Post by 77bengal on Aug 26, 2018 23:19:48 GMT -5
The Bengals dominated the Bills on both sides of the ball for most of todays game. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some issues that the Cats need to clean up if they're going to be competitive vs. the leagues elite teams. After the game, I was thinking about some of the mistakes that were made by the men in stripes and I found myself repeating 'too many' of this or 'too many' of that so here they are.
1) Too many field goals. Two TD's, four FG's. That pretty much sums it up. The Bengals must find a way to get into the end zone more frequently instead of settling for FG's. A red zone package that consists of AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, Auden Tate and Tyler Eifert may do the trick.
2) Too many dropped passes. Mixon, Ross, Eifert, Carter and Carson all dropped passes in todays contest. That can't happen going forward especially against great teams.
3) Too many negative runs. The o-line has got to do a better job at run blocking. Bengal backs were stopped in the backfield for negative yards all day long. Bill Lazor may want to mix in more misdirection plays or something similar to keep defenders honest. The Bills looked as if they knew when the Bengals were running the ball and where every run was going. Keeping defenders guessing is crucial in todays game.
4) Too many turnovers. The Bengals turned the ball over at least twice today and almost turned the ball over again inside the opponents 5 yard line! Ball security has got to be stressed and practiced more.
5) Too many rushing yards allowed up the middle. The defense played great today, but they were gashed for a few big runs between the tackles. Clogging up the middle of that D on a consistent basis will make it that much stronger and the good news is they have the players to get it done. Keeping one of the teams younger players that has shown the ability to stuff the run instead of Micheal Johnson may be a good move considering the veterans declining skill set.
6) Too many missed tackles. This has always been a huge problem throughout Lewis' tenure. His teams have always done a poor job at tackling especially when playing out in space. Simply put, tackling needs to be stressed and practiced a lot more often. It's inexcusable to allow this problem to persist. Tackling is one of the most fundamental aspects of the game of football. GET. IT. FIXED!
7) Too many penalties. Truthfully, I'm not for sure how many penalties the Bengals were flagged for, but I do know that Alex Redmond had 2 penalties on the teams second drive that forced a punt. (Why Christian Westerman isn't being given a shot at taking over the RG position makes no sense. I'm not saying Westerman is a world beater, but he's shown enough this preseason to warrant a shot at becoming the teams starting RG).
Most of the above problems are due to a lack a discipline. I think the teams best shot at becoming a well disciplined unit is going to come down to how well the assistant coaches discipline their players in spite of being led by a head coach that has shown nothing when it comes to player accountability. If these problems get fixed, the Bengals are gonna be a much better team than many suspect.
1) Too many field goals. Two TD's, four FG's. That pretty much sums it up. The Bengals must find a way to get into the end zone more frequently instead of settling for FG's. A red zone package that consists of AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, Auden Tate and Tyler Eifert may do the trick.
2) Too many dropped passes. Mixon, Ross, Eifert, Carter and Carson all dropped passes in todays contest. That can't happen going forward especially against great teams.
3) Too many negative runs. The o-line has got to do a better job at run blocking. Bengal backs were stopped in the backfield for negative yards all day long. Bill Lazor may want to mix in more misdirection plays or something similar to keep defenders honest. The Bills looked as if they knew when the Bengals were running the ball and where every run was going. Keeping defenders guessing is crucial in todays game.
4) Too many turnovers. The Bengals turned the ball over at least twice today and almost turned the ball over again inside the opponents 5 yard line! Ball security has got to be stressed and practiced more.
5) Too many rushing yards allowed up the middle. The defense played great today, but they were gashed for a few big runs between the tackles. Clogging up the middle of that D on a consistent basis will make it that much stronger and the good news is they have the players to get it done. Keeping one of the teams younger players that has shown the ability to stuff the run instead of Micheal Johnson may be a good move considering the veterans declining skill set.
6) Too many missed tackles. This has always been a huge problem throughout Lewis' tenure. His teams have always done a poor job at tackling especially when playing out in space. Simply put, tackling needs to be stressed and practiced a lot more often. It's inexcusable to allow this problem to persist. Tackling is one of the most fundamental aspects of the game of football. GET. IT. FIXED!
7) Too many penalties. Truthfully, I'm not for sure how many penalties the Bengals were flagged for, but I do know that Alex Redmond had 2 penalties on the teams second drive that forced a punt. (Why Christian Westerman isn't being given a shot at taking over the RG position makes no sense. I'm not saying Westerman is a world beater, but he's shown enough this preseason to warrant a shot at becoming the teams starting RG).
Most of the above problems are due to a lack a discipline. I think the teams best shot at becoming a well disciplined unit is going to come down to how well the assistant coaches discipline their players in spite of being led by a head coach that has shown nothing when it comes to player accountability. If these problems get fixed, the Bengals are gonna be a much better team than many suspect.
