Is CHenry? CPalmer's favorite target...

[Kazkal]

the other one would have been too if he dident get drilled in the chest and tipped it hehe.

[redsbengalsbucks]

What I'm saying is that JDelhomme gets the ball to SSmith who was the only receiving threat they had last year and he gets double teamed, SSmith lead the league in yards last year, I know alot was YAC but still...and JDelhomme is not as good as CPalmer IMO, he should be able to get the ball to CJohnson...

Maybe he would force the ball into CJ if he had to, but with the options he has that is usually not the case

[derekshank]

What I'm saying is that JDelhomme gets the ball to SSmith who was the only receiving threat they had last year and he gets double teamed, SSmith lead the league in yards last year, I know alot was YAC but still...and JDelhomme is not as good as CPalmer IMO, he should be able to get the ball to CJohnson...

That is true to a certain extent... but mostly because Smith was the only WR that Delhomme had to throw to. Palmer doesn't feel the need to force the ball into coverage every time.

I think Palmer learned that a lot his first year as a starting QB. He forced a lot of balls to Chad the first 8 games, and threw 6 TD's and 11 INT's. Then he finished (although he missed 3 games) with 12 TD's and 7 INT's. What happened? Well, if you look at the stats... those were the games he started throwing the ball more consistently to Housh. Chad still got all of his... but Palmer became less predictable spreading the ball around, and teams couldn't get so many INT's anymore, because triple covering Chad didn't help.

Palmer is now an expert at it. If Chad is covered... go elsewhere. Housh and Henry are both answering the bell with excellence... and Chad will eventually get his. Teams will learn that tripling Chad doesn't help... and if they ever attempt to slow down Henry and Housh... you'll see Chad doing the Riverdance.

[Coy Bacon & Egg]

I think the point being made is that, using the Carolina example, Steve Smith last year certainly received the attention from defenses that Chad Johnson did and does now - probably more so due to Panthers' lack of great receiving options. And yet somehow they were able to free Smith, or he was able to free himself, for huge games more often than not. He quotient of big performances (like 10 catches for 169 yds and a couple of scores) was beyond what Chad has been able to sustain, in general.

With more options to work with, I'm fine with Palmer picking his best spots and spreading the wealth, and I expect our skill players to handle it like aspiring Super Bowl players as opposed to Pro Bowl players. Team success first! But it does sometimes make you wonder how come a player like SMith, supposedly no more talented than CHad, with a QB like Delhomme, probably less talented (but more expereinced) than Palmer, can so often get the ball into the hands of his most dangerous player when the defense has surely prepared to prevent it. What do they know/do that we don't? And they don't even have as consistent running threat as Cincinnati does.

While Al Davis is proving that he has overstayed his usefulness in pro football at this point, he did once utter one of my favorite quotes about offense, back when his Raider teams could back it up: "I hear a lot of teams talk about 'taking what the defense gives us.' We prefer to take what we want."

[derekshank]

I think the point being made is that, using the Carolina example, Steve Smith last year certainly received the attention from defenses that Chad Johnson did and does now - probably more so due to Panthers' lack of great receiving options. And yet somehow they were able to free Smith, or he was able to free himself, for huge games more often than not. He quotient of big performances (like 10 catches for 169 yds and a couple of scores) was beyond what Chad has been able to sustain, in general.

With more options to work with, I'm fine with Palmer picking his best spots and spreading the wealth, and I expect our skill players to handle it like aspiring Super Bowl players as opposed to Pro Bowl players. Team success first! But it does sometimes make you wonder how come a player like SMith, supposedly no more talented than CHad, with a QB like Delhomme, probably less talented (but more expereinced) than Palmer, can so often get the ball into the hands of his most dangerous player when the defense has surely prepared to prevent it. What do they know/do that we don't? And they don't even have as consistent running threat as Cincinnati does.

While Al Davis is proving that he has overstayed his usefulness in pro football at this point, he did once utter one of my favorite quotes about offense, back when his Raider teams could back it up: "I hear a lot of teams talk about 'taking what the defense gives us.' We prefer to take what we want."

Once again... if Chad was the only legitimate threat that Palmer had to throw to, you would probably see him making more plays. There's only one ball. They even took a couple minutes to show all the times Chad was open against the Steelers, but Palmer decided to throw the ball elsewhere.

The point is... Palmer doesn't need to force it in to Chad. He's not getting thrown to a lot because the other guys are wide open. I have no problem. We do take what we want... but we're not going to force it into triple coverage when Housh and Henry are single covered. It just doesn't make good sense.

[Diesel]

This is a stupid argument. Chad gets the ball as much as Steve Smith. Here are the stats:

Chad Johnson

2005 - 97 receptions, 1432 yards

2006 - 12 receptions, 137 yards

Total - 109 receptions, 1569 yards

Steve Smith

2005 - 103 receptions, 1563 yards

2006 - 7 receptions, 112 yards

Total - 110 receptions, 1675 yards

Steve Smith does not get the ball more than Chad. If anything he is better after the catch, but I think the 106 yard and 1 reception difference is not meaningful. Let's not assume the sky is falling because Chad doesn't go off every week. And even though Smith was out for a couple games, it is still not meaningful.

[Stripes]

Steve Smith missed the first two games!

[jditty47]

different divisions, different conferences, different philosophies, different coaching styles, different playing styles. etc etc. chad and steve arent comparable.

[Stripes]

different divisions, different conferences, different philosophies, different coaching styles, different playing styles. etc etc. chad and steve arent comparable.

Agreed. Who knows how Smith will produce with another capable receiver next to him, and who knows how Chad would produce if he was the only capable target on the team? Apples and oranges.

[jditty47]

um chad did produce when he was the only target on the team. but still, apples and oranges.

[Stripes]

Didn't say otherwise... just posing a valid question.

[Kazkal]

QB's can still get the ball to below avg wrs look at brett with chatman its just jake locks on to 1 target it's his flaw ya he gets steve the ball but he also makes alot of mistakes because of it...your telling me when steve smith was being triple covered vs the seahawks and jake would still force a throw to steve rather then wide open someone else.

[HoTbOy]

I see what some of you are saying, if he was the ONLY option he would may/maynot catch more balls because more would be thrown his way... it makes sense...

[Diesel]

You guys are missing the fact that he doesn't catch a statistically significant more number of balls. S. Smith was out the first two games this year, and Chad has 5 more catches this year. Smith had 5 or less catches in 7 games last year. They get a similar number of looks. Smith gets slightly more because of less weapons on his team, but not much different. There will be weeks when Chad gets 120 yards and Smith is shut down (basically the reverse of last week).

A side note -

In 2005 Carolina was:

5-4 when S. Smith had over 100 yards receiving

6-1 when S. Smith had less than 100 yards receiving

[cincy9275]

I have to say TJ is his favorite target . The stoolers game is a perfect example when things break down he looks for TJ . I know Johnson was double and triple covered but when TJ gets his hands on the ball he makes just about every catch , if i am not mistaken TJ had the least amount of dropped passes in the NFL last season . But Palmers got to love this w/r group this is the best and the deepest w/r group in the whole leauge .

[BengalszoneBilly]

Palmers got to love this w/r group this is the best and the deepest w/r group in the whole league .

Word.