Bengals vs Raiders After Thoughts?

[BengalszoneBilly]

After this game I took a long walk to calm down. I had to. It helped me a lot.

This loss came at a good time because every other team in the AFC North lost too. I look for the Bengals come out and play with a vengeance for the rest of the year all the way to the playoffs.

[kingwilly]

I still don't get why they didn't use a fresh LJ down the stretch. The pass to Leonard with 2:20 to go on 3rd and 4 was horrible.

Then, the final kickoff...why didn't Caldwell take a knee to conserve time? They would have had 33 seconds and 3 timeouts from the 20.

1. The end-around works like once every 10 games or so. 2 in one game Brat? Seriously?

2. Scott was clearly gassed at the end of the game. He looked decent at times but also hesitated too much, IMHO. The line did not help.

3. Leonard does not have the chops for down-after-down running. The 3rd and 4 pass was a bad call. Where was the WR screen? Chad and Coles make hay with that play.

4. One quick slant to Coles in a whole game?

5. Palmer did not shw good packet awareness quite often. If your RT is being speed rushed and is pushing the guy past the pocket, Palmer HAS to step up and flush forward.

6. Caldwell should have taken a knee in th end-zone. That is on the coaches.

7. Graham has a problem. This team can ill-afford to miss another kick this whole year. Simply in-excusabe. Boo Shayne Graham. This time it cost the game.

8. Red-zone playcalling was putrid. No wonder Palmer ran two in... Those are him calling his own number.

9. The Raiders line did very well scheming for our front 4.

10. Zimmer, where did that blitz go? They brought almost zero heat. Very disappointing.

11. Hats off to Leon and JJoe. Very good games. Morgan Trent gave up the TD pass. This is going to happen to a rookie more than once over a season. Unfortunate but today it also cost the team.

Shame on ML for changin it up and leaving yesterday. The team did look gassed toward the end. Need more than a nights sleep to reset to pacific time.

Bummer but not the end of the world.

Hats off to the Raiders D. They are a tough unit. They are the inverse of what the Bengals used to be. Today, they prevailed on their own ability to make plays and capitalize on mistakes.

[kingwilly]

So much for any hope of a #1 seed. At this point, we might as well hope for the Colts to go undefeated. It can only help. I'm guessing that this loss cost the Bengals a first round bye. The Pats will swoop in and steal that 2nd seed. The Bengals may be playing their asses off just for the 3rd seed @SD.

The only thing that keeps me from stabbing my own eyes out is that the Steelers lost to KC. They have to be seeing this as a real missed opportunity. I'm just glad I won't have to hear s**t from them about this loss, because they are just as embarrassed.

I don't think many had serious hopes for a #1 seed.

This team could be the #3.

The game at SD just got even more important.

[NJ29]

Here's a thought...Buck the Fengals!!! You're winning 14-0 in the first quarter and a half and you lose 17-20. Awesome, way to lose in a way only you can! I can't even dig my teeth into one thing and just bitch the s**t outta of it! We lost in so many ways. This offense is soooo f**kin terrible. Carson is soooo overpaid. He got outplayed by f**king Bruce Gradkowski...for the second time! The defense plays well all game and when we need the stop to win the game, you let Bruce Gradkowski play you like a gawd damn violin. That was one of the worst called games by Brat and he has a laundry list of them. Hey Marvin? f**k you. Why bring in LJ if you are not going to run him? 2 f**king carries? The only bright spot all day was how good Bernard Scott looks and proves how good our last draft was, but I thought LJ was brought here to run for an absent CedBen.

P.S. I don't give a s**t if you were a Gator Caldwell, you are a piece of s**t return man and should hide under a gawd damn rock b/c if I saw you in public, I would f**kin strangle you. Ball security is your number one responsibility and you f**ked it up!

Was that enough "over reaction" membengal?

You f**ked up a beautiful opportunity Bengals...

Yes, that is an absolute overreaction.

[wpeldios]

Im more than a little upset after watching this game. This was the most blatant case of a team outsmarting themselves I have seen all year.

Why do you switch from traveling to Saturday, despite the fact you are 4-0 with normal travel plans on the road all season?

Why do you keep switching returners mid game?

Why dont you blitz?

Why do you run 2 end arounds?

What happened to the offensive line? They were horrible today.

This game has me doing something I havent done all season, questioning the mental toughness of this team. And wondering how this is going to play out with the larry johnson signing which worried me to begin with because I thought it could hurt the mental toughness of this team. What I saw today wasnt a superbowl contender. It wasnt a team that can go 4-0 on the road and 5-0 in the toughest division in football. So I have to ask, why change your scheme so much from the teams that did exactly that?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Same feeling as the Denver or Texans loss, ecspecially the Texans game, where they also had a lead at half time they blew miserably.

I think old Morgan Trent just earned himself a demotion to #4 CB, which is here he should be. If Jones is healthy, let him play nickel and man-up on WR's. Trent does some things well, but he isn't a man cover guy in the NFL, wasn't ever expected to be.

Also stop letting Caldwell return kicks, he's terrible at it, and now that they're thin at WR, find another candidate, like Cosby. (or of course Scott once Benson comes back).

Hopefully they get Mathis back next week, and Andre Smith practices well enough, again, to get in the lineup. He should be the best lineman on the roster, get him in the games.

[volcom69]

I still don't get why they didn't use a fresh LJ down the stretch. The pass to Leonard with 2:20 to go on 3rd and 4 was horrible.

Then, the final kickoff...why didn't Caldwell take a knee to conserve time? They would have had 33 seconds and 3 timeouts from the 20.

1. The end-around works like once every 10 games or so. 2 in one game Brat? Seriously?

2. Scott was clearly gassed at the end of the game. He looked decent at times but also hesitated too much, IMHO. The line did not help.

3. Leonard does not have the chops for down-after-down running. The 3rd and 4 pass was a bad call. Where was the WR screen? Chad and Coles make hay with that play.

4. One quick slant to Coles in a whole game?

5. Palmer did not shw good packet awareness quite often. If your RT is being speed rushed and is pushing the guy past the pocket, Palmer HAS to step up and flush forward.

6. Caldwell should have taken a knee in th end-zone. That is on the coaches.

7. Graham has a problem. This team can ill-afford to miss another kick this whole year. Simply in-excusabe. Boo Shayne Graham. This time it cost the game.

8. Red-zone playcalling was putrid. No wonder Palmer ran two in... Those are him calling his own number.

9. The Raiders line did very well scheming for our front 4.

10. Zimmer, where did that blitz go? They brought almost zero heat. Very disappointing.

11. Hats off to Leon and JJoe. Very good games. Morgan Trent gave up the TD pass. This is going to happen to a rookie more than once over a season. Unfortunate but today it also cost the team.

Shame on ML for changin it up and leaving yesterday. The team did look gassed toward the end. Need more than a nights sleep to reset to pacific time.

Bummer but not the end of the world.

Hats off to the Raiders D. They are a tough unit. They are the inverse of what the Bengals used to be. Today, they prevailed on their own ability to make plays and capitalize on mistakes.

Great post all great points.

Zimmer forgot to blitz today they couldnt get it done with the front 4, they didnt seem to play as physical as they have the past couple of weeks.

Horrible play calling, it was great to see them go up 14-0, but you dont stop there you keep doing what your doing, and its like they came to a complete stall.

Shayne just really sucks, once again he missed an easier field goal.

Offense left 18 or so points out there, such inconsistant play out of them and its a real shame for the talent on that side of the ball.

How could they not use L.J thats why you signed him right? Fresh legs! Also why did they not let Scott return the kickoffs, i dont get it!

[Jet23]

Marvin Lewis is a terrible game coach and Shayne Graham is a barely average (and slipping) kicker making top-5 money. Nice job franchise.

[wpeldios]

well, nothing makes me feel better like reading some of our own fans meltdowns on bengals.com, talk about over reacting.

[BengalszoneBilly]

well, nothing makes me feel better like reading some of our own fans meltdowns on bengals.com, talk about over reacting.

I see no need to melt down. I'm no different than anyone else here about feeling the pain from this loss, but the fact remains that the Bengals still own first place in the division. Thank God the Chiefs stepped up too.

[cincy9275]

So much for any hope of a #1 seed. At this point, we might as well hope for the Colts to go undefeated. It can only help. I'm guessing that this loss cost the Bengals a first round bye. The Pats will swoop in and steal that 2nd seed. The Bengals may be playing their asses off just for the 3rd seed @SD.

The only thing that keeps me from stabbing my own eyes out is that the Steelers lost to KC. They have to be seeing this as a real missed opportunity. I'm just glad I won't have to hear s**t from them about this loss, because they are just as embarrassed.

I don't think many had serious hopes for a #1 seed.

This team could be the #3.

The game at SD just got even more important.

playoff's? this team better get their s**t together or they will be watching the playoffs at home.

[kingwilly]

Same feeling as the Denver or Texans loss, ecspecially the Texans game, where they also had a lead at half time they blew miserably.

I think old Morgan Trent just earned himself a demotion to #4 CB, which is here he should be. If Jones is healthy, let him play nickel and man-up on WR's. Trent does some things well, but he isn't a man cover guy in the NFL, wasn't ever expected to be.

Also stop letting Caldwell return kicks, he's terrible at it, and now that they're thin at WR, find another candidate, like Cosby. (or of course Scott once Benson comes back).

Hopefully they get Mathis back next week, and Andre Smith practices well enough, again, to get in the lineup. He should be the best lineman on the roster, get him in the games.

This one is on the offense. Specifically, it is on Brat.

Morgan Trent had a bad game late but I lay this loss at the feet of Brat and ML.

As has been mentioned. Run LJ late in the game. Leonard lost his legs there and it showed.

The Jeremi Johnson fumble was the domino that undid the game, IMHO. Giving the ballup there, with a real scoring opportunity, was a killer. Why run the fat kid when you have 3 very able RBs? that was a downright dumb call.

The two Ocho false-starts? WTF? It is the 10th freaking game of the year.... It is just unacceptable at this point.

This game was given away by Knob Bratkowski. I'm sorry. This one is burned in my memory as the game Knob blew.

I am a huge proponent of grinding a game out, and by Time of Possession and Running plays, that would appear to have been the plan, but of the 42 runs, they had 10 runs for a loss (-22 yards). For christsake. block much today?

This game tells me that we cannot count on Brian Leonard as a feture in our offense. He gets a nice 8 yard run between the tackles and then it is followed with 2-3 runs for nothing or less. He is gamer, love his heart but is just not fast enough or shifty enough to count on as they did today.

I am very disappointed they did not mix LJ in there when it was CLEAR Bernard and Brian were on dead legs. WTF.

WTF.

At any rate, hats off to the Raiders for capitalizing on the Bengals inability to put this game away. Thye fought like MF'rs for the win and they pulled a good upset.

Putting the ball on the ground, on the road, is a sure fire way to lose a game.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Jesus, Kaz, what's the deal with that nasty stuff - 600lbs of ugly for each TD given up?

Man, I think I just threw up some in my mouth.

[GoBengals!]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

[volcom69]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

How about the whole team lost this game today, including the coaches. I thought the defense was just as bad as the offense, and special teams was just poor today!

[jonahdsage]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

certainly shayne should have made that. no doubt about it. i'm real disappointed in brat, too. the last few weeks I had been repenting of all my vitriol towards Brat's playcalling. This week was just so difficult to watch. 2nd half was almost strictly run-run-pass and we ran such low percentage pass plays. Why no more slants to Chad? No out routes? 30 yard bombs to coles (who was covered) and a fade route down the sideline to Leonard? Really? Just very, very disappointing play calling.

I feel like you can literally see our players reactions when we go into a conservative, grind it out game plan and it just deflates them. We should have kept the pressure up after getting a 14-0 lead. Looks like we went into "let's not lose" mode WAY too early.

Caldwell's fumble was, in short, simply heartbreaking

No need to panic or feel like the bengals have been exposed by any means. Just would have given us a very significant lead on pittsburgh in the AFCN and these are the kind of games we should win if we're going to be a real playoff contender (meaning more than getting to the playoffs).

[kingwilly]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

How about the whole team lost this game today, including the coaches. I thought the defense was just as bad as the offense, and special teams was just poor today!

put the ball on the ground, on the road, you lose games.

missing a kick is part of the issue. missing a kick, when you've had 6 cracks at the end zone is atrocious. the D has noting to do with that. That possession alone is the game. Add on the Jeremi Johnson fumble erlier, and you are tossing out 6-14 points. game over.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

How about the whole team lost this game today, including the coaches. I thought the defense was just as bad as the offense, and special teams was just poor today!

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

certainly shayne should have made that. no doubt about it. i'm real disappointed in brat, too. the last few weeks I had been repenting of all my vitriol towards Brat's playcalling. This week was just so difficult to watch. 2nd half was almost strictly run-run-pass and we ran such low percentage pass plays. Why no more slants to Chad? No out routes? 30 yard bombs to coles (who was covered) and a fade route down the sideline to Leonard? Really? Just very, very disappointing play calling.

I feel like you can literally see our players reactions when we go into a conservative, grind it out game plan and it just deflates them. We should have kept the pressure up after getting a 14-0 lead. Looks like we went into "let's not lose" mode WAY too early.

Caldwell's fumble was, in short, simply heartbreaking

No need to panic or feel like the bengals have been exposed by any means. Just would have given us a very significant lead on pittsburgh in the AFCN and these are the kind of games we should win if we're going to be a real playoff contender (meaning more than getting to the playoffs).

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

How about the whole team lost this game today, including the coaches. I thought the defense was just as bad as the offense, and special teams was just poor today!

put the ball on the ground, on the road, you lose games.

missing a kick is part of the issue. missing a kick, when you've had 6 cracks at the end zone is atrocious. the D has noting to do with that. That possession alone is the game. Add on the Jeremi Johnson fumble erlier, and you are tossing out 6-14 points. game over.

At this point, there is but one thing to say...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo

[cincy9275]

we played like s**t and payed the price for it. hard to blame this on one guy. everyone f**ked up today and it was because of the amount of mistakes we lost.

[GoBengals!]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

The NFL is all about opportunities. And Shane Graham blew it today. I am just frustrated about this guy constantly missing easy field goals. See Colts.. Mike Vanderjagt.

[Kazkal]

Okay 5 hours later and loss still stings >_< Even my father was laughing at me on facebook 10minutes after the game >_< was over.

[blueridge]

This suck-ass game was lost because of turnovers. Those fumbles just killed us. Fumbles are caused by lack of concentration. There was a definite letdown after last week. The Bengals were just not sharp. Last week they stuffed the Steelers on that final possession. Today, Bruce Gradkowski (?!) led the Raiders' s**tty offense all the way down the field for the tying TD in the last 2 minutes.Still,overall,the D was stout. But some people on this Board are really whining far too much. The Bengals generally outplayed the Raiders, but let this one get away from them. Unfortunate, but hardly a shock. Be honest, did anyone not see this result as a possibility? The Bengals turned the ball over 4 times, the Raiders hung around, and the Bengals coughed up the game in the last 33 seconds. Shee-it happens, even to a good team.(By the way, Chick Ludwig was absolutely dead on in his prediction of this game down to the actual score.) Anyway, the Bengals need to come back strong next week, and I believe they will. As bad as this game was, what do you call what happened to the Steelers? Thankfully, both the Steelers and Ravens also lost, leaving the Bengals in the AFC North driver's seat. It would have been nice to wake up Monday with a 2 game division lead, but I'll definitely take a 1 game lead after 10 games.

[blueridge]

Playoffs, Playoffs, you're talking Playoffs?

Shane Graham is horrible. Who misses a 35 -/+ yard field goal? Franchise kicker my butt. St Louis and Graham should have shared a cab to get the heck out of Cincy. How long will Marvin (or Mikey) stand for his poor performance?. He lost the game today.

So the offense had nothing to do with this? C'mon man!

How about the whole team lost this game today, including the coaches. I thought the defense was just as bad as the offense, and special teams was just poor today!

This is a typical whiny, overwrought over-reaction. The Defense was Not as bad as the Offense. Period.

[JoePong]

Do I even have to say it?

When you have played 8 games against AFC opponents and your offense has scored 17 points or less in all 8 games, that is not a fluke. It means your offense is not doing the job.

You guys can continue to make excuses and claim that it doesn't matter that our offense continually leaves all kinds of point on the field, but I am telling you that it does. Go stick your head in the sand if you want, talk about how defenses win championships and how our offense doesn't have to score more than 17 points but then don't cry to me when we are one-and-done in the playoffs and you can't figure out why.

You were warned by Joe Pong. Unlike you guys, it doesn't take a loss for me to realize there is a problem. I think it was Bob Huggins who once said that smart people don't need to lose a game in order to learn a lesson. Stupid people have to lose a game before they learn something.

Bengals also drop to 0-3 against AFC teams outside the division.