willie and johnson/I've got to get this off my Chest..

[cincy9275]

on the post game article bengals.com . willie says , to look over and see who they have lined up on me and not run the ball is a joke! rudi, we are trying to do to many things stick to what works . sounds to me like some of our top players are getting sick of brat's bulls**t too time to go brat . some guys can only take you so far and i think brat and bresh have maxed out . with them we will probably remain competitive but never able to get to the next level . good assistant coaches make a difference . just look the patriots super bowl teams or hell the ravens superbowl team . we need some guys like that guys that can help marvin get to the next level .

[Kazkal]

They need stop abandoning the run thats when we lose =/

[cincy9275]

They need stop abandoning the run thats when we lose =/

that's the point . when we abandon the run we lose. we have seen it time and time again . and brat contiunes to do it time and time again . he just don't get it time for him to go!!!

[Stripes]

He didn't abandon the run last week. Vick and the Atlanta offense were walking up and down the field at will, and Brat felt the best way to keep pace was through the air.

[cincy9275]

He didn't abandon the run last week. Vick and the Atlanta offense were walking up and down the field at will, and Brat felt the best way to keep pace was through the air.

we also won last week . a good running game would have keep vick and company on the sideline watching rudi run trough there defense .

[Stripes]

"Good running game" is the key. Carson was throwing the ball well, and the offense scored the points they had to score to stay in it through the air. Atlanta is strong on the interior defensive line, and running Rudi as would be predictable would have likely resulted in the 3rd and longs the Bengals needed to avoid.

[B24]

"Good running game" is the key. Carson was throwing the ball well, and the offense scored the points they had to score to stay in it through the air. Atlanta is strong on the interior defensive line, and running Rudi as would be predictable would have likely resulted in the 3rd and longs the Bengals needed to avoid.

We'll obviously what we did didn't work, so maybe he shouldn't have abandoned the run.

[Stripes]

Meh, it didn't work because the defense sucks.

I am usually one of the people whining about Brat, but I don't pin this loss on him. His playcalling contributed to 27 points. If a team can't win when scoring 27 points, the offensive coordinator is the last guy I blame.

[cincy9275]

you get 3rd and long by throwing incompletions on 1st down then running rudi for 3 or 4 yards on 2nd then your looking at 3rd & 6 or 3rd & 7. that's been pretty much what brat does. try running on 1st then 90% of the time rudi will gain about 4 yards and your looking at 2nd and 6 . you can do a lot more with that than 3rd and long .

[B24]

Meh, it didn't work because the defense sucks.

I am usually one of the people whining about Brat, but I don't pin this loss on him.

You don't abandon the run and maybe the defense isn't on the field as long as they were. That's the problem, we abandon the run when we are completely in a game, sometimes even with the lead. There is a point when you abandon the run, but we always seem to hit the button way too early.

[Stripes]

-to cincy9275

Brat runs on 1st down all the time. In fact, people on this board complain about that every week because it is so "predictable."

Meh, it didn't work because the defense sucks.

I am usually one of the people whining about Brat, but I don't pin this loss on him.

You don't abandon the run and maybe the defense isn't on the field as long as they were. That's the problem, we abandon the run when we are completely in a game, sometimes even with the lead. There is a point when you abandon the run, but we always seem to hit the button way too early.

I agree that many times Brat has been guilty of just what you accuse him of, and I myself have complained about it numerous times. I don't think this game was an example of that though. The defense was struggling even after the offense sustained long drives. They were hopeless today, plain and simple. Had we run the ball more in the 2nd half, I think the result would have been more stalled drives and the defense would have struggled just as much as they did in reality.

[cincy9275]

-to cincy9275

Brat runs on 1st down all the time. In fact, people on this board complain about that every week because it is so "predictable."

Meh, it didn't work because the defense sucks.

I am usually one of the people whining about Brat, but I don't pin this loss on him.

You don't abandon the run and maybe the defense isn't on the field as long as they were. That's the problem, we abandon the run when we are completely in a game, sometimes even with the lead. There is a point when you abandon the run, but we always seem to hit the button way too early.

I agree that many times Brat has been guilty of just what you accuse him of, and I myself have complained about it numerous times. I don't think this game was an example of that though. The defense was struggling even after the offense sustained long drives. They were hopeless today, plain and simple. Had we run the ball more in the 2nd half, I think the result would have been more stalled drives and the defense would have struggled just as much as they did in reality.

i disagree i don't think brat runs the ball nearly enough . a bengals typical drive goes pass on 1st run on 2nd pass on 3rd that is the predictability that most fans gripe about . just look at the game today in the 1st half rudi just ran thru alanta's like they were Swiss cheese . then perry came in and with him catching passes and running the ball we moved down the field again with no problem we take a lead in to the half . we come out for our first drive in the 2nd half and what happened, pass / run / pass 3 and out . atlanta goes down and scores brat like usual panics throws the game out the window and goes pass happy .

[BengalChamps]

Pin this loss on the D, not on Brat. We scored 27 points. That should be enough to win in any league.

The D did not stop Atlanta ONE TIME in the 2nd half!

[B24]

The D did not stop Atlanta ONE TIME in the 2nd half!

Atlanta did punt twice in the second half.

[Whur CHad At?]

Our D couldnt stop them because our Offense was never on the field! (23 minutes possesion)

[CBin2k7]

The Bengals did abandon the power running game on the most critical drive of the game. After Atlanta scored the go ahead touchdown to make it 26-20, The Bengals went three and out. No runs, except for the TJ end around that lost 7 yards. The Bengals ran the ball zero times after the 2:15 mark in the 3rd quarter.

[HoosierCat]

The Bengals certainly didnt run as much as they could have. What I DON'T know is, how much of that is Brat calling pass after pass, and how much is Carson audibling at the line? I look at the comment (Willie's, I think) about trying to do too much and I wonder if that isn't aimed at Palmer...

[derekshank]

Our D couldnt stop them because our Offense was never on the field! (23 minutes possesion)

That cuts both ways. The Defense was on the field so much because we kept giving up 3rd down conversions.

I don't really think our D played all that poorly. When you play against a team that is clicking on all cylinders, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to them and say "We'll get 'em next time." I don't feel all that bad about this loss, because Atalanta just played a very complete game. Our offense played well. You can complain about th the playcalling... but we scored enough points to win this game on most days. Our defense gave up too many 3rd and long conversions... but you can just as easily say that Vick played really well as you can say that our secondary played poorly (In fact... that is what most analysts point to. I didn't hear anybody criticize the defense, as much as praise Vick).

All is not lost. We are still a good enough team to beat Baltimore and take the division lead next week. Our schedule is incredibly tough... so a lot of us saw this kind of thing coming. It doesn't make it less disappointing... but it helps that we don't have a team in our division that has lit the world on fire. The entire AFC North seems pretty beatable... because we're all playing tough opponents each week.

[Kazkal]

Meh, it didn't work because the defense sucks.

I am usually one of the people whining about Brat, but I don't pin this loss on him. His playcalling contributed to 27 points. If a team can't win when scoring 27 points, the offensive coordinator is the last guy I blame.

Run game keeps the defense off the field keeps em fresh less messups...

Letting vick march down the field makes the defense tired and more time to screw up

you get 3rd and long by throwing incompletions on 1st down then running rudi for 3 or 4 yards on 2nd then your looking at 3rd & 6 or 3rd & 7. that's been pretty much what brat does. try running on 1st then 90% of the time rudi will gain about 4 yards and your looking at 2nd and 6 . you can do a lot more with that than 3rd and long .

I don't mind running on 2nd down but we gave up on it completely it seemed like in the 2nd half.

[bwillycuse]

Our D couldnt stop them because our Offense was never on the field! (23 minutes possesion)

That cuts both ways. The Defense was on the field so much because we kept giving up 3rd down conversions.

I don't really think our D played all that poorly. When you play against a team that is clicking on all cylinders, sometimes you just have to tip your hat to them and say "We'll get 'em next time." I don't feel all that bad about this loss, because Atalanta just played a very complete game. Our offense played well. You can complain about th the playcalling... but we scored enough points to win this game on most days. Our defense gave up too many 3rd and long conversions... but you can just as easily say that Vick played really well as you can say that our secondary played poorly (In fact... that is what most analysts point to. I didn't hear anybody criticize the defense, as much as praise Vick).

All is not lost. We are still a good enough team to beat Baltimore and take the division lead next week. Our schedule is incredibly tough... so a lot of us saw this kind of thing coming. It doesn't make it less disappointing... but it helps that we don't have a team in our division that has lit the world on fire. The entire AFC North seems pretty beatable... because we're all playing tough opponents each week.

I am upset we abandoned the run. Somewhat concerned about predictable play calling. Very concerned about false starts on our center at home.

But at the end of the day we lost to a good NFC team. If we win next week then we control the division again. This week hurt, but it wasnt devastating. (Pittsburgh losing to Oakland is devastating) Next week is the game of the year so far. We need to step up and dictate the game. Make them adjust to our game. nOt the other way around.

Who Dey

[agreen_112]

RUN THE GOT DAMN, MOTHERf**king FOOTBALL!!! I'm so sick and tired of Brat thinking we're like the 2000 Rams or something. I really don't understand why at one point in the game you have Rudi with 6 carries for 34 yards (averg. over 5 yrds/per carry) and they come out and pass, pass, pass, pass, until we punt. IT'S RUDI FOR CHRIST SAKE, RUN THE f**king BALL! IT'S GETTING TO BE RE-GOTDAMN-DICULOUS!!!

[schweinhart]

The Bengals certainly didnt run as much as they could have. What I DON'T know is, how much of that is Brat calling pass after pass, and how much is Carson audibling at the line? I look at the comment (Willie's, I think) about trying to do too much and I wonder if that isn't aimed at Palmer...

That's what I read....Palmer. But it's Carson's show and not Big Willie's. He just the right tackle.

Bottom line is the 27 points. And that's enough to win. Had they run Rudi more, it would've worked well and would've slowed the game down and kept Vick off the field more. But I'm not sold that it would've changed the outcome because the Falcons would've done on offense what they did do.

And despite the 29 points, I thought the defensive gameplan was the right one...Force Vick to win with his arm by keeping him in the pocket as long as possible. The Bengals secondary is light years ahead of what it was last year and the outcome of the game came down to Vick executing on 4 or 5 throws with a couple of them coming of his WRs doing some improv.

The Bengals just got beat by a QB on top of his game. Regardless of the gameplans on either side of the ball by both teams, these 2 teams probably split if they played each other more.

[rwalling]

from my perspective it's this simple, a good running game:

1) wears down the opposing offense,

2) forces them to respect the run which enhances the passing game,

3) helps win time of possession, and

4) keeps your D fresher

Yesterday our defense got worn down, they held the ball for over 37 minutes and their D didn't have to respect our running game in the second half and clearly looked fresher at the end (did you see how the game ended?)

Historically, the good pass happy teams (e.g. Houston's run & shoot, Marino's Dolphins, Fouts' Chargers) have all failed to win championships because of these keys. Sooner or later somebody contains their offense and wears down their D. This is how Ravens, Steelers, Giants, etc. win Super Bowls. Why can't Brat figure this out?

[derekshank]

The Bengals certainly didnt run as much as they could have. What I DON'T know is, how much of that is Brat calling pass after pass, and how much is Carson audibling at the line? I look at the comment (Willie's, I think) about trying to do too much and I wonder if that isn't aimed at Palmer...

That's what I read....Palmer. But it's Carson's show and not Big Willie's. He just the right tackle.

Bottom line is the 27 points. And that's enough to win. Had they run Rudi more, it would've worked well and would've slowed the game down and kept Vick off the field more. But I'm not sold that it would've changed the outcome because the Falcons would've done on offense what they did do.

And despite the 29 points, I thought the defensive gameplan was the right one...Force Vick to win with his arm by keeping him in the pocket as long as possible. The Bengals secondary is light years ahead of what it was last year and the outcome of the game came down to Vick executing on 4 or 5 throws with a couple of them coming of his WRs doing some improv.

The Bengals just got beat by a QB on top of his game. Regardless of the gameplans on either side of the ball by both teams, these 2 teams probably split if they played each other more.

Exactly! We didn't suck. We played well... they just played better. What is it about a fanbase that wants to blame someone on their own team for a loss? If you want to blame someone... blame Vick. We get pissed off when Steelers fans say they gave games away, rather than admitting that another team was just better than them... but we do the same thing.

We want to know who is responsible for the loss... assiming that the guy responsible is someone who didn't step up for the Bengals. Just maybe they were the better team on this given Sunday. Vick played absolutely out of his mind... and we lost by 2 points!!! It's never fun to lose... but sometimes you have to give credit where it's due. They won because they deserved to... not because we gave the game away.

[JaxonFord87]

I know how you feel...hopefully we will run the ball alot more against the ravens.