I just came from the game and...

[Tampa Bengal]

Well it wasn't too terrible at first. The D line held up against Mike Alstott ( who is coming back from neck surgery) They stopped the run but I still didn't see much pressure on the QB.

Besides the fumble Cris Perry looked good considering he just signed, I think he will give Rudy a run for the money.

As I mentioned earlier it wasn't terrible at first...just pray that Carson Palmer gets better.

[richmond_mat]

Well it wasn't too terrible at first. The D line held up against Mike Alstott ( who is coming back from neck surgery) They stopped the run but I still didn't see much pressure on the QB.

Cris Perry looked good considering he just signed, I think he will give Rudy a run for the money.

As I mentioned earlier it wasn't terrible at first...just pray that Carson Palmer gets better.

I don't like what I read.

Perry's fumble hurt.

[zerawkid]

>> As I mentioned earlier it wasn't terrible at first...just pray that Carson Palmer gets better. <<

From his stat line, yeah, it would appear he didn't do well. But, I have been reading and from what I can gather his interception was a catchable ball the was tipped by TJ. Had it been caught it would have been a 40+ yard touchdown. Also, another of his incompletions was a hard pass on a slant to CJ, again, a pass that should have been caught. That considered, plus the intangibles, Bratkowski, Lewis, and many offensive players on the team all said Carson had good command of the offense, kept them moving, and was in and out of the huddle, making no real "rookie" mistakes. There are ten other guys out there with him.

Besides, it is *not* our offense we need to be worried about.

[cincy9275]

i liked the fact that the coaches and teammates all had positive things to say about palmer. but we still need to improve as a team .we could have been better is some areas .but it is only the 1st preseason game and i truly believe marvin will get these guys prepared . :player:

[HoosierCat]

Nothing in this game raised any red flags, at least for me. I was primarily looking for two things: did CP have a clue, and could the starting D stop the run? Last night, the answers were yes and yes.

The pass rush was about what I expected, i.e. nonexistent. After all, the same guys couldn't get pressure last year, so why expect them to do it now? I wasn't expecting much out of TJ -- and we certainly didn't get it -- since he'd been on the shelf forever. Rudi looked fine, Perry looked capable aside from the fumble.

The biggest negatives for me were Chad's drop and the secondary's several "almost-but-not-quite" big plays. On the game recap on bengals.com, there's talk from CJ and the defenders about being "surprised" by the ball. That makes it sound to me like 1st game jitters more than anything else. I expect them to settle down and start making plays as we move on into the preseason; if not, then we have some deeper problems.

[jjakq27]

The pass rush has got to improve. Unfortunatly the whole Darryl Gardner incident may have messed up our draft since we thought we had a D-lineman and probably passed over some people we could have used.

[Sox]

The int was on a hot read when the Bucs were blitzing.

TJ HAS to catch that ball.Just like he needs to keep his feet in bounds.

[Bucfan219]

The int was on a hot read when the Bucs were blitzing.

TJ HAS to catch that ball.Just like he needs to keep his feet in bounds.

You got that right.

I was at the game, and it was absolutely inexcusable for that guy not to get both feet (let alone even one) inbounds on that play.

We had a match for that one, though. Our backup safety John Howell had a gimme interception bounce right out of his waiting hands.

Quite a few defenders had stonehands (Booger Mcfarland could have had an easy pick if his reflexes had been a tad better).

Uh ... no pun intended, upon reflection.

[BengalPappaw]

The one thing that bothered me was the poor tackling by our Bengals (except for Caleb Miller). Most of our DBs try to "cut" the runner. Look at the game tape and notice how the Bucs "wrapped up" when they made tackles -- except against RUDI!

I'd like to see the Bengals do a better job of tackling in the New England game. The last thing I want to see is CD running through our secondary.

[BengalByTheBay]

I watched the first half last night (thank you TiVO) and my opinion is that Carson looked real good. Nice presence in the pocket and awareness on the rollout pass to KWash. TB was actually blitzing a lot for preseason. CP was more accurate than Kit (who should've been picked off at least once) which is somewhat of a surprise this early. The Barber pick was TJ's fault. If TJ's not cut after this game I will be suprised. We would do better with Walter as the possession receiver. I agree with the poster above that Perry actually looked good too -- very quick.

D was remarkable for James' poor play. I hope it was just an off night for him. Otherwise, okay, but the secondary was generally unimpressive. Not terrible against the run which is a nice surpise. Final should've been 10 - 20.

[schweinhart]

D was remarkable for James' poor play. I hope it was just an off night for him.

James got scorched a couple times on a deep ball to Schroeder and a play action cross to Clayton. Looked like he just got confused on the coverage. He'll be fine.

What I noticed most is what was never said on D: the names of Deltha O'Neal and Joey Galloway. There will be seven or eight match-ups like this during the year where O'Neal can shut down the other team's speed receiver. Undoubtedly Herring was helping out but this was the most positive thing on D for me in the game.

However, a better test comes up vs. the Pats and their 3 speed WR sets.

[Kirkendall]

The pass rush was about what I expected, i.e. nonexistent.

I think this is a result of our rush defense success. It seemed that the d-line crashed really hard (and got bit on a few outside rushes) to prevent big runs up the middle; thus allowing the linemen to lockup on the d-line and provide little pass rush results.

Besides, it is *not* our offense we need to be worried about.

3 possessions and 1 FG by the starters and only 230 total net yards the entire game. Sure the interception and fumble by Perry could be the excuse, but this also happens in NFL regular season games. I'm not sounding any alarms, or even complaining, I'm just making people aware that the offense still needs a lot of work which hopefully works itself out in the coming weeks.

A little did you know: All the people that scored on Monday had the last name begin with the letter G and other than Gramatica, all points were scored by players with the last name of Graham. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

[HoosierCat]

What I noticed most is what was never said on D: the names of Deltha O'Neal and Joey Galloway. There will be seven or eight match-ups like this during the year where O'Neal can shut down the other team's speed receiver. Undoubtedly Herring was helping out but this was the most positive thing on D for me in the game.

However, a better test comes up vs. the Pats and their 3 speed WR sets.

Yeah, but it looks like Deltha will be out for it now. Ratliff is listed No. 2 behind him on the Bengals/Pats game depth chart, and if they do indeed start him I'm sure it won't take Brady long to test him (like with the first pass). I wonder if they'll stick with that; Hobson seems to feel they'll plug Roberts in there.

Kirk: "I think this is a result of our rush defense success. It seemed that the d-line crashed really hard (and got bit on a few outside rushes) to prevent big runs up the middle; thus allowing the linemen to lockup on the d-line and provide little pass rush results."

Yup. Both the end and LBs focused on stopping the run; blitzing & stunting wasn't on the defensive menu. But as the experience in the secondary falls, they're gonna have to start trying to get to the QB...

[BengalByTheBay]

Worse things could happen than having Ratliff start and get lit up by the SB champs. Every rookie CB gets burned, I'd just as soon have it happen a few times in preseason by a good team.

[schweinhart]

Yeah, but it looks like Deltha will be out for it now. Ratliff is listed No. 2 behind him on the Bengals/Pats game depth chart, and if they do indeed start him I'm sure it won't take Brady long to test him (like with the first pass). I wonder if they'll stick with that; Hobson seems to feel they'll plug Roberts in there.

Kirk: "I think this is a result of our rush defense success. It seemed that the d-line crashed really hard (and got bit on a few outside rushes) to prevent big runs up the middle; thus allowing the linemen to lockup on the d-line and provide little pass rush results."

Yup. Both the end and LBs focused on stopping the run; blitzing & stunting wasn't on the defensive menu. But as the experience in the secondary falls, they're gonna have to start trying to get to the QB...

Hobson says Madieu Williams will be the other starting CB. That will be excellent to watch what he can do and a great learning experience for him to play against 1st team Pats.

I'm all for keeping O'Neal off the field if he's got the slightest injuries except for maybe the last pre-season game. Sounds like his injuries were caused by working his ass off.

Interestingly, Roberts looked more solid to me than either Porter or Brooks. Roberts doesn't move like the greatest of athletes but he seems to put himself in a position where he can try to make a play to the best of his ability. I look forward to watching what Roberts can do vs. Pats, who now also have Patten back in addition to Brown, Branch, and Givens (JHChrist!!!)

Likewise, the run ganme with Dillon and Faulk will be a much better test than the Bucs. I'm not saying much about the D-line yet except for this: Clemons looks like he's even slower this year and Geathers looks poised to make a strong push to take his job; Langston Moore is too slow and off-balanced to stunt but fine for standing in one place for pushing and shoving; Matthias Askew was man-handled and doesn't look like much of a contributor this year.

In the LB scheme, I'm glad we got Natester. He'll do just fine. Miller looks like he will have to contribute significantly and must work hard to improve his game by season beginning. Larry Stevens looks like he will stick as back-up ILB w/ weakside ability if needed. Pats game will reveal a lot more.

[chrishcovga]

The reason we don't have a pass rush is because we passed on them in the draft ! We moved down twice missing out on Will Smith and Kenechi Udeze, and then passed on Antwan Odom twice in round 2 who is starting for the Tennessee Titans. -

I'm all for in Marvin We trust, but our front four are not pass rushers! - We're small, undersized, and create few matchup problems for teams. You can't rush the passer with guys that can't get off the ball. Smith stays locked on too long with bull rush moves because he doesn't have the elite speed to turn the corner on a tackle. Clemons has good push, but no secondary moves and is limited athletically. Thornton is quick, but not enough girth to effectively draw double teams. And I can't justify Tony Williams being a starter anymore in this league.

Patterson,Geathers,Scott, etc. don't present much upside considering they're all built like Clemons and Smith.

[Bucfan219]

What I noticed most is what was never said on D: the names of Deltha O'Neal and Joey Galloway. There will be seven or eight match-ups like this during the year where O'Neal can shut down the other team's speed receiver. Undoubtedly Herring was helping out but this was the most positive thing on D for me in the game.

However, a better test comes up vs. the Pats and their 3 speed WR sets.

O'Neal might be everything that you say he is, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions based on this preseason game. I doubt that Galloway was in the game much after the first series, and the first series was sentimentally dedicated to Mike Alstott.

Gruden's offense is designed to create matchup problems and exploit them (though specific game-planning would have been 0-to-minimal for a preseason game. If you can earn a collective passer rating over 100 by letting Galloway attract attention, Gruden will take that every time.

Coach would be looking for the QB's to make good throwing decisions. With the possible exception of a couple of Griese tosses (which might have been the fault of the receivers--like if the wrong route had been run), the QB's made good throwing decisions.

[schweinhart]

The reason we don't have a pass rush is because we passed on them in the draft ! We moved down twice missing out on Will Smith and Kenechi Udeze, and then passed on Antwan Odom twice in round 2 who is starting for the Tennessee Titans.

Everyone was suprised we didn't land a DLman until the 4th. Fisher done good getting Odom in the 2nd and Starks in the 3rd to replace Kearse and Robaire Smith.

I'm still giving ML the benefit of some serious doubt about passing up on lots of DL picks. If Madieu Williams and Keiwan Ratliff turn out to be this year's Eugene Wilson and Asante Samuels, then he'll look like a genius.

I got to say guru, after watching Stacy Andrews, I do believe you're right about keeping 9 instead of 10 OL. Andrews sure looked like Big Willie's back-up for this year and heir apparent. For a man Andrew's size to move like he does and just effortlessly overpower people makes him look like to me the best pick of the 2004 draft to this point. Andrews makes the rest of the OL and the other team's Dline players all look like the size of kickers.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Palmer was victimized by TJ "I'm a pro bowler dammit!" Houschmandzedah and a bullet that went through CJ's hands.

The guy completed 3 passes yet still threw for 74 yards. He will put up big #'s if the people around him perform and the very average defense can get off the damn field.