Lead the Team in Something

Bengals mosey into Texas to face a team they’ve never lost to, and have enough confidence in prolonging that streak as stock brokers have in the economy right now: nada. When the chips are down, leaders emerge. Strong-minded, willful people who will pull their comrades from the muck and mire of defeat. Too bad the team’s leadership resembles a grade-school theatrical rendition of Lord of the Flies. I guess that makes Ghaicuic Piggy.

The best ones, lead by example. Unfortunately, the example our team provides could be sold as instructional videos on what poor execution and mindless clock management looks like.

John Thornton was brought in what seems like eons ago, partly because of his locker room presence and positive leadership, but when asked for his perspective on an 0-7 team, Thornton said, “I’m all out of perspective. Perspective out.” Yikes.

Look around the Bengal locker room after a loss and you’ll find a lot of shaking heads and shrugging shoulders. No need for finger pointing when the entire organization appears bush-league. Carson is more of a yes-man than a leader. He toes the company line and says things like ‘we can win the next nine games and still make the playoffs’, which is nice enthusiasm, but after a while it becomes nauseating, like Kenneth from 30 Rock.

What’s worse is that Marvin cut the only natural leader on the team. The only ray of sunlight in a very dark place: Willie Anderson. Once he was shown out, the team went into the mind set of a funeral, and collectively mourned a loss the week before their first game. That decision will never make sense to me.

On to the game.

When Fitzpatrick drops back to pass, he either: A) runs for his life, B) stays in the pocket for too long and gets mauled by the pass rush, or C) completes a short pass on a timing route. Given those options, it only makes sense that we make the short pass the focus of the offense.

The running game may be improving, but its doing so at a glacier’s pace, the offensive line still is too in touch with their sensitive side to be able to block anyone, and the defense finally collapsed of exhaustion due to being on the field the vast majority of the season.

If it’s the short pass that prolongs drives, than let’s do it three-fourths of the time. If we have to boil our play book down to under 10 plays to give the defense a break, than that’s what happens. Sure, we wanna see the deep ball, what NFL fan doesn’t? But we would really like to see us score occasionally, even if it happens in a more conventional form. Short passes are the only thing the offense seems capable of achieving right now. West Coast offense time. Let’s go.

Texans 26, Bengals 23


Mojokong - Two men enter, one man leaves.