Who was tonight's goat?

[Stripes]

I'd make a poll, but I figure y'all can decide without it.

There are too many to choose from, but I've narrowed it down to a few.

Chuck Bresnehan/Marvin Lewis - They were plain outcoached tonight, and for the second straight year the defensive gameplan against the Colts was stupid and henceforth ineffective.

Andrew Whitworth/Stacy Andrews - Freeney and Mathis ate them alive. They could have used some double teams, but regardless... Yikes.

Chris Henry - Gator armed (with only one hand no less) twice on deep balls. The first was excusable, but the second was not.

Who ya got?

[HoosierCat]

Chuck Bresnehan/Marvin Lewis - They were plain outcoached tonight, and for the second straight year the defensive gameplan against the Colts was stupid and henceforth ineffective.

Andrew Whitworth/Stacy Andrews - Freeney and Mathis ate them alive. They could have used some double teams, but regardless... Yikes.

1 and 1a.

[Spor_tees]

I gotta go with Chucky boy. Once again, once the Bengals play a team with some iota of an offense, and the game plan actually comes into play and not just the talent of the players, weaknesses come to surface. I will go right back to the point I made a few weeks ago before the Bengals played a couple of weak offenses and got on this defensive "roll." We ave to get a new DC next year!

[belmontbengal]

Marvin.

Read my thread to see why. Horrible timeout that killed a drive and essentially swung ALL the momentum to the Colts. It just went downhill from there.

I don't have anything against coach Lewis. I like him in fact. But I wanted to throw something through my friend's set after he called a timeout...

[CBin2k7]

Chuck, Marvin, Ricky Hunly, Brian Simmons, Deltha O'Neal, Andrews and Whitworth. The ultimate blame falls on Marvin, his game plans were terrible on both sides of the ball, and the two young tackles were atrocious.

Freeney 2.5 sacks in 13 games

Freeney 3 sacks in 1 game against Whitworth.

[Kazkal]

No brat? brat and chucky with rest coaching staff right behind...

I don't blaime whitworth ya dwight was too much for him but coaching staff for not helping him out or putting levi in and putting whit on rightside.

[HoosierCat]

Bottom line. The Bengals were:

Outcoached

Outplayed

Outscored

Out on their a$$e$

Now they have to win in Denver or they are out...period.

[cooz19]

Shouldn't you be blaming the Steelers and their fans for something too?

[CBin2k7]

Bottom line. The Bengals were:

Outcoached

Outplayed

Outscored

Out on their a$$e$

Now they have to win in Denver or they are out...period.

tru dat... this is truly a playoff game next Sunday. Beat Denver and they are most likely in, even at 9-7, lose to Denver and they are most likely out.

[Stripes]

No brat?

I had no issues with the gameplan on offense. Execution sucked.

[HoosierCat]

Shouldn't you be blaming the Steelers and their fans for something too?

I blame them for global warming.

Iraq too.

The crappy MNF announcing crew.

Ebola.

Boy bands. All boy bands are their fault. Pat Boone and Lionel Richie too.

Oh, and crap. If it weren't for steeler fans there would be no crap in the world.

And, of course, The Fall. Eve was a steelers fan.

[HairOnFire]

Despite the high stakes that were on the line in this game the Bengals seemed emotionally vacant tonight, and it seemed that way long before the game got out of hand.

So I have to point my finger at (Gulp) Marvin Lewis.

[bengalsfansince68]

So I have to point my finger at (Gulp) Marvin Lewis.

[EyeoftheTiger]

The coaching was not good and gave the Colts a helping hand.

[membengal]

They got outcoached.

Frankly, I was consistent all week that this was not a game they were going to win, so the outcome is not at all surprising to me, but the way it happened was.

I hope the Lewis never again authorizes a gameplan that takes the ball out of Carson Palmer's hands. That was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen.

[agreen_112]

I'm going with the coaches.

I also blame Chad too, I'm not hating, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I'm tired of all of his damn antics. Come to the field, put on your equipment, lace up your cleats and play the f**king game. That's all you need to do, we don't care about some stupid pair of shoes or a gold mohawk or ocho cinco. What we care about is production, if you want attention, do what you do....shine on the field.

[cover2]

Any time you play one of the best teams in the NFL, in their "barn", you had better be ready to play.

Marvin did not have them ready....end of story. Chad did not coach....last time I looked.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Coaching staff it is...followed closely by the o-line and the entire defense.

Pretty much the areas we've been complaining about all season long when they lose.

[TJJackson]

there were quite a few reasons we lost this one......

1) there was little or no effort to get some extra pressure on Manning. There was a 4 man rush on almost every defensive down, and I was puzzled as to why there were few if any blitzes. I know Manning isn't sacked often, but you have to at least attempt to pressure him, a with any QB. Since Bresnahan and Marvin decide how often blitzes occur, I lay this part on them

2) The dropsies. The game would have been a lot closer had so many catchable balls not been dropped. I specifically recall Chad, Cheech, and Kenny Watson dropping very catchable balls at critical junctures. I lay this at the feet of those players

3) the game plan to run - we are a passing team. we do not run block well, despite enormous size which might make you think otherwise. I know the Colts gave up a hundred thousand rushing yards last week, but you still have to try to do what you do well - pass the ball - and let Rudi make the most of it when he's handed the ball. This one I lay at the feet of Marvin and Brat

4) no adjustments - over and over again, I saw short passes completed underneath. Virtually every single one was caught. There were no adjustments made on the defensive side, it was almost as if they were OK with this. Often, no Bengal was in sight when the pass was caught. Where were our linebackers? This is on Bres and Marvin.

5) pass protection. We've had a very high level of play for several weeks from a very banged up offensive line starting 2-3 relatively inexperienced players. They've played way above expectations during this time. Losing Willie hurt more than anyone wants to admit. This one, I lay on the OL players, but I also acknowlege as I do so their inexperience, so I'm not angry with them. They did not give up. Sometimes, the other team simply outplays you. It happens. Whitworth, Ghiaciuc, and Andrews will be fine. I remain puzzled why Kooistra , who has played well in Willy's absences before, is not seeing the field. He's easily more experienced than Andrews, even with Andrew's recent spat of starts.

[agreen_112]

there were quite a few reasons we lost this one......

1) there was little or no effort to get some extra pressure on Manning. There was a 4 man rush on almost every defensive down, and I was puzzled as to why there were few if any blitzes. I know Manning isn't sacked often, but you have to at least attempt to pressure him, a with any QB. Since Bresnahan and Marvin decide how often blitzes occur, I lay this part on them

2) The dropsies. The game would have been a lot closer had so many catchable balls not been dropped. I specifically recall Chad, Cheech, and Kenny Watson dropping very catchable balls at critical junctures. I lay this at the feet of those players

3) the game plan to run - we are a passing team. we do not run block well, despite enormous size which might make you think otherwise. I know the Colts gave up a hundred thousand rushing yards last week, but you still have to try to do what you do well - pass the ball - and let Rudi make the most of it when he's handed the ball. This one I lay at the feet of Marvin and Brat

4) no adjustments - over and over again, I saw short passes completed underneath. Virtually every single one was caught. There were no adjustments made on the defensive side, it was almost as if they were OK with this. Often, no Bengal was in sight when the pass was caught. Where were our linebackers? This is on Bres and Marvin.

5) pass protection. We've had a very high level of play for several weeks from a very banged up offensive line starting 2-3 relatively inexperienced players. They've played way above expectations during this time. Losing Willie hurt more than anyone wants to admit. This one, I lay on the OL players, but I also acknowlege as I do so their inexperience, so I'm not angry with them. They did not give up. Sometimes, the other team simply outplays you. It happens. Whitworth, Ghiaciuc, and Andrews will be fine. I remain puzzled why Kooistra , who has played well in Willy's absences before, is not seeing the field. He's easily more experienced than Andrews, even with Andrew's recent spat of starts.

Steve Young said it best after the game. He just doesn't understand why a team would play Indy with that type of defensive scheme. You have to pressure Manning and hit him in his mouth a few times and press the recievers. Instead of dropping our LB's back 10-15 yard almost every passing play, which completely gave the underneath passes to manning as a early christmas gift, we should've been blitzing heavily!

[schweinhart]

Marvin.

Granted the D was stout against some poor offensive teams the last few games but if it ain't broke don't fix it. Miller should have started and Shaun Smith should have been active. Playing Simmons and Fanene was dumba$$ery. They needed to have an aggressive gameplan on defense and instead they were as soft as pudding. The run D held up except for 1 long Addai run that Fanene blew because he's too lightweight to handle interior play but the middle coverage by Simmons was atrocious and cost the Bengals this game as much as anything else did. Caleb Miller would've done much better in underneath zone coverage.

While we're at it, Marvin again. Deltha in his doghouse does this team no good now. O'Neal should've been on the field last week and he might hav made the plays that he just barely missed against Harrison if he had some rust off. Why worry about making an example out of 1 of your players now? Of all the Bengals idiots who've been arrested, O'Neal's transgression was the least. Put your team in it's best position to win, put the most effective players on the field and quit the moralizing gestures and using the wrong personnel for the sake of seeing what happens. Or is it too late for any of this to really matter?

[skyline]

That being said, Chris Henry's lack of effort tonight has finally moved me away from defending him. I was really pi$$ed when he barely stuck his left arm up to wave at that pass and when I saw him yawning on the sideline, I had seen enough.

What an idiot!

Yes, the yawn really pissed me off. I couldn't believe it.

As for the scapegoat, I vote for all of the above. It was just a bad performance by everyone involved.

[HoosierCat]

Granted the D was stout against some poor offensive teams the last few games but if it ain't broke don't fix it. Miller should have started and Shaun Smith should have been active. Playing Simmons and Fanene was dumba$$ery. They needed to have an aggressive gameplan on defense and instead they were as soft as pudding. The run D held up except for 1 long Addai run that Fanene blew because he's too lightweight to handle interior play but the middle coverage by Simmons was atrocious and cost the Bengals this game as much as anything else did. Caleb Miller would've done much better in underneath zone coverage.

The same thought occured to me last night. Hey, the D is working so let's change it up! On a similar note, I still want to know where the h*ll Scott Kooistra was. On the few occasions that Big Willie has gone out in the past, Koo has come in and you'd hardly notice a change. But now, against a desperate Colts team, you run out Stacy the Dancing Project, whose only experience at pro tackle has been in preseason and some garbage time snaps?

[AMC]

Chris Henry

ZERO effort last night.....

[COB]

Hey guys, my first post. I’m a huge Bengals fan, and watching that game was nauseating. About three series into that thing you could tell we were going down. I totally agree that lack of pressure is suicide against Manning. He’ll pick you apart, as will most of the qbs in the NFL. Now, if you go, and bounce his head off the concrete floor in that place a few times, you’ve got a chance. He might start to hurry. He might burn you for a few tds, too. But you’ve got a fighting chance. Allowing him to throw underneath time after time absolutely will lead to touchdowns. Secondly, trying to run the ball was stupid. The colts were embarrassed by their inability to stop the run. The one thing they were going to do, and they had a long week to do it, was to load up to stop the run. All in all, with the o-line injuries this year, being in a position to play your way into the postseason is pretty strong. Beat Denver.