Report Card: F-

It has now been approximately 30 hours (to the minute ,approximately) since I knew the Bengals did not show up in Minneapolis planning to win. After being penalized on the first 2 plays of the game, it left me wondering how exactly the Bengals are not in 4th place in the AFC North, let alone plan to make the playoffs, let alone plan to win a playoff game for the first time in 19 years.

No need to give the details of the game, it started ugly, it looked ugly in the middle, and it ended even uglier. Much of the speculation in the last 30 hours of panic in Bengaldom has been about 3 things: Is Carson's arm alright?, are the wide receivers really that bad at getting open?, and is there really such a person as Bob Bratkowski or is it just a mannequin sitting in a booth upstairs?

Trying to address all of these:
If there is actually something wrong with Carson's arm, we would know about it. It would leak somehow. Someone would open their big mouth and decide to break the news to the Cintucky Zone writers. But really, they practice throwing the ball deep, so we know he can physically do it. To me, a lot of the problem deals with the O-line. I'm so tired of hearing how great this line is and how Whitworth is having a probowl year (the same people would say "well he blanked Jared Allen on Sunday"). Yes they havent given up a ton of sacks, but that's due to holding penalties and Carson dumping it to Daniel Coats 10 times a game hoping ole brick hands can magically transform into an athletic TE.

Another problem is the 2 wide set. Anybody remember the last time the Bengals went 4 wide? I don't even think they do it on Hail Mary's. Lets make it a simple math problem (that I think even a mannequin would be able to do): 2 wide recievers vs 2 cb's + 2 safeties + 2 LB's dropping back = 6 vs 2. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET OPEN OFTEN WHEN BOTH WIDE RECEIVERS ARE TRIPLE COVERED. Pretty simple stuff folks. I would love to see the numbers on how much more successful they are at passing in a 3 wide set vs 2 wide. (Would LOVE to see the same numbers for Peyton & Brees).

Question: did Coles even play yesterday? I don't remember hearing his name once, seeing the ball thrown to him once, or seeing him make any sort of play (I'm sure Marvin would say he is a great leader on and off the field and is worth 7 million dollars a year to simply block well). Get used to that for the next 3 years folks.

If anyone didn't hear what Boomer Esiason said about the state of the Bengals (through ripping Chad, which I don't completely agree with), as Geoff Hobson reports, "“As a wide receiver he’s the number one fined wide receiver in football, but he's 19th in receptions,” said Esiason as he ripped The Ocho on the CBS pregame show. “This guy is no longer a Pro Bowl player. He's an absolute sideshow. He's an embarrassment to the franchise. The other aspect to all of this, you would think Marvin Lewis would have enough of it, sit him down and deactivate him. But Marvin Lewis can't. Any coach who has ever coached in Cincinnati, any player who has ever played in Cincinnati, knows who runs the franchise. It's Mike Brown. Mike Brown will never allow Marvin Lewis to sit down the sideshow that is Chad Ochocinco. It's a shame, because they're having a great season ... but in this particular situation, just an absolute reminder of what a sideshow Chad Ochocinco has become.”

Just another sad reminder of the state that we Bengals fans perpetually live in. Like Mike Brown's little puppets...

But alas, enough about the failures of yesterday, this week against the Chargers is shaping up to be as important a game the Bengals have played this year.

Its good to see that the Bengals think this weeks game is important, because as one Bengal said Sunday, "“Today wasn’t going to help you all that much because it was against an NFC team, It still comes down to next week no matter what happened.”

It was clear from early on yesterday, this sentiment was shared throughout the team.


Greg "I can pick plays from Super Tecmo Bowl and they would be better calls that what comes from Bob Bratkowski" Richter