Whats the problem in Cincinnati? (1 Viewer)

[shader]

I haven't watched the Bengals in a few weeks, so I'm asking this question to all those that have watched the games...

What is wrong with the Bengals offense? Look, we all know the defense stinks. But how has this offense fallen so far from a few years ago? You'd think the continued maturation of Palmer, the emergence of TJ as a top-flight receiver, and the stability in an offense growing together would make this offense much more explosive now than before.

But they seem to just be falling apart. Is it Palmer? Is he playing well? Lack of a running game? Offensive line?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Why is TJ topflight? because he racks up fantasy points? The guy cannot stretch the field at all...and they need that WR3 down the seem to keep things moving. Chad is double teamed and defenses allow Housh to get a lot of dump offs...his avg is right around 10 yds a catch, that has to be close to if not the worst of any starting WR in the NFL.

I know many are going to tear this post apart, but I have never been impressed with Housh...and if you take off the fanatsy football goggles for a minute you will observe the same.

 

[ninerfanatic492000]

levi jones and willie anderson have been in and out of the lineup all season. there workhorse has brokedown. kenny watson is a very good fillin RB, rudi however let them work the clock-lending a helping hand to there horrendous defense. that horrendous defense used to atleast cause a few turnovers time to time, now they don't even do that.

 

[bradf35]

They need a good pass catching TE. This would allow Housh to get down field more. As it is, he is stuck running little slants all day long. Getting Henry back will help, but until they get a TE they will struggle.

 

[ninerfanatic492000]

with wille and levi hurting/underperforming any TE they put into the game will mainly serve as a extra blocker to help protect carson

 

[Jene Bramel]

Why is TJ topflight? because he racks up fantasy points? The guy cannot stretch the field at all...and they need that WR3 down the seem to keep things moving. Chad is double teamed and defenses allow Housh to get a lot of dump offs...his avg is right around 10 yds a catch, that has to be close to if not the worst of any starting WR in the NFL.I know many are going to tear this post apart, but I have never been impressed with Housh...and if you take off the fanatsy football goggles for a minute you will observe the same.

The passes to TJ are certainly not dump-offs.TJ runs the tough routes in the middle of the field. He finds soft spots in zones, he runs crisp routes and beats more than his share of good corners, he can stretch the field but it's not his role as a slot receiver (i.e. his out and up is among the best in the game), he's generally the best blocking WR on the team, he'll catch any ball in traffic, he has a knack for getting open in the red zone.Both players get double teamed frequently, especially with all the Cover-2 the Bengals have been seeing in 2007.FF goggles aside, many teams would love to have a tough, all-around possession receiver like TJ.

 

[trogg78]

I think Marvin is just too much of a sportsman and not trying hard enough to run up the score.

 

[Cenobite]

Terrible clock management has hurt this team. Too many running plays at crucial times with a RB, K. Watson, who has no history of success. This year the play calling has been terrible.

 

[jbalicki10]

Once Henry he back in, the passing will open up the run. Once the run can get establish, the Bengals will win BIG. It will all start the day Henry gets back. Book it!!!!

 

[Jene Bramel]

A bunch of smaller things have conspired to slow this offense down.

Palmer's flaws -- forcing balls into small windows and holding the ball too long -- are magnified when playing from behind and when the OL doesn't play as a cohesive unit. The erratic play of the offensive tackles have kept the running game from getting into a good rhythm until the past two weeks. The lack of another underneath threat (to allow Housh to run some deeper middle routes) or another outside threat to stretch the Cover-2 down the sidelines and open up still wider running lanes hurts. And coaching and preparation remain a major issue. Unfortunately, despite the lesson they should have learned when they stuck with the running game against the Jets when down two scores, the offense still tries to throw the ball into the teeth of Cover-2 defenses on early downs. There are an inordinate number of pre snap penalties that keep the team off-schedule. Add all that to a defense that cannot stop anyone and you've often got a team that must stay one-dimensional from early in games.

Throw in a coach who won't sack up on 4th and 1 from inside the five with less than three minutes to go in a half and you've got a recipe for disaster.

The good news?

The backup offensive linemen continue to improve and Ghiaciuc and Kelly are healthy again. The Bengals, with Kenny Watson, were able to average over four yards per carry against the Steelers. The return of Chris Henry is right around the corner. Rudi Johnson should return soon.

The defense will remain an issue but this offense will soon have most of the same parts that allowed them to be productive regardless of the situation. Things should get better.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

Why is TJ topflight? because he racks up fantasy points? The guy cannot stretch the field at all...and they need that WR3 down the seem to keep things moving. Chad is double teamed and defenses allow Housh to get a lot of dump offs...his avg is right around 10 yds a catch, that has to be close to if not the worst of any starting WR in the NFL.I know many are going to tear this post apart, but I have never been impressed with Housh...and if you take off the fanatsy football goggles for a minute you will observe the same.

Through 7 games he's got 58 catches for 629 yards, averaging 10.8 yards every catch and he's got 9 Td's. The guy is a workhorse and takes a lot of big shots over the middle on many of these receptions.He's not really a guy who will stretch the field but so what, that's why they have Johnson. I'm not going to argue who's better as they're both very good and do different things but I can't buy into this argument that defenses just give him those yards. I mean, why is Housh the lucky man, why isn't it Perry or whoever that's allowed to get those yards? He gets them because he's strong, runs good routes, isn't afraid to take the hit, has good hands and Palmer looks for him when the chips are down.

 

[Fear & Loathing]

They need a good pass catching TE. This would allow Housh to get down field more. As it is, he is stuck running little slants all day long. Getting Henry back will help, but until they get a TE they will struggle.

They've had great offenses in the past couple of years, and that never included any semblance of a pass catching tight end.The biggest problems are obvious:1.] Chris Henry is much better than people realize. He's more talented than Housh, and he's basically a poor man's Randy Moss. He's a playmaker. When you take a legit playmaker out of the offense, it's not going to be as explosive.2.] The aforementioned struggles of the offensive line due to injuries and ineffectiveness of bookend tackles Willie Anderson and Levi Jones. Jene already went into good detail about those effects on Palmer. Losing Rudi and not having a tight end are merely flesh wounds. These are the two main factors.

 

[North]

Totally ignoring Chad Johnson in the red zone. Palmer keys in on Housh and it shows.

It's pathetic that Johnson only gets 7 targets yesterday (he caught 5). Everyone wants to rip him because he dropped one ball, the other was uncatchable. I've heard people say "thats the reason Palmer doesn't throw to him anymore" after he dropped the 1 pass. What a joke!

 

[Jene Bramel]

Totally ignoring Chad Johnson in the red zone. Palmer keys in on Housh and it shows.It's pathetic that Johnson only gets 7 targets yesterday (he caught 5). Everyone wants to rip him because he dropped one ball, the other was uncatchable. I've heard people say "thats the reason Palmer doesn't throw to him anymore" after he dropped the 1 pass. What a joke!

Johnson isn't a great red zone threat. He doesn't run the option fade/slant like Marvin Harrison or Torry Holt and he doesn't have the size to consistently win the jump balls that Plaxico Burress or Randy Moss can. His redzone targets are usually outside the ten yard line. Often, they come as quick tosses that require him to make a move to score or as slow developing deep outs and crosses. Palmer has keyed in on Housh over the past 18 months for a number of different reasons. Last season, the offensive line struggles threw off the timing routes that Johnson runs -- deep outs/ins, post routes, etc -- where as Housh's routes allowed some time to find soft spots in the zone and didn't require precise throws. This season, CJ's routes are those that are often covered well by the Cover-2. The corner routes and deep ins/outs are still there but the deep ball has all but been taken away. With the Bengals offense struggling to move the ball on early downs, Housh is going to get as many or more third down targets as CJ. Until the offense can get opposing defenses out of the Cover-2, TJ will see more targets than CJ. TJ is very likely to always see more red zone targets. That was even the case in 2005, when CJ out-targeted TJ 155-115.

 

[Wally Cleaver]

Totally ignoring Chad Johnson in the red zone. Palmer keys in on Housh and it shows.It's pathetic that Johnson only gets 7 targets yesterday (he caught 5). Everyone wants to rip him because he dropped one ball, the other was uncatchable. I've heard people say "thats the reason Palmer doesn't throw to him anymore" after he dropped the 1 pass. What a joke!

One was over the middle and hit him right in the hands on a big third down, the other was down the field for a big play and was also right in his hands after he came back for the ball... Don't make excuses for Chad, he has not played well lately!

 

[jaana1us]

if watson misses this weeks game 2nd to head injury who is the bengals starting rb? perry

 

[maxwell1295]

if watson misses this weeks game 2nd to head injury who is the bengals starting rb? perry

Looks like he might miss it...Per RotoWorld:

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis disclosed Monday that Kenny Watson suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss.

Lewis added that the injury "subsided today," but this is still a major concern in regard to Watson's status for Week 9. The Bengals have a strong matchup at Buffalo, and it seems likely that Watson will be on the team's injury report. Check back Wednesday for an update on Watson's practice status.

 

[bigcorn]

good points on the O-line and Henry.

the other thing missing is C. Perry. the bengals have been awful on 3rd down. mainly because they don't have Perry to catch those check down passes for 3 to 7 yards on 3rd down to keep drives going. Watson is OK but Perry was very effective (when healthy) at keeping drives alive. hopefully he can come back this year and contribute. i'm not sure he can ever stay healthy though.

the bengals are in big trouble on both sides of the ball.

fantasy wise, as a CJ owner, i'm afraid he'll lose interest and not play as hard once they are officially out of the playoff hunt.

 

[packersfan]

if watson misses this weeks game 2nd to head injury who is the bengals starting rb? perry

Nope.It sounds like running back Chris Perry is still at least three weeks away from playing in a game and that right tackle Willie Anderson won't be back for that game .

Lewis had originally said Perry was supposed to start practice Wednesday, but he's checking with the NFL to see if Perry can sit on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) for one more week before he takes the field. And Lewis indicated he'll take the maximum three weeks once Perry hits the field before activating him.

Link

 

[knowledge dropper]

Dorsey would be the starterr if no Watson or Rudi.