Bengals vs. Packers Gameday Thread

[kingwilly]

what poor execution. 1-12 on 3rd down???

Heavy camp legs finally arrived, I think. Dont read too much into it. This GB team got rolled in Cleveland last week.

Gotta get Dalton to "see" more, and give him a running game. Where are Scott and BJGE? kind of weak these guys don't see the field.

Ok, now to get everyone healthy and settle down. Get ready for Ratbirds.... I'm ready.

[UK Bengal]

Overall a very poor dress rehearsal, the only good note was the pressure but they have to sort that contain so the QB can't escape toothlessburger would kill us.

The offence was very vanilla last night and no one seemed to want to fight it out especially the players on the bubble

[redsbengalsbucks]

nugent looking like a good fantasy pickup.

Unless Gruden saving the good goal line calls for the regular season.

We need tebow.

lol

Hopefully they have a package with Sanu running some wildcat, he was a beast in college doing it all.

[HoosierCat]

Where are Scott and BJGE? kind of weak these guys don't see the field.

Hurt. Scott's out until (at least) the opener. BJGE may get a few carries in the preseason finale vs. Indy.

I agree that the Bengals looked way off their feed last night. The defense didn't seem nearly as aggressive as it was against Atlanta, when Nelson was blitzing the hell out of Ryan. And the guys who were rushing the QB seemed easily directed to the side and out of the play; Rogers looked like Moses standing amidst the parted sea.

Offensively it was nice to see some play-action on the first snap, even though the play didn't result in much. I don't know if it's a matter of wanting to go vertical or receivers not getting separation or what, but I was thinking all through the first half that Dalton needs to get the ball out quicker. The contrast with how Gradkowski started firing the ball right out when he entered the game was pretty stark.

[BengalByTheBay]

Where are Scott and BJGE? kind of weak these guys don't see the field.

Hurt. Scott's out until (at least) the opener. BJGE may get a few carries in the preseason finale vs. Indy.

Pretty sure I heard last night that Scott will not be ready for 9/10...injury bug is starting to get serious. Would anybody really be surprised if Dunlap ends up not playing until week 3 or 4?

[derekshank]

I know it was only a preseason game, the schemes are vanilla, and the Bengals are dealing with a ton of injuries... but it's hard to watch that and not conclude that the Packers are a much better team than the Bengals.

The Packers are loaded with veteran talent and were 15-1 last year while the Bengals are one of the youngest teams in the NFL that had many of their best players in street clothes... so that's not exactly brand new information - but it was disappointing nonetheless.

[COB]

Where are Scott and BJGE? kind of weak these guys don't see the field.

Hurt. Scott's out until (at least) the opener. BJGE may get a few carries in the preseason finale vs. Indy.

Pretty sure I heard last night that Scott will not be ready for 9/10...injury bug is starting to get serious. Would anybody really be surprised if Dunlap ends up not playing until week 3 or 4?

Running back is looking thin. Does Herron have a chance to make the team? He looked pretty good last night in the few plays I saw him run. I only got to see sporadic plays (7th grade daughter meltdown over school), so if he fumbled twice or something I was lucky enough not to see it. Anyway, I didn't like that draft pick, but now that I've seen him play I think he has a chance.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

The usual culprits stood out for me again - poor run blocking (and pass blocking) by the 0-line and Rb's, and the LB's were pretty much nowhere to be seen, literally, until they went against the Packers' back-ups.

Where were the DE's and LB's to contain Rodgers? Why are the LB's here so freakin' useless? How many tackles did they have? TWO??

The rest is all typical preseason garbage, but it's frustrating to watch the same old inability to run the ball with this line. The CB's actually didn't do too bad, Hall is going to get picked on, and he will lose his share of battles healthy or not.

That so many of these guys can't get on the field is getting to be pretty ridiculous though.

[cHaD711Johnson]

Contain was horrible, but the Dline was getting good pressure.

Confused by the O-line's poor play. I'm also beginning to think that we will be adding a Running Back on cut day. Scott won't be ready for the opener, and even still he hasn't shown that he's an impact guy anyway.

[ArmyBengal]

I would have loved to have seen a RB take advantage of the opportunity to shine with our #1 and #2 guy on the mend, but it just hasn't happened. Just in last nights game between Peerman, Brown, Brooks, and Herron, they combined to carry the ball 10 times for 13 yards. Nope no typo there.

I am one of the ones that thought Scott could be upgraded, but even now, I don't think that's feasible.

I'm just hoping they get healthy sooner rather than later and then don't need another 3 games to shake off the rust.

[volcom69]

The RBs couldnt run because the o-line cant open up holes. They are horrible at run blocking and that is concern because it was there problem last year. I also think Gruden gives up on the run a lot. All preseason it seemed like they passed a lot more then run. I know it was the preseason but with the injuries and poor o-line play, and the way Dalton played is alittle concerning. Greenbay plays the same defense as the steelers so hope they learned a lot last night.

[volcom69]

The usual culprits stood out for me again - poor run blocking (and pass blocking) by the 0-line and Rb's, and the LB's were pretty much nowhere to be seen, literally, until they went against the Packers' back-ups.

Where were the DE's and LB's to contain Rodgers? Why are the LB's here so freakin' useless? How many tackles did they have? TWO??

The rest is all typical preseason garbage, but it's frustrating to watch the same old inability to run the ball with this line. The CB's actually didn't do too bad, Hall is going to get picked on, and he will lose his share of battles healthy or not.

That so many of these guys can't get on the field is getting to be pretty ridiculous though.

Actually the LBs played pretty good. Lawson went out with a groin injury. Vincent Rey led them with tackles, and Muck who I really like was second. They also had a couple nice pass break ups.

[HoosierCat]

Confused by the O-line's poor play.

I think a lot of it is related to the vanilla O. After the play-action on that first snap, the Bengals pretty much reverted to what they were doing (with almost as little success) against Atlanta, which was pretty much nothing in the way or play-action, fakes, misdirection or even outside runs. They'd either run straight at GB's line or Dalton would look...and look...and look...to throw. That will make any line look bad.

[volcom69]

Confused by the O-line's poor play.

I think a lot of it is related to the vanilla O. After the play-action on that first snap, the Bengals pretty much reverted to what they were doing (with almost as little success) against Atlanta, which was pretty much nothing in the way or play-action, fakes, misdirection or even outside runs. They'd either run straight at GB's line or Dalton would look...and look...and look...to throw. That will make any line look bad.

Yea this and there didnt seem to be much tempo out there. Im guessing that will all change, and we will see alot more come the Baltimore game....or at least i hope so LOL.

[ArmyBengal]

I'm interested to see some of the players come back for the last preseason game against Indy.

[bwillycuse]

I know it was only a preseason game, the schemes are vanilla, and the Bengals are dealing with a ton of injuries... but it's hard to watch that and not conclude that the Packers are a much better team than the Bengals.

The Packers are loaded with veteran talent and were 15-1 last year while the Bengals are one of the youngest teams in the NFL that had many of their best players in street clothes... so that's not exactly brand new information - but it was disappointing nonetheless.

Slapped back into the reality that this team has a lot more to do to be in the upper tier. Hope they can build on it.

[cincy9275]

the o-line and the linebackers do have me a bit worried. rogers was running around like vick. it was embarrassing to see rogers running away from our db's and lb's like that. i would cut clements he had a angle and still got out ran by rogers. no excuse for that one. if i was zim i would start every practice this week with a replay of rogers td's. then the o-line wtf? cook, withworth and boling just flat out terrible effort! loved seeing marvin get in whits ass for missing blocks as bad as he did. piss poor effort all around. glad the games don't count yet!

[redsbengalsbucks]

From what I saw, GB is a better team than the Bengals. Not a shocking statement there.

The O-line played badly.

The D-line played OK, great QB pressure, no contain on scrambles.

The ST's look like a strentgh for the season.

DB's look good, LB's that are healthy look solid.

RB's look bad, but it seems to be the O-lines fault most of the time.

Dalton missed at least 3 throws. If he hits all of them the game is very different. Even just not overthrowing a wide open AJ right before half for an easy TD makes it a 17-13 first half against one of the best teams in the NFL.

I'm still very pumped for the season, GB is better than the Stealers or the Ratbirds and we did not get steamrolled

[ArmyBengal]

In going back and looking at the pass from Dalton to Green that everyone says Dalton missed, it looked like AJ just failed to extend his arms for the catch. He looked like he thought he knew where the ball was, but simply missed it. Had he simply extended his arms, it would have been 6.

[volcom69]

In going back and looking at the pass from Dalton to Green that everyone says Dalton missed, it looked like AJ just failed to extend his arms for the catch. He looked like he thought he knew where the ball was, but simply missed it. Had he simply extended his arms, it would have been 6.

Lap said the same thing during the broadcast that Green should have and could have got that pass, but he didn't extend his arms for it. The whole game was weird there was no tempo, no fire, just seemed like nobody was putting there all into the game. I don't care because it's preseason but let's hope during the regular season that changes.

[Sea Ray]

Obviously that game was terrible but it's over and let's hope they use it to get better. In other words let's hope the coaches use it as exhibit A that they are not good enough to just show up and go through the motions. They can say "here, this is what happens when you just show up and play."

We're not as good as Green Bay right now. I suggest they endeavor to become that good

[HoosierCat]

PFF's notes from the game:

1) The Battle at Cornerback

Last year the Bengals had some trouble at the cornerback position after Leon Hall went down with an injury. Cincinnati addressed the position by adding Terence Newman and Jason Allen in free agency, and then drafting Dre Kirkpatrick in the first round. Here the Bengals were without Allen and Kirkpatrick, so for most of the game the Bengals were in a nickel defense with Hall and Newman on the outside with Nate Clements playing in the slot.

Throughout the half, there were also plays where the Bengals used a base defense even though the Packers were in 3-WR sets, and also used a formation with Jeromy Miles as the slot corner while Clements went to safety.

Leon Hall struggled the most out of the secondary, after allowing two straight catches by Greg Jennings for first downs. A quick out followed by a slant by Randall Cobb caused Hall to slip and led to another big Packers play. Later in the second quarter, he redeemed himself by stopping potential big catches by both Jennings and Donald Driver. Newman also had Jordy Nelson get the best of him twice, but had an interception for a mark in his favor. Although Clements was in for nearly the entire half, he went untested.

2) Few Passing Options

The Bengals’ depth at wide receiver wasn’t all that impressive in 2011 behind A.J. Green, with Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell filling the second and third receiving role. The Bengals are replacing them with Brandon Tate, Andrew Hawkins, and Armon Binns; all players who were lower on the depth chart for Cincinnati in 2011.

Throughout the half, the Bengals went back and forth between Tate and Binns as the receiver opposite Green. When Cincinnati went to 3-WR sets, Hawkins came on the field and played in the slot. Considering Andy Dalton completed just five of 16 passes, it doesn’t look like the Bengals have much more to be optimistic about after this week.

Out of the three, Tate had the best day with two catches. The first was on a comeback route, and the other he found a hole in the zone followed by making a move which caused Jarrett Bush to miss a tackle. If you’re a Bengals fan and looking for some hope, just watch Binns’ one catch as Dalton threw it at just the right time. On more plays than not, the Bengals’ offense looked flat, and the lack of receiving options is partially to blame.

3) Depth at DT

The story of the Bengals’ 2011 season was their rookies on offense, but the emergency of Geno Atkins into an elite defensive tackle was right up there. Next to him was Domata Peko who is far better known thanks to his hair, and a decent player when it comes to run defense. Behind them, the Bengals drafted Devon Still in the second round and Brandon Thompson in the third.

Cincinnati typically substitutes their defensive linemen in and out a lot over the course of the game, and based on how they used Still in this game, it looked like they are ready to give him significant playing time in the regular season.

Still didn’t start the game, but was in later on the first drive to rush the passer. He started the second defensive drive, came back for part of the fourth, and started the fifth drive. Despite all this playing time, he didn’t do all that much with it. The Packers used a quick passing attack with a high number of targets to backs, tight ends, and interior receivers–this didn’t give him much of a chance to succeed as a pass rusher. There was a play where he got some push on Josh Sitton, but Sitton recovered to keep his quarterback clean. In the run game, there was a play that he was able to drive by Jeff Saturday to the correct direction of the run, but the run gap was too far away for Still to hinder the offense.

[Sea Ray]

Leon Hall struggled the most out of the secondary, after allowing two straight catches by Greg Jennings for first downs. A quick out followed by a slant by Randall Cobb caused Hall to slip and led to another big Packers play. Later in the second quarter, he redeemed himself by stopping potential big catches by both Jennings and Donald Driver. Newman also had Jordy Nelson get the best of him twice, but had an interception for a mark in his favor. Although Clements was in for nearly the entire half, he went untested.

I disagree with that. Rodgers threw at Leon all night with limited success. Wasn't his rating something like 54? It was Rodgers scrambling that did us in. The pass coverage was quite good