Bengals Offense Finds Stride

Or not. The Cincinnati Bengals moved to 9-3 today clinching their second winning season under head coach Marvin Lewis. The talk this week leading up to the game dealt with the Bengals offense needing to prove something against a league-worst defense in the Detroit Lions. It was evident early that Carson and the offense knew they needed to show the passing game still existed in Cincinnati and came out throwing on 1st and 2nd down of the Bengals first drive (pretty sure that was the first series all year where the Bengals have thrown on 1st and 2nd down). Unfortunately, the Bengals desire to showcase their passing attack was derailed by MULTIPLE false starts, holding, illegal motion, etc. penalties. The Lions briefly scared Cincinnati, ending the 1st quarter ahead 7-0 after rookie Matthew Stafford dropped a dime to Calvin "Megatron" Johnson for a 54 yard TD pass. But that would be all the Lions could produce on offense until late in the game. The Bengals made a rare in-game offensive adjustment and went back to doing what they do best - running the ball - to get the win over the Lions. All in all - 16 points from the Bengals offense. Definitely not going to cut it against teams like San Diego, Indy, NE, Minnesota, New Orleans, etc.

In game thoughts:
-Following Stafford to Megatron TD: "Umm was that Crocker out there in coverage on CJ?? Man they need to put Leon Hall on Calvin all day, and never let a safety cover him"
-Following Carson's bomb to Chad for 36 yard (seemed longer) TD: "Holy sh*t they do know how to throw it down field!!" Followed by, "See this is what happens when you take shots downfield"
-After Shayne's 3rd consecutive kickoff to the 20 yard line: "Seriously there's probably triple digit high school kickers out there that can kick it farther than that."
-After the field goal kick was negated by a tripping penalty which pushed the kick back 10 yards: "Oh man here we go, this is the game changer, Bengals miss this kick and it ends up costing them the game." (I swear I'm a positive person)
-When Brian Leonard made yet another unreal play on 3rd down hurdling the defending and getting to the sticks by a yard: "Jesus that guy must have a 12" d*ck"

Players of the game:
-Brian Leonard -OK not really but I had to comment on him again- the guys got a perfect role and produces every time he is used in his role. He was drillin people on special teams and making plays on 3rd down. I wouldn't want his role to expand anymore, but he does his job well. Something Marvin always preaches.

and of course Chad "Estaban" Ochocinco - It was nice to seem him having fun out there. And it was nice to seem him catch a long TD pass. I loved the way they used him too. Finally got him some quick slants and just got the ball into his hands fast. He had some good runs after the catch without fumbling for once. 9 catches, 137 yards, TD


Next week
HUGE matchup next week against Minnesota. It will basically be a status check for the Bengals after playing 3 weak opponents in a row. One of the first games this year against an explosive offense. Will be a good test for the defense and also to see if our offense can truly keep up.

On a side note, so sorry about your 4th straight loss Sh*tsburgh. Hah good luck making the playoffs from that position! real bad weekend to be from Pittsburgh..