The Cincinnati Bengals: Okay, I'm Running a Little Late

Cincinnati Bengals: A Week 1 Recap/Season Preview

So part of this post was written before the Bengals 24-21 loss to the Chicago Bears, and part of it after. 

Enjoy. 

Chicago Bears 24, Cincinnati Bengals 21: 

Going into the game, the Bears were 3-point favorites at home to take down the Bengals. With about 8 minutes left in the third quarter, a lot of people who took Bears were probably being foolish. But then again, anyone who has spent their life rooking for the Bengals knows what it feels like to be a fool. 

After Jay Cutler's first quarter touchdown to Martellus Bennett put the Bears up 7-0, the Bengals went on a 21-3 run behind the stellar play of A.J. Green (9 catches, 162 yards, 2 touchdowns) and the okay ability of Andy Dalton to get it to his hands. However the bengals went scoreless for practically the final 20 minutes of the game and Cutler's fourth quarter 19-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall (8 catches, 104 yards) gave the bears the final points they would need for the comeback. Here's how it happened:

A Frustrating Start for the Defense:

The Bengals defense, headlined by DT Geno Atkins was probably the most hyped unit of the team during the offseason. The relentless pass rush was expected to get to Cutler who has been among the league's most sacked quarterbacks behind a traditionally weak Chicago offensive line. However, Bears Coach Mark Tressman had promised to revamp the O-Line and it was apparent, as the Bengals were unable to sack Cutler once. In fact, Cutler completed 80% of his passes when the Bengals rushed five-plus players at the quarterback, something they did on 33 drop backs yesterday. 

Cutler played a solid game, aside from an errant pass that resulted in an interception to Vontaze Burfict, passing for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Chicago amassed 226 yards in the second half after only mustering up 97 in the first. One silver lining is that Bear's RB Matt Forte gained only 50 yards on 19 carries. Forte is often one of those shifty backs who gives the Cincinnati linebackers a lot of problems (see: Rice, Ray) so it was encouraging to see him struggle to find free space. 

Classic Bengals Offense: A little hope, a little depression

Many people seem to be pointing to Andy Dalton's aggressiveness in the pocket as a sign that the Bengals offense is finally ready to evolve into a modern day system. It is true, in part. Dalton was throwing a lot of passes in traffic and relying heavily on his receivers to make the difficult catch. This is what the great quarterbacks do. Aaron Rodgers, for example, has perfected the back-shoulder throw and many of his passes simply rely on giving his talented receivers a chance to make a play, not on hitting wide-open players across the field. 

However, Dalton threw two interceptions although one was off of a deflection by Green. Both passes ended up in the hands of Chicago defensive back Charles Tillman. The first interception was in Bengals territory on a slant route to AJ that Tillman jumped in front of and ran into the end zone. The touchdown was pulled back but it was a really head shaking start to Dalton's first drive. The Bengals' third turnover was courtesy of receiver Mohamed Sanu who fumbled a first-down catch in Chicago territory. The Bengals would fail to score after that point. 

Once again, there is some hope. While Benjarvus Green-Ellis ran for just 25 yards on 14 carries, rookie Gio Bernard gained 30 yards on 5 touches, showing the elusiveness that made him the top running back taken in the draft. The tight end attack also looked to have some potential as rookie Tyler Eifert and Jermaine Gresham combined for 83 yards on 10 receptions (and on 10 targets, meaning there were not drops or incomplete passes that were thrown their way). 

And Of Course, The Return of the Bungles:

Where should I start here? It was bound to happen. During a Chicago drive in the fourth quarter, the Bengals used their final two timeouts of the game on ONE PLAY. Both times, the Bengals were unable to get their allotted 11 players on the field; one time with 10, and another with 13. It is hard to always blame player miscues on the coaching staff, but those timeouts ended up badly hurting the Bengals chances at a comeback. The Bengals had possession for just over two minutes of the entire fourth quarter, with clock management mostly to blame. 

Oh, and what would a Bungles game be without penalties. In total, the Bengals were flagged eight times for 84 yards. Three of the eight were end-of-play penalties that were simply unnecessary. Most notably, with just over a minute remaining the Bengals stopped a Matt Forte run, putting the Bears in a fourth down scenario. After the play ended, linebacker Rey Malaluga retaliated from a push and was assigned an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Bears a first-down and essentially ended the game. Cincinnati signed Maualuga to a new contract on the premise that his "veteran" attitude would help this team maintain its composure on the field. Sigh...

Notes: 

A quick applause for backup offensive tackle Anthony Collins who had a great game filling in for Pro-Bowler Andrew Whitworth. Collins did not give up a sack against one of the best pass rushing teams in the league. The entire O-Line only gave up one sack against the Bears. 

A fantastic Pacman Jones punt return was called back by a blocking in the back penalty during the first half. Hopefully Marvin Lewis keeps Jones as the returner and not Brandon Tate.

This is the fifth time in the past six years that the Bengals lost their season opener. We've made the playoffs three times in that span, so there's certainly much more football to be played, but it was disappointing that they couldn't break the streak. 

All four AFC North teams lost this week, meaning....the Bengals are tied for first place! Or last..

In the second quarter, I swear that the Bengals offense twice used an audible that was called "Tebow." I swear.

The Bengals return to Cincinnati next week to play the Steelers (0-1) on Monday Night Football.

2013 Schedule Predictions: 

     Fearless Prediction:

Sept 8:   @ Chicago Bears                                 Loss   (0-1)

Sept 16: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers(MNF)               Win    (1-1)
Sept 22: vs. Green Bay Packers                         Loss   (1-2)
Sept 29: @ Cleveland Browns                           Win    (2-2)
Oct 6:    vs. New England Patriots                     Loss    (2-3)
Oct 13:  @ Buffalo Bills                                     Win    (3-3)
Oct 20:  @ Detroit Lions                                    Win    (4-3)
Oct 27:  vs. New York Jets                                 Win    (5-3)
Oct 31:  @ Miami Dolphins                                Win    (6-3)
Nov 10: @ Baltimore Ravens                             Loss   (6-4)
Nov 17: vs. Cleveland Browns                           Win    (7-4)
Dec 1:   @ San Diego Chargers                          Win    (8-4)
Dec 8:   vs. Indianapolis Colts                             Win    (9-4)
Dec 15:  @ Pittsburgh Steelers                            Loss   (9-5)
Dec 22:  vs. Minnesota Vikings                           Win   (10-5)
Dec 29:  vs. Baltimore Ravens                             Loss  (10-6)

The key portion of the Bengals schedule will start October 13, when they should be able to win 6 or 7 of their games against inferior competition. If they get hot later in the season, as was the case last year, they can still make a run to 10+ wins.

What does Vegas think?
Super Bowl Odds: 20-1
Over/Under Wins: 8.5
So, when I was in Vegas in March, the Bengals were listed at 30-1 odds to win the 2014 Super Bowl. To be quite honest, I remember saying "I own jerseys of Carson Palmer, Corey Dillon, and Chris Henry, I've thrown enough money directly in the toilet over this team." Instead, I put $100 on the Reds to win the World Series at 12-1 odds (where they still stand), which looks better considering the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Angels all had better odds.

I still don't know if I would advise someone to take the Bengals for the Superbowl. However, if that Over/Under of 8.5 was available at the time I would pounce on it in a second. Look, Mike Brown clearly has little intention of actually winning a Super Bowl, but he still needs to keep fans in the seats. Even assuming the Bengals do not win any matchups against playoff teams from last season (a feat they did not accomplish last year) they still should be able to win enough of the easy ones (Browns twice, Jets, Bills, Lions, Dolphins, Chargers, Steelers once) to get to nine wins.

Til next week,

Albert