One thing guaranteed to bust Zac Taylor’s perpetual pleasant-ness is to declare/assume that the Bengals offensive line is largely responsible for bad days like Sunday. And the Sunday before that. The coach will explain to you that everything’s connected, every player could be held responsible for a sack, a hurry, a turnover caused by a fierce pass rush or a running game best measured in centimeters.
Well, OK. Here’s what I know, what you know, what everyone who wears his “Whitworth’’ jersey on Sundays knows:
Offensive linemen are paid to block. To open holes, to build walls. No one blames a lineman when a receiver drops a touchdown pass.
When offensive linemen do not do their jobs, nothing works. Mustaches on the Mona Lisa, across the board. Joe Burrow can’t wait for receivers to come open, he can’t throw downfield on 3rd-and-long. His body takes a blasting, he averages 5.5 yards per attempt, as Burrow did Sunday. (For non-stat geeks, that’s the football equivalent of straddling the Mendoza Line.)
In comparison, Burrow’s YPA last year in the regular season was 8.9.
Two weeks and two Ls into it, the O-Line Follies are already disrupting the High Hopes Express.
Now what?
A couple things are clear:
Taylor made a huge mistake not playing his starting O-line in August.
Burrow was not as ready as he needed to be, after the appendectomy.
Time is the only fix. The Men aren’t flying in Anthony Munoz anytime soon.
I think the Bengals we’ll see in a month will be a lot better than the Bengals we’ve seen for two weeks. Problem is, an 0-2 hole looks bigger when it comes against Mitch Trubisky and Cooper Rush. The Men get the Jets at home Sunday. Joe Flacco his ownself. We snicker. We shouldn’t. Flacco led the J-E-T-S to two TDs in the last four minutes in Cleveland yesterday.
Already, the Bengals are approaching Must Win Land.
Without further ado, 10 Things about 17-20 L in Dallas:
Several times, Burrow didn’t even consider making a 1st down on 3rd-and-long. The line wouldn’t allow it. To wit:
1st quarter, 3rd-and 14 after a Micah Parsons sack on 2nd down: Saint Joe throws short to Hayden Hurst.
Third quarter, 3rd-and-13: Screen to Tee Higgins. The Cowboys rushed four, the Bengals blocked six. Pressure still comes.
Second quarter, 3rd and 9 from the 45:
Burrow runs from the rush, Bengals get a personal foul gift.
1st down, Dallas 46: Rush blows up the play. Incomplete.
2nd down: Rush blows up the screen pass. Loss of 4.
3rd-and-14: Burrow no time to look downfield, dumps off to Samaje Perine instead.
That’s four plays in a row for the O-Line Follies. Someone call the Rockettes. (OG reference, kids. Lookitup.) Maybe they can dance to it.
Tyler Boyd is very often candid in his assessments. This one hit the mark: “We had to change up our whole game plan because of how they were playing us," Boyd noted.
Yes. And we didn’t even mention the false starts. All of it screams rust and inefficiency. Two weeks in, the line isn’t ready even to try to be good.
NFL coaches aren’t dumb, even as they’re not great at adjusting their strategies and thinking on the fly. It takes them awhile to catch up to what the other guys are doing. It’s now safe to say they’ve caught up to the Bengals offense: Play soft coverage, usually zone, make Burrow check down, rush effectively enough to limit his deep options. Five-point-five yards per attempt, boys and girls. The Bengals can win playing the other team’s game. They have the world’s best FG kicker. But they won’t win enough to honor their aspirations. The defense isn’t good enough to consistently win a field goal war.
The Cowboys are hurt and even when they aren’t, they’re not awesome. But they were good enough to put up 17 in the first half while bullying the Bengals front, and they were good enough to move 33 yards in just over a minute, to set up the last-play, game-winning field goal.
The 19-play drive was nice. I was all set to write something about The Men’s Winning Memory. The very good teams find ways. Well, scratch that.
Do you feel that Sunday is Must Win as I do? The Morning Man tries not to take part in ledge walking, especially as it applies to the NFL. But starting a year by losing three decidedly winnable games. . .?
10A. Finally, the last word goes to Tony Romo, who said in the 2nd half of the Bengals, “They haven’t given us a whole lot to get excited about.’’
Now, then. . .
UC WINS. WELL, OK. The Bearcats started slowly, Miami was very good for awhile. . . and UC still won by three touchdowns. I said this last week with Thom Brennaman, on his Off The Bench show: It’s time to consider the future of the rivalry.
In basketball, coaches call them “unacceptable losses.’’ That means that if you’re the coach of a heavily favored team, you get no benefit from winning. You’re supposed to win and heaven help you if you don’t.
For many years, XU basketball was an unacceptable loss. Coaches and ADs didn’t want to have to explain to fans and alums how their team could lose to Eggs-avier, even as the Musketeers were legit and more. The solution was not to play them. OSU wouldn’t play Cincinnati in basketball, either.
UC gains not much from playing the RedHawks. Sixteen Ws/row by an average margin of 21. Now with NIL, the gap will only increase. I don’t know if UC AD John Cunningham has discussed this with anyone. He should.
Every year? Maybe every other year.
Home and home? No.
UC’s only obligation is to the further success of its football program. This game is storied, yes. I get the appeal to the alums. But rivalries are earned, not bestowed. And after 16 years of Ls and no future Roethlisbergers in sight, it’s up to Miami to up its game.
JUST ASKING. Nick Senzel missed a few games last week because as I understand it, he was working to adjust his hitting approach. OK.
If Votto did that, he’d never play.
As Reds seasons go, 2022 ranks high on the Wretched Meter. When you don’t even try to keep the likes of Brandon Drury, you’re trying to crash-land the plane when all the engines are still working.
And that bullpen is nothing but a big WTF.
David Bell might not be Buck Showalter. But given the slop he’s asked to run out there, it’s important to keep that in context. Worse, I don’t see enough hitting developing quickly enough to do justice to the hope the Reds have for their young pitchers. You?
Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, Lord?
And finally. . .
Aaron Judge is at 59 homers with 16 games to play. You care? How much? It is a somber sign of the times when a monumental baseball feat gets so little run outside of New York.
As far as we know, Judge’s feat is legit, not pharma-aided. Statcast even noted that of Judge’s first 57 longballs, only two could be attributed to Yankee Stadium’s short porch in rightfield.
Maris is till the standard. McGwire hits 60-plus three times. Sosa did it twice. Bonds hit 73. None has gotten a sniff in Cooperstown. Judge will ride in in Cinderella’s carriage.
ME!ME!ME! I’m on Tuesday with T. Brennaman, as usual. Chatterbox Sports. TML sez ckitout.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. Frequent Perusers of This Space might recall my affection for what you might call Grunge Surf.
DOPE LEMON - Marinade (Official Video) - YouTubeDOPE LEMON - Marinade (Official Video) - YouTube
Glad to find u on here Doc. Enquirer aint the same without u. And your replacement is not very popular with us subscribers.
Because TV is my life: After seeing “Only Murders in the Building” win an Emmy(s?), we decided to give it a try. Thoroughly sucked in and binged Season 1. Very entertaining. Now on Season 2. ChkItOut.