Week Seventeen Reactions-Sorting Out The Madness

Nov 10, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) is sacked by Baltimore Ravens defensive end DeAngelo Tyson (93) at M

Cincinnati Gets #3 Seed, But Are They As Good As We Think?
Fortunately for Chargers’ fans and unfortunately for Ravens fans, the Bengals were able to defeat Baltimore in convincing fashion 34-17 at home in front of 62,406 rowdy Cincinnati fans. With their dominating win over the Ravens the Bengals grabbed the #3 seed and a chance to play against the last-seeded San Diego Chargers. All in all Sunday’s win was huge for the Bengals, however there were some discouraging signs from the Bengals offense that should be addressed before the Bengals take on the Chargers this Sunday. First of all, I’d like to say the Bengals’ defense this season has played absolutely lights out. While ranking 5th in both passing and rushing defense, the Bengals rank #2 in the AFC in takeaways, picking off opposing QBs 20 times while recovering 11 forced fumbles (ranks 3rd and 6th in the AFC). As well as only allowing 305.5 yards per game (ranked 3rd in the NFL), the Bengals defense has been sturdy in other ways, allowing opposing offenses to score a meager 19.1 points per game (ranked #5 in the league). As well in the 7 games in which the Cincinnati defense has allowed over 20 points, the Bengals have posted a winning record with an overall point differential of +9. In this past Sunday’s contest, the Bengals’ defense was able to limit Baltimore to just 222 total yards including only 47 rushing yards to Benard Pierce and the Ravens rushing attack as well as three interceptions of the “elite” Joe Flacco (two of them being by former 1st-round draft choice Dre Kirkpatrick). Just another reason why they are playing like one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. However, the real problem for this Bengals’ squad this season has been their at times explosive and at times questionable offense. While Andy Dalton has definitely played like a top NFL draft-choice in most of the Bengals’ games this season (Dalton has thrown 4,296 yards and 33 touchdowns this season), he has played almost like a rookie in other games. In the 5 Bengals’ losses this season, Dalton has a QB rating of 67.7, has thrown 9 of his 20 interceptions on the season (6 of them coming in 2 straight losses to both the Dolphins and Ravens week 9 and 10), and has only managed to complete 58.3% of his passes. Although the Bengals were able to win against the Ravens last Sunday despite Dalton’s four interceptions, the Bengals cannot expect to win the Super Bowl if Dalton continues to throw picks. Don’t get me wrong, Dalton is a great QB, at times a top-5 QB, but if Cincinnati is going anywhere in these playoffs, Dalton needs to play like he’s never played before. As well as improving Dalton’s play, the Bengals need to get their running game together this week against the Chargers. This season despite having one of the best rookies in Giovani Bernard, the Bengal’s rushing offense has only managed to rush for 109.7 yards per game (ranked 18th in the NFL). While Bernard and gray-beard Benjarvus Green-Ellis have combined for 12 rushing touchdowns, they’ve only managed to rush for an average of 3.72 yards per carry. In order to really be a threat in the AFC come Sunday, the Bengals need to establish a quality 1-2 punch with Green-Ellie and Bernie (yes, they have new assigned nicknames). What the Bengals should really try is to utilize Bernard on long-yardage and passing situation seeing as though he has a 4.1 yards per carry average and 514 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving out of the backfield this season and then utilize Green-Ellis for short-yardage and goal-line situations seeing as that Green-Ellis rarely fumbles and can be a battering ram down near the end zone. This past game against the 11th-ranked Ravens rush defense Ellis and Bernard combined for 88 yards on the ground, however instead of Bernard gaining the majority of the yardage, it was Green-Ellis rushing for the majority (Bernard rushed for 22 yards on 13 carries while Green-Ellis rushed for 66 yards on 11 carries, average of 1.7 and 6.0 yards per carry, respectively). Considering that this season Bernard has been the more effective of the two backs (Bernard has had only 6 games rushing less than 3.9 yards per game compared to Green-Ellis’ 11 games), it was surprising to see that despite the Law Firm getting less carries than Bernard, Green-Ellis rushed for more yards. Looking forward to this coming Sunday against the Chargers and their 12th-ranked rush defense, the Bengals are going to have some thinking to do. The real question here is not whether or not Andy Dalton or the defense will come up strong (Dalton will be playing against the 29th ranked pass defense in which he threw for 190 and a touchdown in a 17-10 Win), but whether or not Benjarvus Green-Ellis and Giovani Bernard will come through against a rush defense that has allowed only 107.8 yards per game to opposing teams. If the Bengals are going to win on Sunday (and the rest of their games this playoffs), they will need their running game to be firing on all cylinders. If Dalton can get some help from Bernie and Green-Ellie, Dalton should be able to set up the play-action and hit either A.J. Green or Marvin Jones deep down the field for some major yardage.