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Bengals1181

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Bengals defense in last three games has held opposing offenses to 10 of 48 third down (20.8 percent)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another record for Football 101

 

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Football 101 participants tour the Bengals locker room on Thursday. (Marvin Lewis Community Fund photo)

Darrin Simmons went into the bye week with his most memorable game during his 11 seasons as the Bengals special teams coordinator in last Sunday's 41-20 victory over the Browns.

A blocked punt for a touchdown. A partially blocked punt that set up a touchdown. A 27-yard punt return by cornerback Adam Jones that set up a field goal. Kevin Huber's longest punt of the year, a 66-yarder after the first series that set field position.

But he had never seen a TV cameraman hit with a line-drive field goal attempt as he stood under the crossbar. Which is what he saw Thursday night at Paul Brown Stadium.

"I hope he's all right," Simmons said after he and everyone else including the kicker recovered from laughing.

In Bengaldom, the bye never starts for head coach Marvin Lewis's assistants until Lewis hosts Football 101 Thursday night at Paul Brown Stadium. To celebrate the 10th annual event designed to educate women on football basics while honoring a local breast cancer survivor and raising money for the Marvin Lewis Community Fund, Lewis welcomed a record field of more than 200 ladies that beat 25 to the waiting list.

The word has spread. Kathryn Mottern got the prize for making the longest trip, 2,190 miles from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., and the 784 miles by runner-ups Angie Middleton and Stephany Trammell of Midlothian, Texas weren't exactly a cab ride.

After raising another record $190,000 for his community fund, Lewis presented the Pink Football to Josie Shuler to honor her fight that began more than five years ago with Stage 4 triple negative breast cancer. Told she had eight months to live, on Thursday night in front of her family, friends and doctors, she took the ball from Lewis cancer-free after undergoing experimental chemotherapy treatment.

Thursday night's program was just as lively. MC'ed by former Bengals cornerback and current Fox Sports national talk show host Artrell Hawkins, and spiced by video messages from quarterback Andy Dalton and defensive tackle Domata Peko, the evening was anchored by a major portion of Lewis's staff:

Assistant offensive line coach Kyle Caskey, linebackers coach Paul Guenther, assistants David Lippincott and Braydon Combs, tight ends coach Johnathan Hayes, defensive line coach Jay Hayes, quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese, wide receivers coach James Urban, offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, director of player development Eric Ball, secondary coach Mark Carrier, head strength coach Chip Morton and assistant Jeff Friday.

And it's a good enough cause that a PBS legend returned in the person of Jim Anderson, the longtime running backs coach who retired earlier this year after three decades.

Plus, there was Simmons coaching the ladies up on how to kick field goals and extra points and letting them try from the goal line off four tees. Simmons delivered his message in between shagging more footballs thanA.J. Green.

"Foot placement, walk off, follow through," were his talking points.

"Kicking field goals and PATs is not as easy as it looks," said Simmons, a former Kansas punter, who only teaches kicking at 101. "Punting isn't as glamorous. They want to see the ball go through the uprights. The big misnomer is where the ball hits on your foot. Most people have no idea. It's on your instep, the middle of your instep."

While working with his first group, Simmons had a visitor. Kathi Huber, Huber's mother who volunteers every year for the event, took a break from helping the Carrier group and walked down to the end zone to say hello. But the seventh grade CYO Kickball champion didn't try a field goal.

"No," she said. "The year he got drafted (2009) we participated and we've been volunteers ever since. I didn't try (a field goal) then, either. Kevin may find out."

Simmons had plenty of takers. Some have whiffed completely. Some will hit cameramen. One lady who comes every year finally made her first kick last year.

"She said that was her goal. She must have kicked 30 balls," he said. "It's fun to see their faces when they make one."

Not exactly Mike Nugent at the gun. But on this night, at this event, in the rain, and 10 years strong, it hits home, too.

"For a good cause," Simmons said.

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Another-record-for-Football-101-/b15d4375-7663-4ac1-b263-e3b211af3c95

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Bengals1181 Hall Of Fame

Bengals1181

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When it's all said and done, Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert will pool together one of the best seasons by any combination of tight ends in franchise history.

Through 11 games (Jermaine Gresham missed the Ravens in week 10), both have combined for 66 receptions for 725 yards and three touchdowns. At this pace, Gresham and Eifert will combine for 96 receptions, 1,055 yards receiving but only four touchdowns.

Drafted to be a compliment to Jermaine Gresham, not a replacement, Eifert has seen his share of targets (50), comparable to Marvin Jones (50), Mohamed Sanu (59), Giovani Bernard (50) and even Gresham (53).

"I don’t think a lot of people have two tight ends like we have," said offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. "We are just trying to make it hard for the poor coach on the other team to break us down (in game-planning). We’re just scratching the surface here, but I think we’re throwing a lot at defensive coordinators and making them work a little bit."

Eifert has already accumulated a handful of impressive catches, from the 61-yarder against the Steelers (longest by a Bengals tight end since 2004), the 32-yard touchdown against the Lions against tight coverage and the 40-yarder against Baltimore, tip-toeing the sidelines.

With over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Bengals have first down from their own 26-yard, down by three points. Eifert's go-route took him into a region uncovered by the Steelers zone defense.

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With over 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter in Detroit, the Bengals have second and five from the Lions 33-yard line. Eifert and Gresham are in as the Bengals played a run-first package keeping a fullback (Alex Smith) and A.J. Green as the lone wide receiver. Eifert ran an out and up against defensive back Rashean Mathis, out-jumping him at the front of the endzone for a touchdown.

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"(Eifert will) go up and fight DBs for balls and out-jump them," former Colts General Manager and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian said. "He’s got long arms and a long body. He’s a good jumper and he can make catches in the air, which is hard for people to do. Dallas could do that, too. He can get off the ground and catch the ball exceptionally well. At the college level he won the vast majority of contested balls that were thrown to him. He’s unique in that way."

Gresham hasn't been the big-play tight end like Eifert, instead more of a power player in short-yardage scenarios while monstrously running through tackles requiring multiple defenders to bring him down.

"Jermaine is really good at that," said QB Andy Dalton. "Once the ball is in his hands, he makes guys miss and finds ways to get first downs."

The aspects of their game that could use work currently are penalties, drops, and run blocking. By penalties, we really mean Jermaine Gresham's eight fouls (one declined), six of which are false starts (3) and offensive holding (3). That currently ranks second on the team and first on offense.

Tyler Eifert is currently tied for second on the team with most drops (five with Mohamed Sanu), all sitting behind A.J. Green's eight. Gresham has dropped three passes, but that's comparable to the three drops by Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, Brandon Pettigrew and less than Antonio Gates, Julius Thomas, and Scott Chandler.With both plays scoring poorly in run blocking, it's just another aspect for their eventual development as teammates.

One they get those things figured out, there's only one direction for these tight end teammates to go.

 

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2013/11/23/5136528/tight-end-teammates-making-an-impression

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Lucid Hall Of Fame

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interesting odds on re injury. I tore tendon in my bicep, dr told me it would never tear again because of the way he repaired it

 

 

This is why I wanted to know how they compiled this statistic.. If it's "gen pop" it would make more sense because it's not likely at all for your average couch potato to suffer a torn ACL.. But when you group all the people together who have already had an ACL tear, you are dealing with predominately a group of people who do things that put them in danger of knee injury, such as football players..

 

If the study is just considering people who are high risk for knee injuries (athletes for example) then those numbers are quite alarming.

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Bengals1181 Hall Of Fame

Bengals1181

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  1. Giovani Bernard in the last three games: 16 receptions (17 targets), 103 yards receiving, one touchdown.

  2. Sanu in the same stretch (last three games): 11 catches (22 targets), 99 yards receiving, one TD.

  3. Since his 4 TD game against the Jets, Marvin Jones has six catches (16 targets) for 77 yards and no scores in the past three games.


21 catches (39 targets), 286 yards, TD RT @mwissmann: what are AJ Greens numbers in that same stretch?


In the last 3 games, Rey and Burfict have combined for 72 tackles, 3 sacks, pick, fumble for TD and more http://sbn.to/1fwyJPe 

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T-Dub Hall Of Fame

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Hey as far as the $100 million dollars thing goes.. I don't think AD is going to expect anything like that. I'm more concerned AJ is going to want to get paid like Megatron. In fact, he's been disappointing along with basically everyone on their side but Eifert & Gio.. & then they hang 31 on what IIRC was the #4 defense going into the game.

Run the ball well in December, control possession, don't put yourself in long-yardage situations & don't turn it over. We don't need genius; we need consistency.
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Bengals1181 Hall Of Fame

Bengals1181

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The recent struggles facing the Cincinnati Bengals has predictably been leveled at quarterback Andy Dalton. The coaching staff remains publicly confident in him, and Dalton himself is confident.

So why the struggles?

Production on first and second down have forced Cincinnati into difficult third down scenarios, writes Len Pasquarelli with the National Football Post.

There’s been a perception that Dalton has struggled of late because Cincinnati has faced such daunting third-down situations the past three games. And in fact, the average yards-to-make for the Bengals on third down in those games was nearly 7.5 yards. Eighteen times in the three games, an average of six times per game, Cincy confronted third-and-10 or more. Six times, Dalton and the Bengals were looking at third-and-13 or longer. Little wonder Cincinnati converted only 16 of its 53 third-down plays (30.2 percent) against Miami, Baltimore and Cleveland. The Bengals had a decent 42.1 percent conversion ratio (which would rank among the top 10 in the league), by comparison, over the first eight games of the season.

The lack of a productive running game (ranked 19th in the NFL) could be a factor, but Cincinnati is also averaging 5.14 yards per first-down rush, writes Pasquarelli.

Penalties, sacks, and incomplete passes on first and second down are leading factors. Offensive holding, false starts, offensive pass interference, low blocks, tripping, have all contributed to 12 stalled drives this season. Of the 26 times that Dalton has been sacked, 17 have been on first and second down (with 11 on second down alone). Over the last three games (10 sacks with five against the Dolphins and Ravens), defenses have changed their pass rushes, focusing more on the inside rush instead of the parameter.

Opponents have crowded the inside against the pass and the run. The perception in the league is that the Bengals aren’t as physical inside on the line – with left guard Clint Boling, center Kyle Cook and right guard Kevin Zeitler – and so they play Cincy accordingly. They overplay the inside run and, on many passing downs, emphasize pressure up the middle, in Dalton’s face. The quick pressure – which, ironically, was a staple of the Cincinnati defense, before tackle Geno Atkins was lost with a season-ending knee injury – has forced Dalton into some dubious decisions.

It boils down to the same talking points we've presented over the past month. Clean up the mistakes from the offensive line (blocking and pressure issues), the wide receivers (drops and misreads/miscommunication and bad routes), to running backs gaining more on the first two downs. Dalton isn't the type of quarterback that can put it all on himself. He needs everyone playing their best. And when they do, this offense is lethal. They just haven't been.

 

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2013/11/24/5139846/struggles-of-the-bengals-offense-is-related-multiple-factors

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big_dish Hall Of Fame

big_dish

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I would be totally fine with moving Whit inside to replace Boling and having Collins at LT.

That interior line needs to toughen up somehow.

Or put Robinson back in there for Cook. Ridiculous that he was replaced last year anyway when Cook came back to play at his typical shit level.
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big_dish Hall Of Fame

big_dish

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I would be totally fine with moving Whit inside to replace Boling and having Collins at LT.

That interior line needs to toughen up somehow.

Or put Robinson back in there for Cook. Ridiculous that he was replaced last year anyway when Cook came back to play at his typical shit level.

 

Damn, this dude is smart. Amazing no one agreed with him on this one.

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