The Bengals have depth!

[BengalszoneBilly]

I have in the past called Hobson a hack. Mike Brown's lap dog. But this time he wrote an article that I feel is right on the money.

Bengals roll Jets with depth

Geoff Hobson

Editor Bengals.com

Even if their head coach couldn't quite say it, the stat sheet and the scoreboard did.

The Bengals' 17-6 victory over the Jets Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium was as sharp and fast and as physical and as total as any preseason opener they’ve played in Marvin Lewis' 10 seasons.

Exhibit A: The 17 points are what they scored in the three previous preseason openers combined.

Everyone from Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton (a 15-play drive), to free-agent rookie middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict (an interception) to special teamers Dan Skuta (blocked punt) and Cedric Peerman (two touchdowns) to long lost third-rounder Dontay Moch (1.5 sacks) contributed to an effort the Jets were briefly in the red zone once, the Bengals had five sacks, the Jets could muster just 173 yards, and the Bengals had no turnovers.

"I thought we tackled, which was key, because coming into the first preseason game, just making sure we do a good job of tackling is big, because in training camp we haven’t had many opportunities to do that," Lewis said. "So that was a positive. Overall, my impression, I thought some of the young guys got an opportunity to play more than we expected, and that will be a good chance to evaluate them. I thought in special teams, we handled the substitutions well, so we played with poise. Starting out, that was going to be big, and we can build upon that."

There were things to work on, of course. The offense took off on a brisk 15-play, 76-yard march the second time they had the ball, but the problems in the red zone and on the goal line that have hampered them for the last several years surfaced when they stalled at the Jets 4 and had to settle for Mike Nugent's 22-yard field goal.

They had a big penalty on special teams when they lined up illegally over center while receiving a punt and gave the Jets a first down on the defense's second series. And they averaged just 2.8 yards per rush on 31 rushes.

More at the link above.