Bad Dope FromThe Inside

You really have to be careful believing what you read about the Bengals these days. If you were unable to watch the third preseason game online, you probably went to the net to find out about how the team did, but, more importantly, about how they looked. The disappointing thing is, you may have been misinformed.

First, James Walker—esteemed AFC North blogger for ESPN—wrote that the Bengals first-team defense was unable to effectively get to the quarterback and only knocked down starter Kevin Kolb once.

Not true.


Kolb ended up on the ground after his first two pass attempts, which eliminates that fuzzy math right off the bat, but furthermore, the defensive line was getting pressure, and while not racking up sacks, they forced handfuls of poor throws made by Kolb under duress. Remember, the preseason is not loaded with fancy blitzes and wild defensive schemes. Most times, it's one-on-one matchups to help coaches gauge individual performances. If the opposing quarterback is flushed from the pocket and resorts to squeezing the ball into small holes, the defense is typically happy, and that is what I saw happen on Friday night. With no big names on the defensive line, I think the national media is eager to to find any example that supports their mediocre expectations of the unit, but, like last season proved, this defense is a symbiotic group, not a few stars and a bunch of bums. The pass rush looks just fine from where I'm standing and I have very few concerns in general from that side of the ball.

Another worrisome tidbit you may have come across was from local Bengal beat-writer, Joe Reedy, who claimed offensive tackle Andre Smith was regularly beaten off the line. This too, seems like an exaggeration.

On Smith's first play of the preseason, he was beaten badly by defensive end Juqua Parker, resulting in both a holding infraction and a sack given up; not a good start. Later he was called for a false start and was credited for giving up another sack in the third quarter. I can see why Mr. Reedy and others feel that his evening was something of a letdown based on these stats.

But....

If you watch Goo's snaps, it was only that first play that seemed problematic. The other sack he allowed was more the fault of the hapless J.T. O'Sullivan not getting the ball out on time, and a defensive stunt up the middle, rather than a protection breakdown from Smith. He does still look slow and it is very for difficult for one to detect much muscle tone in his round arms, but his footwork is pretty good and he continues to demonstrate a natural talent to run block. On a first-down run in the third quarter, Smith plowed ahead creating a nice running lane, and finished the play by punching a defensive back with his one free hand to create more space in the open field. It was a modest six-yard gain but it showed that Andre the Giant does have a motor and a mean streak somewhere inside all of that pudgy cushion and I, for one, am not too worried about the wooly mammoth just yet.

You hear coaches tell reporters all the time that they must first watch the game film before assessing a certain player's performance; it would be smart for reporters to do the same. Since today's media must deliver information as fast as humanly possible, writers make hasty conclusions based more on recorded stats than their own observations. Longtime Mojokong readers know that it takes a few days after the game to get my take on things. I re-watch the game two or three times (mostly in slow motion) before offering up my opinion, so you, the gentle reader, are not subjected to any knee-jerk rhetoric fueled more by emotion than analysis.

It can go the other way too. After reading Bengals.com mainstay, Geoff Hobson's report on how pleased coaches were of Andrew Whitworth's performance, I was dubious if this was true as well. When watching the game live, I remembered Trent Cole blowing by Whitworth and creaming Palmer in his No. 9 just as he let the ball go and thinking to myself how worrisome it was to see. Yet, after re-watching Whitworth's snaps, he did do a very nice job on Cole all night and that isolated incident was a screen-gone-wrong in which case Whit is supposed to release his man early in the play.

It goes to show that writers, bloggers, reporters and analysts aren't always the most accurate source of information when it comes to the way they "see" the game. Yes, they can provide stats and numbers and give us boatloads of cliché answers from players and coaches, but to really get a handle of what happened in any particular game, one must watch it more than once and then decide for themselves. Football is like art; it can be interpreted a thousand different ways.

Mojokong—trust no one. Especially not me.

Now That's More Like It

Perhaps the worries after the first game were somewhat overblown. Not to say everything is swimming along perfectly and that we can begin to plan an itinerary to Dallas in February just yet, but they certainly appeared more polished than the previous week and that's what the preseason is for: tightening up the nuts and bolts of the whole operation.

A particularly good sign was Bob Bratkowski's play-calling throughout the evening. I loved seeing Bernard Scott get his chance to break out on screens and delayed hand-offs, which he accomplished masterfully on two big gains. Scott is the perfect compliment back in the NFL, and possesses an abundance of talent that continues to shine when given the chance.

I also liked the play-action pass to Terrell Owens which was batted down by the all-universe cornerback, Champ Bailey. TO had plenty of passes thrown his way again in the second preseason game, and is actively finding his niche within the offense. What I really like about Owens is his size. The catches he's already made would have likely sailed over the head of Laveranues Coles a season ago. Still, once live action begins (September 12, 1pm) I'd like to see Owens use his muscles to gain tough first-downs after making the catch. There was one incident on Sunday where TO went backwards on fourth-and-short and failed to get the first as a result. I'll let that go for now, as these games don't count, but I wouldn't want that kind of thing to become a habit.

Then there was the pass-protection. Last week I wrote how lackluster the big men looked against the Cowboys, but they followed that letdown up with a performance that appeared syncopated and worry-free. Carson Palmer was sharp as he stepped up in the pocket and delivered accurate darts untroubled by any real pass rush. The mechanical No. 9 demonstrated once again that if the other parts are functioning properly, he too will go about his business effectively and efficiently. Even when Reggie Stephens subbed in for an ailing Kyle Cook at center, the offense drove the field providing Carson with plenty of time and comfort in the pocket. Now with Andre Smith practicing again, and the offensive line showing they at least aren't bad, Bengal fans can once again allow their daydreams to run wild with almost impossible expectations.

The best part about Sunday, though, was seeing the rookies mix into the passing game. Jordan Shipley looks like a quick route-runner who can find space and make the catch once he gets open. These may seem like simple skills for any wide-receiver, but the lack of such skills was exactly what ruined the Bengals offense late last year. Coles and Caldwell continually struggled separating from their defenders and making the grab when it mattered the most. Both spectating media, and Carson himself, has lauded Shipley with praise for his fundamentals all camp long. Unlike other recent Bengal rookie receivers, Ship looks ready to make immediate contributions to the passing game and that should excite anyone rooting for the men in stripes.

The other rookie, of course, is that draft horse of a tight end, Jermaine Gresham. There were some plays where Gresham looked more than adequate on run blocks, throwing defenders out the way, but on other plays he was pushed backward and it caused Cedric Benson to lose yards. The guy is powerful but still needs work on technique. With Reggie Kelly there as a live-in mentor, Gresham should improve on this part of his game, but he has already shown flashes of being an aggressive blocker.

His receiving ability, however, sparkled on Sunday, and that is what gets people who follow this team all fired up when they watch him. There was one occasion where Carson threw a risky pass in the area of Gresham and it appeared that the linebacker had position to knock the ball down, but Gresham leaped to make a nice, difficult catch to move the chains on a third-and-long. On another play, Gresham went in motion, sprinted off the line of scrimmage, engaged the Broncos safety with both hands, disengaged cleanly while cutting back to the inside, made the catch on a slant pattern and picked up nice yards-after-catch. It was exactly the kind of thing the Bengals coaches and front office want to see from him. There is no reason why Gresham will not be very good to great this year. He's a physical force with all the right pedigree, he is said to be a hard worker and quick learner, and he should become a viable weapon for Carson and the offense right away. If you can't get excited about this guy's future, you don't like football.

Finally, there is the defense. I wouldn't say the defense looked dominant, or really even all that special on Sunday, but that doesn't make me worry even a little. If one were to nitpick that side of the ball, I'd say you could point to the overall team speed of the defense. Rey Maualuga has trouble changing directions, Chinedum Ndukwe cheats too far up to the line of scrimmage and doesn't have the foot speed to recover on deeper throws, Dhani Jones is an aged and slowish player, and Leon Hall must rely more on his technique than the fleetness of his feet. I didn't see the Bengals flying to the ball on Sunday and had to make individual tackles instead of the group variety. On the Broncos second touchdown, Hall was juked out by Brandon Lloyd, but still forced him to the inside after making the catch. Fast defenses traditionally have support in that situation and someone else gets a hand on the ball carrier, but in this instance, no one was there to help Hall and Lloyd scored easily. As I said, I'm not worried about it because it's still preseason and also because the Bengals are such good tacklers, but it's something to keep an eye on and I hope it's simply a matter of players adjusting to game speed after the offseason.

All in all, I was pleased with the first-team performance on both sides of the ball on Sunday. The offense looked like they had a purpose and one could sense both a rhythm with the players and a confidence of their abilities. The defense remains the rock of this team and the foot speed should marginally improve by Week 1 of the regular season. Outside of a worrisome kicking situation, the special-teams play seems very solid, especially on punt returns. Like all preseasons, there is still plenty to improve, but just seeing the Bengals grow from one week to the next instills even more confidence in me that my favorite team will be just fine by the start of the season. There is a lot of talent on this team and now it's beginning to show.


Mojokong—hates blackouts.

The Preseason is Vanilla and Depraved

Analyzing the Hall-of-Fame Game is a dangerous thing. Since we're a band of football-starved maniacs, we want to extrapolate conclusions based on what we witnessed take place on a high-school field in Canton, Ohio. But beware, Bengal fan; the game was more of a football-concentrated workout than a battle of wits and strategy. Nonetheless, you want to read about it, so here it goes.

Let's start with the positives. Much has already been written of the promising play of Michael Johnson, Geno Atkins and Adam Jones. The defense looked tough and, more importantly, deep at many positions. I liked the way they came out hitting, and the coverage looked pretty good too. Johnson appears to be a physical specimen with his tall frame and lead-pipe arms, and the prospect of moving him around between linebacker and defensive end is exciting indeed. Atkins, though smallish-looking for a defensive tackle, seems like a very active player with a high motor and low pad-level. And Jones still needs more reps to gain back his technique, but his natural instincts are still sharp.

The only concern I felt for the defense Sunday was of Gibril Wilson unable to cover lumbering tight ends, though he does tackle well. Seeing him demonstrate the same skill set as Roy Williams and Chinedum Ndukwe, makes me wonder why the Bengals have loaded up the safety position with essentially the same kind of player—perhaps it's a Zimmer thing, who knows.

All in all, though, I think we saw a defensive squad who can rotate waves of fresh players in during games and who should be able to compensate well if a starter or two goes down with an injury.

Then there's the offense.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for the first-team offense on Sunday, but it damn sure wasn't impressive by any means. It was nice to see Terrell Owens pull down some catches—especially one on a slant for a medium gain that was called back by a penalty; the Bengals sorely need a receiver with that ability in their offense—but it wasn't nice at all to see Carson Palmer get thrown to the ground twice.

There has been a quiet worry floating around the Bengals camp that the pass-protection simply isn't good enough. Those concerns were not quelled after seeing the line's lynchpin, Andrew Whitworth, get out-muscled by Cowboys defensive end Steven Bowen, who rushed Palmer's pass and took him down on the rush.

Another time, Palmer couldn't immediately find an open receiver. He panicked, scrambled out of the pocket and was taken down for a sack. One legitimate knock on Carson is that if a play breaks down, he typically becomes useless. He is a product of the system, and if there is a glitch in the system, then there is a glitch with Palmer. In order for him to be at the top of his game, he must trust that the line will not fail him. If that trust is broken, he becomes a nervous, rattled quarterback and much hope is lost. The offensive line is not particularly deep this season—exacerbated by the fatso Andre Smith unable to get into "football" shape—and the starting unit must become reliable in the eyes of their quarterback. Dallas wasn't pulling out the exotic blitz packages in their game-plan and was still getting to No. 9. This facet of the offense must improve, or the struggles are likely to continue.

As for the back-up quarterbacks, let's just pray that they never become much of a storyline once the regular season begins. J.T. O'Sullivan and Jordan Palmer had as much command on the offense on Sunday as BP had on its oil spill. Coaches are now saying Jordan has a chance to supplant O'Sullivan as the number-two QB because—let's face it—it can't get any worse. I thought Cowboys quarterback Stephen McGee looked like a No. 2 while both of our guys looked like third-stringers. It would be smart of the front office to maybe make a few inquiries around the league to see if any other team wants to dangle one of their backup arms, because with pass-protection concerns, a backup quarterback becomes more important than we'd like it to be.

In a more general sense, however, I felt the offense looked unprepared and unfocused. Of course the playbook in the preseason is a big yellow plastic thing that says Playskool ® on it, and is as rudimentary and safe as it gets; there's no hand-tipping or trickery and the formations are common and uninteresting. This is true for every team, but other offenses appear to have a focus of what they're working on; the Bengals focus looked like slants and outs patterns and even those appeared to be unfinished works.

Baltimore, in their game, worked on play-action deep passes and screen plays, and looked efficient doing it. On one drive, the Ravens threw four straight screens to Willis McGahee then went deep to the end-zone for a touchdown to Mark Clayton. The focus was clear and it was different from last season's. I hope by Week 1 in September, I cans sense that with the Bengals as well.

For the upcoming game, I want to see the offense, including the backups, find some kind of rhythm. I want to see an identity show through on at least one drive. At no point against Dallas was Cincinnati able to demonstrate what kind of offense they want to be, and with so many new players in the offense, I think that is important to establish before the real thing gets going.

I also want to see a decent screen-play ran, preferably to Bernard Scott. With Brian Leonard out for a while, Scott's role should expand even more to start this season. He has tremendous field vision and is dangerous in open spaces—thus his kick-return success. Throwing screens to this guy is a no-brainer, but the only way it's going to look okay against the Patriots is if it's practiced enough now (and if Bratkowski actually calls the play, of course).

Like I say every year after a preseason loss: there's no need to panic. I was extremely dubious of this team going into Week 1 of last season—predicting a meager 7-9 record for the season—but then I saw something in that game against the Broncos that I hadn't detected in the preseason, and my opinion immediately changed. Playing four preseason games is somewhat of a joke anyway; a fifth game is like a bad pun. Hunter S. Thompson once said the most depraved thing a sports gambler could do is bet on preseason NFL games and you can see his point—the coaches aren't even trying to win! Still, as a Bengals fan, I want to see something that gets me excited and 10 punts and four turnovers ain't gonna do it. Good thing they have four more chances to try again.

Mojokong—life on tape-delay.

How To Defend The Bengals

Suddenly it has become your task to draw up a defensive game-plan and prepare to stop the Cincinnati Bengals offense; how do you do it?

First, you must stop the run. It doesn't matter who their receivers are, if you can't stop the run, you lose. Despite showcasing every capable attribute one could ask for in a power runner last season, Cedric Benson continues to be overshadowed and somewhat forgotten among the team's flashy receivers. Benson wants the ball 30 times a game and has done nothing to dissuade onlookers from agreeing with him, including the coaching staff who believe in that pair of legs.

That means loading up the box on first and second downs, sneaking safeties up and drawing the linebackers' attention to the running game, making it priority number one. If you continue putting eight or more in the box though, it allows their receivers to run deep against one-on-one coverage and that can be awfully risky. Regardless, defenses must be committed to stopping the run, or else defending the pass becomes a moot point.

Assuming you have Benson contained enough to bring up the occasional passing down, there is that whole double-teaming business to consider. Doubling Chad Ochocinco still makes the most sense since Terrell Owens and Carson Palmer need time to develop chemistry. That being said, you'd better have a pretty decent corner with size if you intend on keeping him on an island with TO. A jump ball against that horse can be like trying to box out a Big East power forward, and smallish corners are outmatched in that scenario.

What's that you say? Double them both? Well, that may not be a bad idea, unless Jermaine Gresham becomes the player everyone expects of him. You could even double him with a nickel-back and linebacker, but then you become vulnerable to the slot receiver match-up in three wide receiver sets.

Who that slot is, almost seems irrelevant. Obviously, team management would like that player to be Antonio Bryant (4 years/$28 million, $8 million guaranteed), but for each day he misses practice in training camp due to his knee injury, doubt grows in the minds of spectators, and likely coaches, about his immediate role in the offense. With a healthy Bryant, the team gets a gritty, physical receiver who could excel in the slot. With a gimpy Bryant, however, memories of last season's receivers struggling to get open spring to mind.

Other slot candidates, should Bryant be demoted on the depth chart, include both Jordan Shipley and Andre Caldwell. Having not seen any real camp footage, and not being there in person, it's impossible for me to say who is ahead right now—and comments from the coaches have been generally supportive about everyone so far—but knowing the way Marvin Lewis traditionally goes about things, I would say Caldwell has the advantage because he's been in the system longer. There's plenty of time for Shipley to get a handle on things by Week One, but Marvin knows what he's getting from Caldwell when the games matter, and coaches prefer not to dabble with the unknown.

Yet, as stated, it doesn't matter who lines up in the slot. If Benson, Gresham, TO & Chad all garner the attention they should, the slot receiver should be open most of the time.

So with all these weapons, all these threats to consider, how do you beat a team like this? Simple, you blitz the hell out of them.

The worrisome undercurrent grumbling beneath the euphoric fanfare of training camp is about the reliability of the offensive line. Late last season, the line looked porous and Carson Palmer became increasingly less comfortable in the pocket as a result. This year, reports on the pass-protection have not been sterling, and the highest paid offensive lineman on the team, is unfit to play—again. It helps that Reggie Kelly is back for extra blocking support, and word is that Chase Coffman and Fui Vakapuna have demonstrated more aggression this training camp. But Vakapuna is already hurt and the unpopular Daniel Coats could be the best option at fullback.

Defenses will test the mettle of the pass protection. Every Bengals fan knows the drop-off of play that Carson suffers when his confidence is shaken. He is not a quarterback that works well on the fly or makes things up as he goes. He needs consistency and reliability from his teammates or else everything goes to shit in a hurry. So I would expect teams to bring the heat in order to crawl into Palmer's head.

Fortunately, there is an easy solution to this, but it's up to our man, Bob Bratkowski. Brat has the competency rating of Congress around Bengal Country and the more cautious fans won't allow all the hype about the team to distract them from their opinion that Bratkowski sucks and will find a way to screw it all up. I waver on this topic, but usually allow my optimism to win out in the end.

But all the man has to do is develop a variation of the west-coast offense, complete with three-step drops and quick pass-patterns, and rely on his bigger receivers to make the catch and rack up some YAC (yards-after-catch). I know Carson's best passing vertically down the field and stretching defenses, and I like watching him throw the deep ball too, but if he's getting pressured every time he drops back seven steps, when is it no longer worth it? Slant patterns to T.O., shallow crosses to Gresham, six-yard curls to Shipley, a high lob to Chad, this is how a team gets in a passing rhythm without getting sacked.

If teams blitz like they should against the Bengals, a solution to keep No. 9 off his back is paramount to the season's success. A quick passing game can easily become such a solution, but Brat has resisted going in that direction in the past and I don't think he will change now. That means our guys had better block somebody and keep that Golden Boy upright. You have five weeks to get it together, men; God speed.

Mojokong—there is poison, and then there is us.

There's A Gleam

It was January 11, 1986 at Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium where Marty Schottenheimer gathered his troops on the sideline and told them that there existed a part of football beyond that of our physical senses. He called it “the gleam”. He didn't go into detail; he simply told them it existed and to go get it. I used to think he was the only one who ever knew anything about the gleam and that perhaps he was a mystic, but reading about the Bengals lately, I think I can sense it too.

I'm an emotionally cautious person these days when it comes to the Bengals. I used to get all fired up when training camp would roll around and pronounce them serious contenders...every year. Then the 2008 season came along and crushed my spirit. Obviously, last year soothed some of that trauma, yet nonetheless, I've tried to remain guarded about my favorite team—it just isn't working.

They have a gleam to them. Even when I try to think analytically about the whole thing, it still equates to the Bengals having a great season. I don't detect a clear weakness in this team, and they were damn good last year with what seems like half of this year's roster. They're deep at nearly every position, they have a platoon of healthy players returning, and now they have real star power. The coaches can feel it, the players can feel and I can too. Something is certainly shining in Georgetown, Kentucky right now.

I know what you're thinking: it's TO that's getting me so excited. Well, you're mostly right.

What I am dying to find out is how the Bengals will attack the New England Patriots in Week 1. Even if Antonio Bryant still isn't healthy, suddenly Cincinnati has one of the deepest receiving corps in the league and can throw to a plethora of targets. Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network said that what he hears from scouts is that Owens is best when teams put him in motion and move him around to seek out matchups that favor the offense. Buffalo wasn't able to use TO like that last year, but our offense can put him all over the field and still not draw double teams. With Chad Ochocinco and Jermaine Gresham on the field too, defenses will have to pick their poison against these guys.

That's even if we pass all that much. Bob Bratkowski has been steady with his remarks that this remains a power-run team, and that, he says, won't change. Who can blame him? Now that Cedric Benson is officially off the hook with the Commissioner's Office, might as well use him up—considering he become a free agent after this season. The line is built for the run—especially if that fat ass Andre Smith can get it going—and the stable of running backs compliment one another nicely. I don't think anyone has a problem with the Bengals racking up the rushing yards, but it's when they need to pass that needs improved, and, after a vigorous campaign to improve just that, I think they will be.

Not one player held out because they didn't like their current contract, despite the upcoming labor skirmish swirling around the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and despite it being the cool thing to do. No one (of importance) hurt themselves in the offseason. No one got suspended. Fans are flocking to Georgetown in record numbers to scream support to their team. National pundits now like the Bengals. Mike Brown just pulled off one of the most successful offseasons in recent memory. Crazy things are happening! It's the gleam!


Mojokong—bubbling over.