For Obsessive Compulsive worriers…

[derekshank]

Everyone will agree that the question mark surrounding the Bengals this year is the defense. They were awful last year, and they remain unproven this year.

The strength of the defense is its speed. Its greatest weakness… probably its size. Therefore, if the defense has to spend too much time on the field, they are likely to get worn out, and become very vulnerable in the 4th quarter of games.

So for those of us who enjoy finding things to worry about… Could our offense be too successful this year? If we end up being like the Colts, and are able to score very quickly, which there is little doubt we will attempt to do (we often like to try bombs to Chad on the first play of a given drive), could that be crippling our defense for later in the game?

Would we be better off with a ball control offense, relying on Rudi, and a shorter passing game, running the clock down, rather than playing to Chad Johnson’s strength? It seems successful for Pittsburgh and New England.

It’s just a thought… but if we want to be a Superbowl team, maybe our offense has to adapt to the strength of our defense. On the other hand, not to utilize your best weapon is asinine.

Nah, it’s probably just me that’s being asinine. Let’s just enjoy the game tonight.

[Who?]

I think you would be better off trying to score quickly to tell you the truth.

[rcarpenter62]

I would be shocked if the staff does not continue to pound the ball w/ Rudi on a regular basis. I'm sure they want to air it out, but they are never going to quit establishing the run.

[JPW]

Fast, Slow or somewhere in between, I'll take all the TDs that we can get.

However, I think that the Bengals will be looking to put out a balanced attack, using all of their weapons, both in the air and on the ground.

[alleycat]

It's very wierd, but I have this strange feeling that our D will rock this year and the O will not live up to its potential. Maybe it's a Murphy's law thing, or just the reality of the reverse psychological effect that hype has. I feel like it might end up making the O complacent and give the D a chip on their shoulder with something to prove.

Or maybe it's just wishful thinking...

[Ox]

Since I have both Palmer and Chad on my fantasy roster, I hope that the deep ball is thrown A LOT.

[7/11]

i agree about keepin the defense off the field. we'll have some downfield strikes here and there, but this offense should stay as a ball-control, run-oriented offense.

good points about the defense and indy's problems, b/c that's so true.

[redsfan2]

I'm hoping that the offense we run is situational.

Cliche time .... Run to set up the pass. Go deep to stretch the field and open up the stuff underneath. Build a lead and then grind the running game. We've got the skill position players as well as the line to do all the above ... as the situation calls for. Brat had a tendency last year ( very disturbing one ) to forget the running game. No .. I'm sorry it wasn't a tendency .... he just plain did it.

Main thing we killed ourselves with last year on offense was giving the ball up deep in our own territory ... and worse letting the int's go for touchdowns. Offense has to keep the defense from being put into that situation.

We have ( probably ) a legitimate 35 point offense. Now if it lives up to expectations then the onus is on the defense. You should win if you score 35 points don't you think ???

If the Offense Doesn't live up to expectations then I'll make book that Brat is calling Frazier for a reference while Lewis is introducing his newly promoted OC.

[jditty47]

we are built to get and hold a lead. we can play from behind, but that will not be our strong suit. i hope we dont get into holes this year.

[DontPushMe]

It seems successful for Pittsburgh and New England.

We arent Pittsburgh or New England. We will be a passing offense, sure there will be the occasional 2 yard rudi johnson run every now and then to throw the defenses off, but we will primarily be throwing, provided Palmer doesnt regress, which is not out of the question imo.

Also, im not sure im as confident with our offense as some of you. There were times last year when our offense was stagnant, and we did nothing to improve it this offseason besides the "go to war with what weve got" approach. While everyone loves to hype palmer up, he still threw 18 ints last year, and was inconsistent as hell. He also had a bad first pre-season game that didnt help make me more comfortable. Chad Johnson is great, but after him what? TJ still has to prove that last season wasnt just a contract year, PW has to prove hes over his injury, Washington i think will suprise those of you who are writing him off, but i dont think hes quite a starter, Henry is a year away at least, and the rest arent worth mentioning. Our offensive line is good, when they are on the feild and playing consistently, and our tight ends are a joke. I wont mention our RBs because that will send this post in the wrong direction.

[Spain]

DPM you forgetting a healthy Steibach will dominate he is by far our best playa! Our running might be the best in the leauge! However Rudi will be all o line!

[JohnsonX5]

Fast, Slow or somewhere in between, I'll take all the TDs that we can get.

However, I think that the Bengals will be looking to put out a balanced attack, using all of their weapons, both in the air and on the ground.

My thoughts exactly. If having an offense that scores too quickly becomes a problem for our defense, which I don't expect it will with our balanced offense, well, I think I'd be just fine with a problem like that (at least for this year).

Main thing we killed ourselves with last year on offense was giving the ball up deep in our own territory ... and worse letting the int's go for touchdowns.

It seemed to me that if there were a stat for Interception returned for TD: Interception ratio, then Palmer would be the league leader by a wide margin. I don't really know what to attribute this to other than pure misfortune. In addition to an improvement in Palmer's TD:INT ratio this year, I don't expect to see an inordinate amount of his interceptions to be returned for TD's as I felt they were last year, so we won't be killing ourselves as much on offense this year, in my opinion.

[redsfan2]

It seems successful for Pittsburgh and New England.

We arent Pittsburgh or New England. We will be a passing offense, sure there will be the occasional 2 yard rudi johnson run every now and then to throw the defenses off, but we will primarily be throwing, provided Palmer doesnt regress, which is not out of the question imo.

Also, im not sure im as confident with our offense as some of you. There were times last year when our offense was stagnant, and we did nothing to improve it this offseason besides the "go to war with what weve got" approach. While everyone loves to hype palmer up, he still threw 18 ints last year, and was inconsistent as hell. He also had a bad first pre-season game that didnt help make me more comfortable. Chad Johnson is great, but after him what? TJ still has to prove that last season wasnt just a contract year, PW has to prove hes over his injury, Washington i think will suprise those of you who are writing him off, but i dont think hes quite a starter, Henry is a year away at least, and the rest arent worth mentioning. Our offensive line is good, when they are on the feild and playing consistently, and our tight ends are a joke. I wont mention our RBs because that will send this post in the wrong direction.

Good points all. I thought Palmer was a little " too " off myself. As to his performance last year tho .... the majority of the 18 int's were earlier in the season. By the time he got hurt, he was lighting up good defenses regularly. I've scanned other boards, and now that it's after the fact even they admit that they're not looking forward to facing him again.

Have to agree about the receivers too ... to a point. Prior to last year and even in the early part of the season last year people were calling for TJ to be cut ... or shot and dropped into the river. He came on and everybody loved him. Was it a fluke ??? Hell I don't know. I think there's enough competition at the receiver spot to not worry about it. If it was ... he won't be playing. If you're going to ask who will be playing ... it'll be the guy that beats him out. Lewis will play the guys that are getting it done.

Coming back with all the guys we had last year is great ... I think anyway. Remember when we didn't have most of our O line starters on the field last year ?? If Perry stays healthy ( lets hope ) we'll have the most dominating running game we've had in years ... a lot of years.

Tight ends I agree 100% and I'm hoping that gets addressed in the coming draft. The guys we have are good " team guys " , but we just don't have the guy that can do it all. Everybody pretty much agrees that you can tell what they're going to do by which TE is on the field.

If I have a real concern, it's at the coordinator position. Luckily we have a good back up there too in case we need him.

[redsfan2]

It seemed to me that if there were a stat for Interception returned for TD: Interception ratio, then Palmer would be the league leader by a wide margin. I don't really know what to attribute this to other than pure misfortune. In addition to an improvement in Palmer's TD:INT ratio, I don't expect to see an inordinate amount of his interceptions to be returned for TD's as I felt they were last year, so we won't be killing ourselves as much on offense this year, in my opinion.

[WillisXPress]

They look to good for themselves right now.... WAS has a good D, but...

[andybren]

Balance. That's the key.

Start off fast with bombs to Chad, change it up with a grinding series of runs with Rudi and Perry. Score points, keep 'em guessing and...what do you know? It's the 4th quarter already. Can we score 3 times against Landon, Pollack, Odell, and Madieu? Probably not.