Scrimmage Friday Night

[BengalszoneBilly]

Good post Iffy! Keep up the good work!

[Kirkendall]

Here's the Cincy Enquirer's recap. Looks like we've been concerned about the rush defense all off-season for good reason. Not encouraging at that end...

By Mark Curnutte

Enquirer staff writer

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Yes, it's early, and training camp is just one week old. Yes, it was just an intrasquad scrimmage.

And, yes, it's a long time until the regular-season opener Sept. 12 at the New York Jets.

But a big Bengals problem from 2003 - rush defense - reappeared Friday night in the controlled game.

The offense rushed for 160 yards and one touchdown in a 70-16 victory over the defense before a crowd estimated at 8,500 at Rawlings Stadium.

Rudi Johnson broke a 46-yard run in the first series, escaping tackles by Tony Williams and Rogers Beckett. Backup Kenny Watson ran for 51 with a long of 16, and the defense yielded a 6.4-yard average on the ground.

"We have to do a better job of leveraging on defense," coach Marvin Lewis said. "There were some plays, (but) hopefully we'll do better."

The offense ran almost at will, even though the starting left side of the offensive line - tackle Levi Jones and guard Eric Steinbach - didn't play because of injuries.

The Bengals finished tied for 25th in rush defense in 2003, allowing 138.6 yards a game - an average of 200 yards in the final month when the team lost three of four games and missed the playoffs.

Quarterback Carson Palmer started and was 7-for-14 passing for 108 yards and three touchdowns.

"I thought it went pretty well," Palmer said. "We still have a lot of stuff to clean up. ... I'm excited by the running game."

Rookie defensive back Madieu Williams intercepted Palmer once, on a pass that went through the hands of wide receiver Kelley Washington.

Backup quarterback Jon Kitna looked exceptionally sharp, playing with the second team mainly against the second-team defense. He was 10-of-12 passing for 120 yards and one touchdown.

Tight end Chad Hayes caught touchdown passes of 2 and 28 yards.

Rookie wide receiver Jamall Broussard turned in the night's most exciting play. He found space after catching a dump pass from Palmer on the sideline, out-running the defense into the end zone for a 27-yard score.

"I've got to do things to get noticed," said Broussard, whose chances of making the team look better each day.

Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski liked what he saw from Broussard.

"He's fun to watch," Bratkowski said. "He showed he has some special moves. I liked what our second and third units didn't against the No. 1 defense. They weren't intimidated."

Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who missed most of last season with a hamstring injury, was the leading receiver with 74 yards on four receptions.

Tight end Tony Stewart had a 33-yard touchdown catch, and tailback Skip Hicks leapt over the line for a 1-yard touchdown. Hicks had an NFL Europe-best 10 rushing touchdowns earlier this year.

Watson had more playing time because of the absence of rookie Chris Perry, whose contract holdout reached seven days.

Illustrating how the front seven had problems against the run, the two leading tacklers were safeties Ricot Joseph with nine and Marquand Manuel with five.

On special teams, kicker Shayne Graham made four of six field goals, missing right from 42 and 46 yards. Punter Kyle Richardson kicked six times for 39.8-yard average.

The only injury of note was rookie linebacker Landon Johnson, who left the field after suffering a hard hit on an already sore shoulder.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I'm hoping the offense is that good versus the defense is again that bad! If indeed the defense remains pourous against the run, I would anticipate seeing Askew seeing more than normal play for a rookie.

[schweinhart]

Schobel shouldn't make the team.

Why not?

[chrishcovga]

Wish I could have seen it, the scrimmage from today had some highlights as well. Said Palmer was 16 of 28/ 282 yds. and 2tds. and 2 ints'. - 85.7 passer rating for those that want to know ! -

I just want to know one thing... Who was Chad Johnson lighting up so bad that he caught 6 passes for 191 yards and three catches for more than 40..??

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Schobel shouldn't make the team.

Why not?

Too many dropped passes during the scrimmage. The TEs were just running simple out routes as safety valves and if I counted right he dropped 3 of them.

[skyline]

Schobel shouldn't make the team.

Why not?

Too many dropped passes during the scrimmage. The TEs were just running simple out routes as safety valves and if I counted right he dropped 3 of them.

It happens. He showed his worth last year.

[Barbarian]

Man, why the hell is it always me who gets to give you guys bad news:

I heard the defense couldn't stop the damned RUN!!! Now that sounds familiar, doesn't it???

[WhoDeyNow]

Don't see why we should cut Schobel. He's proved that he can be a very solid receiving threat and help widen the offense.

He doesn't have to start, but just because he doesn't, doesn't mean he can't be on the roster.

[wookie]

Is it really Schobel who's the problem? I don't know that the Bengals really got the TE involved in the offense a whole lot last year. It might be because they didn't have a lot of faith in the TE's, or it could be cause Brat had so many other weapons to choose from. I think Schobel did fine, if he hadn't gotten open and made a nice catch in the endzone in Pittsburgh last year Cincy would've been 7-9 and out of playoff contention at the end of the year.

If the Bengals had someone better then obviously you start him, but I think Schobel should have the job until he proves he can't beat out the other players.

[kevnz]

Will someone please tell me why everybody has their panties in such a knot about a mock game with no real rule book??? Please? I can understand if it was the third or 4th preseason game why we'd be a little nervous....But come on...This guys are all trying to make plays, and the defense weren't out to kill someone by tackling too hard. problems with the center qb snap? No shock, most QB's will have that problem early on in the preseason the first year or two....Hell, it ain't like Kitna never had that problem. So everybody breath in....now let it out and relax...worry at the end of preseason about these things, not the start of it.

[Kirkendall]

Will someone please tell me why everybody has their panties in such a knot about a mock game with no real rule book??? Please? I can understand if it was the third or 4th preseason game why we'd be a little nervous....But come on...This guys are all trying to make plays, and the defense weren't out to kill someone by tackling too hard. problems with the center qb snap? No shock, most QB's will have that problem early on in the preseason the first year or two....Hell, it ain't like Kitna never had that problem. So everybody breath in....now let it out and relax...worry at the end of preseason about these things, not the start of it.

Yea your right Kev, I mean this is still camp.

I think most of us are just excited to see the game back and get a little concerned way before we should about the team. Hell this is the first year we're a contender in years, so our criticisms are louder and sooner than most of us are accustomed to.

[wookie]

I also think that this is a product of what we've all had to go through the last 14 years. As a Bengals fan your just waiting for something to go wrong and crush all hopes of a good season.

Consequently, when you see your starting QB throw a lot of picks in camp, and fumble some snaps, it gets those fears and doubts spreading in your mind and there isn't much that most of us can do about it.

But, I will try to untie my panties and keep a stiff upper lip and wait to see how we do in the regular season before I start getting worried again. I'm not even going to sweat the preseason.

OK??