Season Report Card

[jjakq27]

Joe Reedy gave the following grades for his end of season report card

Pass Offense B-

Run Offense C-

Pass Defense B-

Run Defense C+

Special Teams B-

Coaching B-

/>http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120114/SPT02/301140077/Season-ending-Bengals-report-card?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Bengals

[BengalszoneBilly]

Joe Reedy gave the following grades for his end of season report card

Pass Offense B-

Run Offense C-

Pass Defense B-

Run Defense C+

Special Teams B-

Coaching B-

/>http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120114/SPT02/301140077/Season-ending-Bengals-report-card?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Bengals

IMO he's a little generous on run offense and coaching.

[TJJackson]

The running game was terrible pretty much all year, no matter whether Cedric or my fave Bernard was the ball carrier.

Call it a D at best

[cHaD711Johnson]

When we were expected to be in the "Suck For Luck" race the B- coaching grade is a reach IMO.

[BengalszoneBilly]

When we were expected to be in the "Suck For Luck" race the B- coaching grade is a reach IMO.

You're saying that grade is too low?

[derekshank]

The Bengals rush defense didn't play well against Baltimore in week 17 or @ Houston in the playoffs... but heading into week 17, they were the 6th ranked rushing defense in the NFL. Even after Baltimore racked up 221 yards on the ground, they only dropped to 10th. If you ask me, that's worthy of better than a C+.

As for passing defense... the Bengals may have been 9th in the NFL in yards allowed, but we all know that the secondary was the weakness of this team. They played the majority of their games against mediocre QBs... and allowed 21 passing TDs compared to only 10 interceptions. They were only ranked 17th in the NFL in opponent passer rating. In other words... the B- was probably a bit generous.

[volcom69]

Begining of the year this defense was great, but towards the end i thought they became very average. You could see that when teams wanted to run the ball they could, guys were missing tackles, and out of place. Now i happen to wonder if some of that is because Rey was playing on a bum ankle for half the year, because you could see he changed, and his plays were cut in half! When the bigger o-linemen, or the better teams wanted to run, they were just more physcial and imposed there will against the bengals d-line. I love the d-line but still think they need to some help. I hope they get Sims back in the offseason.

[cHaD711Johnson]

When we were expected to be in the "Suck For Luck" race the B- coaching grade is a reach IMO.

You're saying that grade is too low?

Yea, I would give the staff a solid B at least. Plugged a Rookie QB into the lineup without OTAs and everything and he led the team to the playoffs. I think that merits at least a B. If it weren't for Harbaugh and Green Bay Marvin would've been in Coach of the Year talk again.

[HoosierCat]

Pass Offense C+

For a rookie, Dalton was incredible, but he's still got plenty of work to do. AJ Green was amazing. But beyond him the receivers (including Gresham) struggled with consistency. Going into the season, everyone was hoping that Simpson and/or Caldwell would emerge. Instead, both could exit. Shipley remains more potential than reality due to injury. Whalen and Hawkins showed some game. But the bottom line is that behind Green the Bengals have little but question marks.

Run Offense F

The run blocking sucked. Cedric Benson sucked. Leonard got barely any touches all year. Scott was a big meh. Pressley didn't impress (at least not me). Again, going into the season, the idea was for the run game and the D to carry the team; instead the run game couldn't carry its own jock.

Pass Defense C

This is the classic "gentleman's C." Injuries, free agent losses and acquisitions, and cuts meant this unit wasn't whole all year. That they did as well as they did (relatively speaking, of course) is a testament to the defensive coaches. But I expect a lot of new faces here next fall.

Run Defense A-

It fell apart at the end of the year but injuries, particularly the loss of Pat Sims, had a lot to do with the breakdowns late in the season. Overall, stuffing the run was the strength of the D and, combined with Andy Dalton, was what got the team off to the strong start that propelled its playoff push.

Special Teams B

Special teams played well, for the most part, in 2011, but produced only a few big plays. Brandon Tate was not impressive as a returner. Pacman had one big return, on which he of course injured himself. Nugent got a little shaky late in the year. Huber was meh (23rd in punting average, 14th in net average).

Coaching B

To the good, the coaches got a rookie-led team into the postseason. To the bad, the team struggled to sustain success, to beat other quality squads and was bounced out of the playoffs in ugly fashion. But all things considered, there's a lot to build on.