blowout.  Add on top that they were on the road on a short week playing a divisional rival.  The Jets can play.

Very much agree though that the D-Line we are running out there is too good to have an overall performance like the one we saw last Sunday.  I think they will rebound in a very big way against Pit.  The interior O-Line just flat out needs to look like a totally different unit than a week ago.  I have faith Zeitler can do an about-face from the week one clunker.  Bodine?  Good lord, I hope so...

Those were the key elements for the Bills.

Blown CB/Safety coverage accounted for at least one of them.

The Jet front rush was getting push against the Bills.

Did they sack Tyrod like Dalton?  No... but the pressure was there.  He did not have a clean pocket.

I'm just hoping Z and Ced get on the same page for blocking this Sunday.

Bodine...  oof.    We can only pray.

[NATI BENGALS]

We put that putrid display on film on purpose to throw off the steelers. Our interior line is going to play lights out and we will have 150+yards rushing between the tackles this week and zero sacks given up.

[Bilbo Saggins]

The Bills line was without their best player, Cordi Glenn. It was a really whacky game all around with all of the scoring going on. I'll worry about the o-line if they keep getting smoked, but every unit on every team has their ups and downs throughout the year.

[Essex Johnson]

(09-16-2016, 06:24 PM)GodFather Wrote: Will be interesting to see how the offensive line handles the Steelers this weekend because the "Amazing" Jets defensive line didn't have hardly the impact on the Bills last night that it did against us a week earlier. in fact, they got one of their top players (Richardson) back for the game who was missing from our game.

It tells me that our offensive line is going to be the biggest weakness this season. If the offensive line gets dominated again this weekend....dont blame on a superior defense, blame it on an inferior offensive line.

Get it together guys, Steelers are going to hit you hard, man up Sunday.

With that thinking, we should be fine, since the Steeler defense line had zero sacks against the Redskins.. So our line can't block and their line can't rush.. so it would be a wash.. correct ?

[phil413]

yea we can go on and on about attitude, redemption yada yada but the OL is a huge factor Saturday to say the least.  I remember way back when Blake was throwing moon balls to Pickens and Scott they surprised the Steelers on a rare prime time game with max protect.  They used two TE's and at times would only give Blake three targets for the sake of the shaky OL handling the rush (Greene, Lloyd and Co. I believe).  Back to present day, I'm max protect constantly but even if Kroft is ready I'd like to see Fisher out there more.  Seems to me the three wide sets with Fisher once in a while as TE on the right side would give the youngsters a needed boost.  He can also turn around and catch something if you leave him open.  I'd rather sift these in than get screen happy vs a defense that may be waiting on them.  Give Dalton time and he will find the open man even if he sees more blockers this week as safety valves (Hewitt, Fisher, ect..)
EDIT: Link to that game's box score, wow it was more than 20 yrs ago lol...  http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199510190pit.htm

[Jpoore]

Steelers didnt get one sack against redskins

[*SHRacerX*]

All the references to the Jets not being "as good as we made them out to be" need to realize several things:  One, they are very good up front...one of the best in the league.  Their weakness is their secondary.  Maybe you will say that the Bengal's weakness is their offensive line?  More on that in a second.  Two, the Thursday Night game, a very short week this early in the season is an "all bets are off" proposition. Neither team ever seems to play very well and I would imagine they are not a true representation of their abilities.  Three, if you watched the game, you realize that aside from a couple blown coverages that led to big plays, the Jets defense was strong.  They went prevent after being up two scores late and gave up a TD there as well, but we need to realize the Jets are our friends.  They can beat the Pats and steelers.  I think they are a legitimate playoff team.

Regarding our "weakest link":  I think everyone would be in agreement that in the past, the offensive line has been solid at pass protection and below average at run blocking.  I don't mean to say that all of a sudden the team is going to average 6 ypc, but I felt that against that good front 7, the Bengals actually ran the ball pretty well.  They just didn't do enough of it.  Ced had a great block on Hill's TD.  In the past, some teams would dare the Bengals to beat them with the pass and have everyone up to stuff the run.  Does anyone really believe that teams will do that?  They will be game planning to stop Dalton and Green.  And Eifert.  And Gio.  And Lafell.  And Boyd.  And 57 yards receiving in the first quarter guy, Uzomah.  

My point is that although there are legitimate concerns on being able to pass protect against interior pass rush, I think the offensive line might be looking better at run blocking.

One thing is for sure.  I don't want a single empty backfield set against pitt the entire game.  While I'm at it, I don't want another one the entire season.  Teams always blitz it, and even if he gets the ball off for some 4 yard gain, Dalton takes punishment. No more.  Don't do it.  Too one dimensional and the DBs also sit on shorter routes and could lead to INTs.  Don't do it.