Do the Bengals lose because they abandon the run? (1 Viewer)

[joffer]

week 1: 34/116 - win

week 2: 32/160 - win

week 3: 25/87 - win

week 4: 17/71 - loss

week 6: 20/53 - loss

week 7: 30/113 - win

week 8: 18/73 - loss

not staggering differences, but noticeable. New England definitely put them in a hole, so that one i get, but yesterday's game was different. it's not like they were down the whole game to Atlanta and had to stop running, they just moved away from it.

i was looking for some Bengals' fans opinions on this, does the Cincy media ever criticize Lewis for not running more?

 

[fsufan]

didn't Rudi have like 25 to 30 yards and a TD in the 1Q. But only ended up with 46 yards.

 

[Godsbrother]

I'll let the Cincy homers answer this because they watch the Bengals every week. As a Steelers fan, though, I have always thought the Bengals should run more, especially in the 2nd half.

I think Rudi Johnson is a really good RB and Perry is a nice change of pace back.

 

[falconeyed]

It seems to me that the Bengals are getting away from the run too fast. It seems as if they want to turn games into a shootout when their wins seem to have been in games where they did the exact opposite. Any CIN homers for confirmation / denial?

 

[BeTheMatch]

didn't Rudi have like 25 to 30 yards and a TD in the 1Q. But only ended up with 46 yards.

I believe that Rudi had 31 yards and a TD on around six carries on the first drive.I don't think he got a carry on either of the next two drives. I don't know what it is. Bob Bratkowski loves to throw the ball.Even in the second half, the game was very close throughout, so there was no reason to abandon the run like they did.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

I'll let the Cincy homers answer this because they watch the Bengals every week. As a Steelers fan, though, I have always thought the Bengals should run more, especially in the 2nd half. I think Rudi Johnson is a really good RB and Perry is a nice change of pace back.

I agree here -- Rudi is a beast and has always run very tough against us... I can't understand how you give a back of his quality only X carries. (what did he wind up with? 11? 14?)

 

[pimptastic69]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind.

If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

 

[Bonzai]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

pretty much what i was gonna say.the main issue is that our defense is in shambles and we find ourselves playing catch up too often.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

It's like we watched two totally different games.

 

[joffer]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

fair point. the time of possession was heavily in Atlanta's favor 37-22.

 

[pimptastic69]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

It's like we watched two totally different games.

How so?Look at the drive charts. There really was no good time to re-establish a running game after the first quarter.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

It's like we watched two totally different games.

How so?Look at the drive charts. There really was no good time to re-establish a running game after the first quarter.

I don't know about any drive charts, but I watched the whole game. They weren't way down starting the second half or at any point in the half. No excuse to have that few carries, especially with Rudi's early success in the game.

 

[pimptastic69]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

It's like we watched two totally different games.

How so?Look at the drive charts. There really was no good time to re-establish a running game after the first quarter.

I don't know about any drive charts, but I watched the whole game. They weren't way down starting the second half or at any point in the half. No excuse to have that few carries, especially with Rudi's early success in the game.

So, if would have run the ball 3 times and punted at the start of the second half, things would be good? Cuz after that, they were behind.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

It's like we watched two totally different games.

How so?Look at the drive charts. There really was no good time to re-establish a running game after the first quarter.

I don't know about any drive charts, but I watched the whole game. They weren't way down starting the second half or at any point in the half. No excuse to have that few carries, especially with Rudi's early success in the game.

So, if would have run the ball 3 times and punted at the start of the second half, things would be good? Cuz after that, they were behind.

Behind? Yes. Behind by so much that you have to throw every down? Hardly.

 

[Vitruvian Man]

I think I read a stat that said that when the Bengals run Rudi 20+ times per game, they win. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Tau837]

Against the Falcons, there just weren't opportunities to run the ball after the 1st quarter. The Bengals were either in a hurry up, non-running situations (2nd and 17, 3rd and 10 and such) or they were behind. If you look at the final game stats, it's easy to see that they should have run more. But if you had watched the game or look at the play by play, you can see that running the ball wasn't a very good option.

I watched the game and didn't agree with that assessment, but after taking a look that is partly true.Rudi had 5 carries for 32 yards and a TD plus 2 receptions for 8 yards on Cincy's opening drive. On their second drive, up 7-6, Cincy passed twice on consecutive 1st & 10 plays, ran Rudi on 2nd & 5, passed on 3rd & 3, and punted.On their third drive, which began with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter and Cincy still up 7-6, Rudi was replaced by Perry. They scored in 8 plays to go up 14-3, with Perry getting 2 carries for 11 yards and 1 catch for 11 yards. Can't argue with success, I guess.Their fourth drive, up 14-13, started with 1:54 remaining in the second quarter, so Watson was in for the two minute drill. Watson carried once for 3 yards, then Palmer threw 9 passes and they kicked a FG. Not giving Rudi carries in this situation is understandable.On their 5th drive to open the second half up 17-13, Rudi got one carry, on 2nd & 10. Palmer threw 2 incompletions and Cincy punted.On their 6th drive, down 20-17, Rudi had 5 carries for 13 yards on a 10 play drive. Cincy kicked a FG to tie the game at 20.On their 7th drive, down 26-20, Rudi had no touches. To be fair, on 1st & 10, Housh lost 7 yards on an end around, so it is understandable that Rudi had no carries. Cincy went 3 and out.Their 8th drive started with 7:42 left and Cincy down 29-20. Palmer dropped back to pass 6 times in a row, Cincy gained a total of 15 yards, and punted. Kind of understandable in that they needed two scores... though I think they may have gone one dimensional a bit early.Cincy's 9th "drive" was one play: the 55 yard TD pass to Henry that cut the lead to 29-27 with 3:41 remaining. Clearly understandable that Rudi didn't touch the ball.Then, they didn't get the ball back until only 19 seconds remained.---I believe Cincy had 28 first downs. Rudi ran 6 times for 34 yards on 1st down. Great success... so why only 6 1st down carries? All in all, they were successful on their other 1st downs (although that success was inflated somewhat by the 55 yard TD)... but in cases where they were not successful, a couple of important second half drives stalled.

 

[FBGirl79]

I agree that it didn't seem like they had the same opportunity to run the ball as much in the 2nd quarter but I too think they should have had different play calling to try to run the ball more. Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson were both apparently upset about the offense not running the ball more after the game. Bengals Website When the 2nd quarter started and they abandoned the running game, I thought maybe they were just taking it easy on Rudi given that his back was bothering him this week but apparently that wasn't the case.

I might get blasted for saying this but part of me thinks abandoning the run was more of a way to try to pacify the WR's and get them yards and TD's.

 

[Tau837]

I think I read a stat that said that when the Bengals run Rudi 20+ times per game, they win. Can anyone confirm this?

This may be, but that could just as easily mean that when Cincy is winning, they give Rudi more carries as that giving Rudi more carries leads to winning.

 

[Tau837]

I also wonder about pacifying not only the WRs, but also Palmer. I'm not saying he is a complainer or prima donna, but I could see him pushing to throw more. Bottom line is that he threw 36 passes and Rudi ran 12 times. While game situations dictated that to some degree, it also seems that Cincy is content to be a passing team, despite having the best smashmouth running back in the league today.

 

[pimptastic69]

I think I read a stat that said that when the Bengals run Rudi 20+ times per game, they win. Can anyone confirm this?

I bet this stat is true for any team that wins a game.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Apparently Rudi agreed with those of us who thought the Bengals abandoned the run too early:

"There's too much going on, trying to do too much," said Johnson, who gained more than 1,400 rushing yards the past two seasons and has 552 yards on 142 carries this season. "Stick with what's working. If you're trying to win the ball game, stick with what's working. You know what I mean?

"If they find a way to stop it, then you change up. You change up throughout the game, but don't just cold turkey something for no reason."