Has the Bengals O lived up to its billing?

[derekshank]

This questioned entered my mind the other night... I was watching the DVD of the Vikings game to cheer me up after the Jags loss (Thank you Big O).

Anyway... the Vikings game is the only game I didn't get to watch live, so I hadn't seen it yet. And frankly, despite the way we pounded them, our offense left a lot of points on the field. The Vikings were lucky we only beat them by 29.

All that to say, it made me wonder how many points we've left on the field this season, so I started going through it. I didn't include times that we should have gotten a 1st down, but lost it due to a penalty, because there is no way of knowing if we could have driven the feild more... but just looking at the games these are the points I think it is fair to say we SHOULD have scored.

The Cleveland game:

1. After an INT we started the drive on their 13 yard line, and only came away with a FG. A high powered offense has to score a TD there. We left 4 on the field.

2. CP's INT in the endzone. It happens... but we left 7 there.

So we left a total of 11 points at the mistake on the lake.

The Minnesota game:

1. Perry's 86 yarder called back... we then drove the field, but CP threw an INT in the endzone. We left 7 there.

2. We had a 1st and 10 on the Minn 25. 2 penalties later we were first and 20 on the Minnesota 35. We managed 13 yards, should have been a 1st and 10 on the Minn 12. Instead, settled for the FG. Not an outrage, but a disappointment. We left 4 points out there.

3. After a turnover the Bengals got the ball 1st and 10 on the Minn 15. Have to get a TD there... ended up with a FG. left 4 points out there

All in all, not terrible because we owned them, but we still left 15 points to be scored.

The Chicago game:

Not a bad game actually. Just good defense by the Bears. We did have the TD called back on Chad's penalty though, and only got a FG.

We only left 4 points out there in that one.

The Houston game:

1. TD called back on the penalty... settled for the FG. left 4 points out there.

2. Palmer's intentional grounding (bad call), should have been an easy FG, still got back in very makeable range for Graham, and missed it. We left 3 out there.

3. 1st and goal on the 10. in the 4th quarter we really needed that score, penalty backed us up, had to settle for the FG. left 4 points out there

Total of 11 points left against Houston.

The Jacksonville game:

1. After the fumble recovery, we got the ball on their 21 yard line. 27 yards in penalties resulted in an unmakeable 3rd and 32. (when you are losing the game, and only have to drive the ball 21 yards to get a TD, it's essential that you do so). We left 4 points there with the FG.

2. The 4th and 1 call. Good play by Jacksonville, but an elite offense gets the first down. SHould have gotten at least a FG. Left 3 points out there.

3. Palmer's fumble at the end of the game, probably would have driven the field... gotten at least a FG. 3 points.

We left 10 points in Jacksonville.

I know that no offense is perfect, but I think that for believing we were a top 2 or 3 offense, we've been disappointing. Our defense won us a those games early... and in fact put the offense in great scoring positions that we didn't completlely capitalize on. If we had... we won that game on Sunday night.

I'm not saying it's a serious problem... and I don't know how other "elite" offenses have done this season either, but I think that the truly great offenses find ways to get the extra points in the situations listed above. Just a thought.

[skyline]

Right now I'd give us a B+. You can't argue with their #s. They're moving the ball, and doing well.

I'm not handing out an A due to what you have already mentioned. Crucial mental mistakes that are keeping points off the board. To be a truly elite offense, they have to tighten the ship a bit more and start making every posession count.

[kingwilly]

I see the major probelm in converting 3rd downs. We need to have someone step up, like Warrick did, to be a go-to guy. Perry should be used more for this purpose.

As far as leaving the points on the table, I have been disappointed with some of the playcalling at those critical times. It seems like the drives stall out when they get too cutesy.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Too many penalties on 3rd down, and an overrated o-line here make for these problems I think.

Palmer has gotten absolutely pounded on more than one occassion already and Rudi/Perry can't find a hole to save their lives in short yardage between the tackles.

The offense will improve and be more consistent when the 0-line starts playing better, because right now they are not.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I see the major probelm in converting 3rd downs. We need to have someone step up, like Warrick did, to be a go-to guy. Perry should be used more for this purpose.

As far as leaving the points on the table, I have been disappointed with some of the playcalling at those critical times. It seems like the drives stall out when they get too cutesy.

Honestly, that's where you need a good pass-catching TE.

[Stripes]

The penalties are tough to complain about, given the overall increase in such across the NFL. Other than that, I think the offense has lived up to the hype. Yes, they have left some points on the field, but with a young quarterback leading the offense, we all expected some mistake proneness. Palmer has instead become an immediate Pro Bowl near-lock, and the offense has played very well around them. I'll give them a solid B+.

[schweinhart]

I see the major probelm in converting 3rd downs. We need to have someone step up, like Warrick did, to be a go-to guy. Perry should be used more for this purpose.

As far as leaving the points on the table, I have been disappointed with some of the playcalling at those critical times. It seems like the drives stall out when they get too cutesy.

Honestly, that's where you need a good pass-catching TE.

In the absence of one, the next best thing would be 1) a TE who can move to H-back and block in the backfield for blitz pick up and 2) a TE who can get out quick and block on a pass thrown to the flats.

I agree that Chris Perry can be better utilized. On 3rd and longs, he could line up as 4th WR w/ the TE shifting to block in the backfield. On 3rd and 4 or 5, he would be great to swing out into the flats where he can do his thing to try to make the 1st man miss.

But if Perry is just in there to blitz pick up on 3rd, I think that's a waste at this point.

They really have to improve 3rd downs and quit with the penalties already. Everything else looks pretty good with the O.

[skyline]

I see the major probelm in converting 3rd downs. We need to have someone step up, like Warrick did, to be a go-to guy. Perry should be used more for this purpose.

As far as leaving the points on the table, I have been disappointed with some of the playcalling at those critical times. It seems like the drives stall out when they get too cutesy.

Honestly, that's where you need a good pass-catching TE.

In the absence of one, the next best thing would be 1) a TE who can move to H-back and block in the backfield for blitz pick up and 2) a TE who can get out quick and block on a pass thrown to the flats.

I agree that Chris Perry can be better utilized. On 3rd and longs, he could line up as 4th WR w/ the TE shifting to block in the backfield. On 3rd and 4 or 5, he would be great to swing out into the flats where he can do his thing to try to make the 1st man miss.

But if Perry is just in there to blitz pick up on 3rd, I think that's a waste at this point.

They really have to improve 3rd downs and quit with the penalties already. Everything else looks pretty good with the O.

I thought I remembered seeing Perry convert 2 third downs last week. Then, they brought Perry in on another one. The Jags probably expected Perry at that point, and Carson was able to find someone else (was it Schobel?). Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Anyway...I think he's being used quite well on 3rd down.

[HoosierCat]

So far, Chris Perry has done pretty damn well. Consider that last year, Kenny Watson's combined rushing and receiving yards were 332 (161 rush/171 catch) for the whole year. Chris Perry will likely surpass that sometime in the next two games; he's currently at 261 yards (121/140). Watson had 51 touches last season; Perry's had 44, putting him on course to carry or catch the ball about 130 or 140 times this season.

The interesting thing is that this isn't taking away from Rudi. He's touched the ball 117 times so far, which puts him on course to come close to his '05 number of touches (376). Rudi has 484 combined yards (464/20), which also projects out close to his 1,538 total yards from last year.

In sum, last year our No. 1 and 2 backs produced 1,870 yards. Thanks to Perry, that total looks to be on the order of 2,300 this season.

[CBin2k7]

I think you can attribute a lot of the problems on 3rd downs to penalities on 2nd and 1st down. When you are constantly in 3rd and 7+, the consistency rate of conversion goes down.

You can see it with the Willie that he is not fully healthy, I have seen Levi getting beat more than usual this year also.

When clicking this is no doubt a top 5 offense in the league.

[schweinhart]

I see the major probelm in converting 3rd downs. We need to have someone step up, like Warrick did, to be a go-to guy. Perry should be used more for this purpose.

As far as leaving the points on the table, I have been disappointed with some of the playcalling at those critical times. It seems like the drives stall out when they get too cutesy.

Honestly, that's where you need a good pass-catching TE.

In the absence of one, the next best thing would be 1) a TE who can move to H-back and block in the backfield for blitz pick up and 2) a TE who can get out quick and block on a pass thrown to the flats.

I agree that Chris Perry can be better utilized. On 3rd and longs, he could line up as 4th WR w/ the TE shifting to block in the backfield. On 3rd and 4 or 5, he would be great to swing out into the flats where he can do his thing to try to make the 1st man miss.

But if Perry is just in there to blitz pick up on 3rd, I think that's a waste at this point.

They really have to improve 3rd downs and quit with the penalties already. Everything else looks pretty good with the O.

I thought I remembered seeing Perry convert 2 third downs last week. Then, they brought Perry in on another one. The Jags probably expected Perry at that point, and Carson was able to find someone else (was it Schobel?). Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Anyway...I think he's being used quite well on 3rd down.

Perry did convert 2 3rd downs last week -- 1 run and 1 pass vs. an LB on a cross. He is being used on 3rd downs as a receiver w/ some success but could be better used vertically and in the flats where he can face the defender before making a move. Not using him well is relying on him to blitz block because he's not there yet and is too much of a threat as a receiver to stay in.

Perry's definitely getting a lot of work as a change of pace back on 1st and 2nd downs, too, which is increasing his production more than if he was just used as a 3rd down back. On the whole, it seems like the Bengals have had the ball a lot more than last year. Let's hope it stays that way.

[USMC203]

I am a little suspect of big Willie. Last Sunday on a sack from the right side Willie was standing up and looking to his left like he was worn out. On a run play he let off his block and his man stopped the run for no gane. Could be 10 years has caught up with him and they need to bring Andrews in and give him a break.

[redsfan2]

I was just checking the stats over on NFL.com.

Bengals offense is first in the AFC ..... and third overall in the NFL. That's just not that shabby. Do they have problems that they need to address ????? Sure they do. The question posed tho was have they lived up to expectations ??? Answer has to be Yeah ..... and then some.

[Stripes]

One thing the Bengals offense has been good about this year is not turning the ball over. It seems like we barely ever lose a fumble (except the Jacksonville disaster) and Carson has only thrown two interceptions. Good stuff.

[derekshank]

Same problem... different day. We left too many points on the field early. Against teams like the Browns, Vikings, and Texans, we pull out wins. When we go against playoff teams, we'll lose everytime when we play like this.

1. TD to Chad, overruled, TD to Henry dropped, FG missed. 7 points left on the field.

2. 1st and goal on the 10. Settled for a FG.

Could have gone up 14-0 early, instead, it was 3-0. We got another FG before the half, should have been nothing less that 17-7 at half-time.

If we have that 10 point lead at half-time this changes the Steelers game plan, and we have the advantage. Instead, we end up playing Steeler ball, and they'll win that game every time. We became one dimentional. When we go to Pittsburgh, we can't leave those points on the field.

We had the chance to jump on them early. We had them on their heels, but instead, we gave them all the momentum... and of our own doing. This could have been a very different game... but we haven't grown-up yet.

The good news is we should still go 7-2 before the bye. We need to grow-up quick though, and play Bengal football. If we don't force the Colts to play our style, we will lose. If we don't force Pittsburgh to play our style, we'll lose again, and if we don't force the Cheifs to play our style we'll lose then too. Not to mention a few games we should win... like @ Baltimore in a couple weeks.

10-6 is the limit for this team if we continue to refuse to learn from our mistakes. But I believe we can learn... we have to. 11-5, 12-4 is doable. We aren't as bad as we played today. You can't go 5-1 by luck... can you?