Bengals mired in midseason mediocrity

By Tre Hutcherson  |   Monday, November 06, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Cincinnati Bengals
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"Expectations are a construction zone for disappointment."

I heard this saying a long time ago and filed it away as one that I knew would be appropriate for certain situations down the road.

As I reflect on the Cincinnati Bengals at the midpoint in their season, I think this might be one of those situations.

Living in close proximity to the Queen City, I was privy to a lot of preseason buzz around town about this being the Bengals' year. Long-suffering Bungles diehards and those newly aboard the bandwagon went on at length about how Cincinnati was going to procure its place in this season's coup de grace, Super Bowl XLI. Many even expounded on the fact that if not for a Steelers cheap shot to quarterback Carson Palmer's knee in last year's playoffs, the team would have been headed to Super Bowl XL.

Hearing this chatter, I played devil's advocate, as I often do. I recited the toughness of the Bengals' 2006 regular-season schedule and predicted that the 'Nati would finish no better than 10-6. Needless to say, I got a lot of dirty looks and drew the ire of many.

Another immediate result of my smack talk was that it led to a few friendly wagers, all of which were consummated with overly eager handshakes. Bengals faithful were certain it was money in the bank. Now halfway through the season, the Bengals are sitting at 4-4 and haven't even gotten to the hardest part of their schedule yet. This might make some wince with pain, but it looks like I could be collecting by Thanksgiving!

This season's team is mediocre at best.

With tough games immediately upcoming versus San Diego, at New Orleans and home against Baltimore again, then followed by a season-ending triumvirate of tough games at Indy, at Denver and against Pittsburgh, the team is in for a rough time.

The only two "softies" left are Cleveland and Oakland; however, right now, I am not ready to call those games simple. Although it is only halfway through the season and it cannot be completely written off, things look very grim for the boys in orange and black.

There are many reasons why the team isn't doing very well, but the bottom line is that the Bengals are in a heap of trouble. They look very vulnerable in a lot of areas. The offense and defense have many glaring defects. Although not helped by injuries and suspensions, it's hard to think this team is good enough to win with so many gaps to fill.

Players aside, there are two intangible areas where the Bengals are consistently getting beat: Turnovers - a huge difference maker last season- and time of possession.

Last season the Bengals were at the top of the league with a plus-22 mark in takeaways. This season they are in the middle, with plus-2.

In the loss to Baltimore on Sunday, the Bengals turned it over in their opening two possessions. They fumbled the opening kickoff and put the Ravens in position to get a quick six. Then on their first true offensive possession, they had an interception returned for a touchdown. Cincinnati was down 14-0 in less than five minutes.

It's hard for great teams to overcome these mistakes, let alone average ones. And make no mistake about it, these Bengals are not a great team; they are very, very average.

The second big area where the Bengals have fallen off dramatically is in time of possession. After finishing 10th in the league last year in this category, the 2006 Bengals are currently ranked 28th in holding the ball, with a T.O.P. average of 27:24. No matter how high-powered your offense is, if it doesn't have the ball, it can't score.

But there's more to it than that. This statistic also points to the defense's inability to stop long drives.

In the last two losses, Atlanta held the ball for 37:08 and Baltimore controlled it for 37:24. With Cincinnati in possession for 22:52 and 22:36, respectively, it had the ball for a full quarter less than its opponents. With that much of a discrepancy, you are just not allowing your team enough time to get something positive done on the offensive side of the ball.

For the Bengals to make the second half of their season any better than the first, they will need to boost their efforts in both of these areas.

If not, two other things will happen. One, these tigers will be very easy to tame. Secondly, a lot of people will be telling me to shut up as they dig into their wallets.

Talking Cincinnati Bengals smack online, all the time at RealFootball365.com
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