Cowboys Don’t Belong In The Wild

 

First, I have to apologize for not writing last week. I had a few personal things I had to handle but my stripes were still out in full force and the Bengals took care of business. Now with that comes criticism as well. Today, I will sort through them and as good as a biased fan will ever do. I also want to touch base on BJGE, even though I have been a big critic of his. I will talk about what we have to do in order to beat the Cowboys as well.

Over the past few weeks I have heard people uttering about the Bengals and I would love to jump in with my very biased opinion. I have heard from a few other unimportant team fans that the Bengals dont play anyone this year and that their schedule has been easy. I dont agree and I feel that some of the teams we have played play hard every week despite their record. Cleveland is a tough and up coming team that is makng people take notice, plus they are a divsion gameand you can never go all in with these games. They know each other bettter than other teams which often times make it a great game. I have no excuse for the first loss to a tough Baltimore team. We were embarrased. That is all to say of that. Also I feel that we play in the toughest division of footall. The AfC North has consistently sent at least 2 teams to the playoffs. Just based on the two they are 1/4 of our schedule. Not to mention we don’t create the schedule.

One of our biggest issue to me in those games was the lack of a running game. However, the past few weeks you would think we have a superstar back. Afterall he did start off veery rocky by giving up his staple of not letting the ball go and he hadnt seen what 100 yardslooks like. Today, BJGE has done things he didnt need to do, to get him this job. That is good for us as it keeps defenses honest and some of the pressure off Andy Dalton. I also believe the OC takes some blame for not letting BJGE get rolling. I dont know many backs who can get rolling with less than 5 touches a quarter. This will not be any different for a short yardage back. So now I am a liitle bit more fond of BJGE and I am hoping he can continue to see the holes and break big runs. He isnt Corey Dillon, but he did get 3 straight 100 yard games, something that hasnt been done since Dillon in 1998. Pretty sweet for a guy who was a short yardage guy.

Now to what really matters this week. The Cowboys. The Cowboys are a shakey, uncertain, and confusing because they are everything but consistent. However that may be a concern of ours because its hard to game plan for teams like this. So what would any coach say? Gameplan for the best Cowboys! Now with that being said the Cowboys have the #2passing attack in the league so it will be imperitive that the defensive unit is mistake free. I know Romo tends to fold when the games are crucial, but that normally happens in the playoffs. We cant be their route to the playoffs because they have to be ours and our schedule still holds tough games with the Steelers and Ravens. If there are no hats hiting Romo it is my belief that our secondary will suffer and we cant get into a scoring challenge unless it is in the first quarter where we score the most points. We have lost the hunger after that in every game and have lost leads due to this issue. And Tony Romo has 1/3 of his wins from behind which could possibly play right into how this season has gone.

Not only do we have to worry about Romo but Demarcus Ware is an absolute monster who is going to cause havoc. Even our own Dave Lapham says he can be a problem. And if he isnt contained, double teamed, stunted, and blocked well he will be an issue. But don’t let me appear to be a fan of the Cowboys because they too have a shaky secondary that AJ Green can expose and have a big day. I mean he is due one. Every since breaking the franchise record previously held by Carl Pickens, he has been relitively quiet (for AJ Green). We have to get him his mojo back. If he can get going there is no stopping him and when he is going, normally everyone else is as well.

To be truly honest, this game is going to be pretty even. They have a hot offense, and our defense is hot. Its going to be nice to catch our Bengals back on tv, as the band wagon fans pile back on. But that isn’t a bad thing for the true fans who cant afford ticket prices right now and are having a hard time. I would love for them to see thier team do well, and I will be watching as well.

My prediction for the game is 28 Bengals 13 Cowboys. Enjoy the game guys and dont forget to shout – #WhoDeyAllDayEverydayEspeciallyOnSunday

What to Sanu?

The Bengals’ playoff run underwent a major blow Friday when head coach Marvin Lewis revealed after practice that versatile rookie wide receiver Mohamed Sanu suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during Thursday’s practice and indications are he’s going on season-ending injured reserve after surgery Monday.

It’s believed that Sanu broke the fifth metatarsal, an injury similar to the one former cornerback Johnathan Joseph suffered in the 2007 mandatory minicamp and current right tackle Andre Smith got during a 2009 practice. It’s the long bone on the outside of the foot that connects to the little toe and it’s seen as an injury that Sanu is going to have no problem overcoming. But since it happened with just five weeks left in the season he’s got no chance of getting back in time.

Lewis indicated that wide receiver Andrew Hawkins (knee), limited Wednesday and Thursday, should be ready to go for Sunday’s game in San Diego (4:25 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) against the Chargers. He’ll take back the slot spot Sanu took when Hawkins went out with a knee injury suffered two Fridays ago in practice that took him out of the last two games.

It’s a big shot to the offense for a variety of reasons. Sanu has not only caught the first four touchdown passes of his career in the last three games that have been the first three starts of his career and the Bengals have clicked for touchdowns on 11 of their last 13 red-zone trips with Sanu scoring three of them on third down, but he’s done a little bit of everything else.

As a Wildcat quarterback against the Redskins, Sanu’s first NFL pass was a 73-yard touchdown to wide receiver A.J. Green. He has also run for two first downs on third down and half of his 16 catches (154 yards) have come on third down.

Sanu played mainly in the slot on third down, as does Hawkins. Rookie wide receiver Marvin Jones, who missed a month with a sprained knee, returned last week and played nine snaps in last Sunday’s win over the Raiders.

Lewis was left shaking his head. He had just promoted Sanu to starter on the depth chart on Tuesday.

“It’s the first time we had all three guys, Marvin and Andrew (and Sanu) running and playing with confidence yesterday,” Lewis said. “For about an hour.”

Lewis said Sanu was simply running a route and didn’t collide with anyone or get stepped on.

“(Stuff) happens,” he said. “It’s another weird thing we’ve had this year, unfortunately.”

The Bengals have suffered almost as many season-ending injuries in practice as they have in games. Starting WILL backer Thomas Howard tore his ACL in a Thursday practice before the second  game. Running back Bernard Scott tore his ACL in the Oct. 7 game against Miami and left guard Travelle Wharton tore an ACL on the third snap of the preseason opener.

WHIT FINED: Left tackle Andrew Whitworth said before practice that he has heard from the NFL that he has been fined $26,000 for fighting in last Sunday’s confrontation with Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston. He said earlier in the week he’s prepared to pay it.

TEZ-MANIA: Bengals rookie WILL backer Vontaze Burfict makes his return home in a game about an hour from where he grew up in Corona, Calif. He figures he’s got 30 family and friends coming and that it’s his fourth time at the stadium. He went to three games as a fan to see his favorite team, the Broncos, play the Chargers.

WEATHER CHECK: According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, there’s a 30 percent chance of showers in San Diego at game time under partly cloudy skies with the temperature at 66 degrees and a wind out of the northwest at about seven miles per hour.

courtesy of:

Geoff Hobson

Editor

Bengals.com

Bengals and the SuperBowl

There isn’t much that the Bengals need to do besides win to get to the playoffs, but that is easier said than done. Especially being in the AFC North, one of the toughest divisions in football. In the last 5 years they have sent more teams to the playoffs than any other division with 3 making the playoffs in 2011. Even the Cleveland Browns are competitive, despite their records. In my biased and unbiased opinion I believe the Bengals can make the playoffs, but they have to fix a few things and continue some of the great things.

AJ Green is easily one of the best wide receivers in the league. He is tall, strong, athletic and fast bundled into one being. Andy Dalton is his quarterback and together they are great, but there is no solid number two wide receiver consistent enough yet to help out when AJ isn’t having the best of games. Sanu  could be an easy guess, but his refusal to go out and practice will limit his playing time. Although he could possibly become a solid number two, he has work to o right now. I like Hawkins where he is and he is great coming out of the backfield or being a slot receiver. His agility and quickness makes him dangerous, but not a legitimate number two receiver. With that being said we are deep at wide receiver with others such as Binns and Tate, but no one has yet to step up to claim the number two spot since TJ. I would even argue that Jermaine Gresham is more likely to be the number two than any of the previous receivers. (I know that’s not logical but it’s for the purpose of showing we don’t have a number two receiver, yet).

As of today we are in the 11th week of football and the Bengals have one running back with one 100 yard game. This is a problem! When the run game gets thrown out, or it is non-existent, that makes the Bengals one-dimensional. If you have noticed Andy Dalton has a lot of interceptions (not all his fault, but goes on his football cards). It’s hard to win games with a spread offense in the NFL. Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis has to do better running the ball to live up to why we let Cedric Benson (a thousand yard rusher) get away. I think there can be great success because all the blame is not on him. Part of it goes on the co-ordinator for throwing the ball so much and not attempting to utilize play action at all. If there is no consistency and a desire to run the ball, I can’t see the Bengals making a run this year. I am making a very un-bold prediction that we will see another back next year. If that doesn’t happen I’ll be surprised.

The secondary has been a major issue. Between safeties and injuries the secondary is a nursing home for touchdowns. We have great players on paper, but when you look at the details and how beat up they are your opinion may change a bit. Of course Leon Hall is a great corner, but he is coming off an injury. He is still our best corner right now (which isn’t really saying much with the play of everyone else). I like Pacman, but sometime I feel he should just stay on special teams. If he isn’t getting toasted he is committing college level penalties, and we know he is much better than that. Nate Clements is an old veteran and sometimes it shows. Enough said. Chris Crocker is an average safety but with Taylor Mays and company not being able to catch on we have to take what we can. He does play hard and has a great ability to create turnovers.

The defensive line and linebackers have been my favorite part of the defense this year (minus Maulugas first 8 games), and I’ll love it more when they get the great pads on Carson Palmer’s selfish self. Carlos Dunlap, Gino Atkins, and Burfict have been amazing and I would be a fool to say they are not doing a great job getting after the QB and causing havoc in the backfield. Watching them work is amazing and I am waiting to see the hammer fall on Palmer. Can you tell I’ll be excited to see him hurt (this time).

The coaching makes me so mad at times. especially when they call running plays in the 4th quarter and we are playing from behind with less than 2 minutes on the clock. that made me mad because they were not running the ball the whole game. The offensive play calling had been playing too conservative and not going for the jugular when needed to. I understand telling your players to be aggressive but they need to see the coaches doing the same thing as well. I love Marvin Lewis. We had been through a terrible unheard of slump before he got here, but we need to get over the hump and win a playoff game and Hulk smash teams when we are up. Baltimore didn’t take a break when they were routing their opponent on national tv. We shouldnt either, especially if our games are being blacked out. Marvin has to get more aggressive as well as the rest of the coaching staff. Get Brown off your mind and play football.

At the end of the day i am a true Bengals fan and I am not sure if i can truly be honest about not being biased. I believe the Bengals will make the Superbowl. Maybe not this year, but as soon as we win a playoff game (which will happen in the next 5 years), our Superbowl is next.

Who Dey All Day Everyday Especially on Sunday