Very good point JT. Never really thought about that to be honest. It does seem like once they started rotating guys quite a bit, that’s when the passing game went downhill. Excuse my ignorance on this but why do they call him an eligible receiver every time he’s put in? Is that common or is that just a Bratkowski thing?

Could this be why they are having so many pre-snap penalties? Maybe they are confusing Andrew Whitworth more than opposing defenses.

A-freakin’-men. I’m sick of the group-think narrative that keeps getting perpetuated around the sports media that the Bengals “play-down” to their opponents. This team has won and lost with the same formula all year, run the ball and play good defense. With the exception of the Bears game, inconsistencies in the passing game have limited scoring all year and is keeping games close.

I agree whole-heartedly with your tempo comment. It seems whenever Carson drops back, its taking him forever to get rid of the ball. Is he being indecisive? Are the receivers not getting open? Or are the plays just taking too long to develop? I’ve always though option 3 was more to blame than anything. I’d like to see more 3-step-drops-and-hit-the-quick-slant type of plays to help Carson get into more of a rhythm.

They have to announce that, its a league rule. He has to report. The Bengals are doing a good job of confusing defenses, but that usually results in a 5-7 yd gain. Time to get chunks. They really lack weapons for Carson. No real speed on field. No threat at the TE position.

Is Chad no longer a speed threat or is he being taken out of games by double teams? TJ would be huge right now if we still had him. I remember at the beginning of the year the team tried to play it off that Coles was more dynamic than TJ. Coles couldn’t carry TJs jock strap. I thought dude was kind of a jerk when he left but I miss him. Why aren’t they using Caldwell in TJs role like they did at the beginning of the season? A legitimate TE probably takes away the majority of the complaints about the Bengals offense.

JT –

We’ve got Chad, Caldwell, Coles, Cosby, and Purify. Simpson too, if you want to get technical. Being an Ohio State fan, I know that Cosby can catch passes. So can Leonard. Why isn’t Brat stealing pages from the Patriots’ playbook? I know we’ve lost Mini-Moss, but you and I have been talking for weeks that we’re winning games with the clock, not with points. If the coaches can’t figure out how to put up 28-35 points a game, we’re going nowhere in the playoffs. Considering how many guys have 1-year contracts, I don’t know if MB will get another chance like this for a few years.

Look at the UC-Pitt game. Pitt dominated the clock, ran the ball down the Bearcats’ throat. The only reason the Bearcats had a chance to win is because they could put points on the board lightning fast. The Colts, Saints, and once upon a time the Vikings, are all able to do that. But we can’t close the deal on drives like Pitt did.

Or here’s a crazy thought – why not have Roland catch a pass? He’s eligible, and nobody’s expecting it. Might just be crazy enough to work.

PS – I bet now you like my question about Peko. I’m still curious as to what you think.

What was the question about Peko? I forgot

Chaz P, no fair what question about Peko? Enquiring minds want to know…..

I think you have a point John, but the problem is, who do you put at right tackle. Obviously andre is the future and roland does well, but has his struggles at times. Plus, if anything, come playoff time, the way to beat those teams (namely colts and saints) are to control the clock with the run game. I personally love what we are doing. Other teams know we are running the ball and we still try to shove it down there throats.

JT—

I think this has caused some inconsistencies that have resulted in penalties…BUT I like what they have done. I think this week was a chance to get #71 as many snaps as possible (he played much better this week btw…and yes, it looks like he can pass block). But the thing that the rotation has done is we have soooo much depth on the o-line right now, with everyone pretty healthy.

So I like the bench strenghth this has created, you see other teams using the unbalanced formation in following the Bengals and I think this was a ploy to get players snaps, provide vanilla film to the opponents and it sets up well in the long run. My thought would be we’ll see a bit less of this in the next two weeks.

An unbelieveable season or what????!!!

JT,

Do you ever get a chance to run your ideas by the coaching staff? It seems like you think a lot more logically than do the Bengals. Or at least 2 weeks ahead of the Bengals.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that in what has become a passing league, we are doing something unique, and that’s pound the rock incessantly, the way Baltimore and Pittsburgh did last year. But at some point, we’ve got to know our weaknesses and gameplan around them. The longer pass routes don’t work because Roland is garbage in pass protection and Coles gets no separation on the outside, so the middle is clogged for Caldwell. So we need to adjust and go with more short routes in the passing game, especially on early downs.

That, and activate Chase!! Coats is uncoordinated and should be put down.

I kind of agree with you Ryan, it doesn’t matter how much you win by, you just have to win. My issue is that sometimes you do need to be able to pass the ball, and Palmer has struggled as of late. It would go a long way to help the team and Palmer’s confidence if they get it going again, even if for just a couple of drives. It would also cause teams to back off a little and open up the run game, Detroit played to stop the run and it worked pretty well for them considering they are playing with Detroit’s D and not Minnesota’s.

Also, the Defense is struggling with injuries. While it’s good to run ball control offense and give the D some rest, the Bengals will need to start scoring some points because they could struggle at times.

The fine on Chad was way too much, I know it’s a repeat violation and it was advertised he would do something, but still, that is crazy. The stunt was short and stupid, it wasn’t worth anything at all that he did it. Not sure about the poncho and if that is allowed, but at the bench he can put on a jacket or cover up to stay warm. The Hat should have drawn a fine because it was not NFL Licensed, just not $30,000. In the future, he needs to wear only NFL Licensed gear. Maybe a nice Bengals Santa hat. Who knows, maybe there is an NFL Licensed Sombrero out there, they did play a game or 2 in Mexico.

Now if Chad had put it on and did a Mexican dance in the end zone, that would be a stunt. Chad can’t do that because it would get the team a 15 yard penalty. Or maybe over with the cheerleaders, not sure about a personal foul for that.

My main issue is this, why did the camera follow Chad all the way back to the bench? They don’t show fans running on the field; they should have a policy to not show off the field celebrations until after the game. Why isn’t the camera man, the producer, or Fox Sports fined for showing it?

I thought the NFL said you can’t do stuff like that in the end zone – $30grrr is steep

I’m actually fine with the OL rotation. I believe they also rotated the LG position (Livings played 1st and 3rd quarters and Mathis 2nd and 4th quarters). I always wondered why the O-Line didn’t rotate players more. Those guys are huge, don’t they get tired?

As for the passing game, if they can clean up the penalites and remove any plays that involve throwing to Coats or Jeremi Johnson, we should be Ok. Not great but good enough to win some playoff games.

Refresh me, who is “the mouth of the south”?

Jimmy Hart?
Ron, Chad did that in 2005. He had a giant red bag full of swag and handed it out. I dont remember if he was fined, but I dont think so. As we all knoe 85 doesnt repeat his celebrations. I still love the “propose to the cheerleader” celebration.
Yea the fine was insane. At least Flozel “nobody” Adams got hit with an even more insane fine for that cheap shot on Justin Tuck.

I think this Shaun Smith move is to provide DL depth if Peko can’t go down the stretch or needs to go on IR. Also, if they haven’t used Chase now then they aren’t using him this year; thus they made up an injury to pave his way to IR. Can’t risk losing him by placing him on IR.

Chase may have bone spur issues but that isn’t why he isn’t playing.

You guys all really think they made up the Chase Coffman injury to get a roster spot? I cant see that happening. I think they had hopes of getting him on the field, but those hopes were just dashed by a docter’s diagnosis. This team seems to have a hard time deciding when to shut guys down. Palmer never did go on IR last year, and he was not going to play.

Dave, we are still in the same seats, sec. 308… the best section!!!!

Yea I like “Hamburgler” better than “Mouth of the South” for sure. Strange signing…..

I think Shaun will play well too. He should be fresh, that is not all dinged up and able to perform physically and their is something about being out on the street that makes guy’s hungry to play well. My only concern is that I am hearing he isn’t going to play in Minnesota. I would ask JT if this is true, does it make sense to him.

I always watch everybody hates chris.,’,