16:52 - Bengals are the first to figure out the optimum offensive strategy for either team: play fake, throw deep, try for bailout DPI.
16:46 - Just after making a nice throw off play-action for a 15 yard gain, Yates flips out for no discernible reason (the rush had not yet gotten near him; it appears he was supposed to quick-throw to someone who turned out to be covered) and is lucky to not be intercepted. Foster gets dropped for a loss and it's 3rd and 12. Yates stares down his receiver for several seconds, pats the ball, pumps, throws and it's knocked down at the line. It wasn't like he was looking around and everyone was covered; he looked at one receiver the whole time.
16:40 - T.J. Yates somehow manages to miss Andre Johnson on about a 7 yard route. Three plays and Houston fans are already reaching for the Maalox. That series was so short they're not even breaking for a commercial after the punt.
The Bengals run the toss sweep, which might be the stupidest thing a coach can call other than a punt, or a fade at the goal line to anyone whose name isn't Calvin Johnson. The toss sweep is a relic of the 1970s. In 2012 NFL defenses are way too fast for it to ever work. Well, non-embarrassing NFL defenses.
Ninny in the broadcoast booth just said the Bengals' goal is to "keep Dalton in manageable third down situations." My goal--and I'm about to show why I'm not an NFL head coach--would be to minimize third down situations Dalton is in at all. By gaining first downs.
Dalton one-ups Yates by overthrowing a wide open Cedric Benson eight yards downfield. Yeah, it's going to be that kind of day.
16:38 - Nice reception by Arian Foster, full extension, after someone knocked the ball out of his hands on a carry on the first play of the game. Then he gets called for a false start on second down, wiping out most of the yards he'd gained on first. If you guessed Ben Tate is jogging onto the field now, go to the head of the class.
16:35 - Jarring fact just shared with us by tonight's commentators: Marvin Lewis is the longest-tenured coach in Bengals history. Wow. I guess that's most of what you need to know about Bengals history in one sentence.
Also, remember back when every coach chose to receive the ball when he won the coin toss, and those of us who had played thousands of games of Tecmo or Madden constantly complained that deferring is far better? Well, the coaches finally figured that out. I see them defer probably 70
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)