Cincinnati Bengals
A weighty victory
By Scott Priestle, CNATI.com Posted December 6, 2009 6:33 PM ET
On the first play of the second half Sunday, the Bengals lined up with a guard and three tackles on the right side of the formation: Bobbie Williams, Andre Smith, Andrew Whitworth and Dennis Roland, 1,340 pounds of blockers. There was nothing elegant about it, nor anything surprising about what followed.
The Bengals ran behind the beefed-up line again and again. Roland, a 325-pound tackle who moonlights as a tight end, even went in motion a few times.
There are no polls in professional football, and thus no need for style points. The Bengals have been content to plod toward the postseason, and they took a few more heavy steps Sunday in a 23-13 win over the lowly Detroit Lions.
The Cincinnati defense, which has become the unquestioned strength of the team, allowed two big plays but otherwise stifled rookie Matthew Stafford and the Lions. And the Cincinnati offense, which has been content to play a complementary role, chewed up yards and time of possession.
"That's what we do," center Kyle Cook said.
Their performance Sunday was a near repeat of the previous week against the Cleveland Browns. For better or worse.
Cedric Benson
The Bengals committed nine penalties, the safeties were twice beaten deep by Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, and quarterback Carson Palmer threw two interceptions with a disappointing 65.3 efficiency rating. But Cedric Benson ran for 110 yards, the Bengals controlled the ball for more than 38 minutes, Palmer hit one big pass for a touchdown to Chad Ochocinco, and the defense held an opponent to fewer than 300 yards for the sixth consecutive game.
On one side of the locker room, Whitworth was quick to point out that the Bengals were 1-11-1 at this point last season, so even an ugly win should be celebrated. On the other side, Benson and Ochocinco cautioned that the Bengals will not win in the playoffs with a performance like Sunday.
"We made quite a few errors," Benson said. "At this point, we should be fully done with those things."
It helped that the Bengals played the Lions, who are 2-10 and entered the game with the worst-ranked defense in the NFL. The Bengals played three consecutive games against teams with three wins or fewer, so they had a significant margin for error.
The schedule gets tougher in the coming weeks with trips to Minnesota and San Diego. But while the margin for error shrinks, the team's most surprising strength -- the offensive line -- is growing.
Andre Smith
Smith, the No.6 overall pick in the draft, played 21 snaps Sunday in his second career NFL game. He fared well enough to think he can be a weapon for the team down the stretch. If nothing else, his success as a run blocker makes him a perfect fit for the team's power-running, three-tackle formation.
"I want to make an impact every time my name is called," Smith said. "That's all I'm thinking about right now. That's all I can do."
He said he felt more comfortable in his second game than his first, and he played about twice as much. "I had a lot of fun," he said.
So did his colleagues on the line. The Bengals dressed eight offensive linemen Sunday, and all eight played. Smith played right tackle when Roland, the regular right tackle, moved to tight end; Nate Livings and Evan Mathis shared time at left guard; and Anthony Collins occasionally spelled Roland and Smith at right tackle. Whitworth played left tackle but occasionally lined up on the right side of the formation, as part of an unbalanced line.
"We like that," Cook said. "We want them to put the game in our hands."
The Lions frequently stacked their defense to stop the run -- more often than any previous opponent, Bengals players said -- but Benson still ran for 110 yards. He became the third different Bengals running back to top 100 yards in the past three weeks: Bernard Scott ran for 119 against Oakland and Larry Johnson ran for 107 against Cleveland.
"That's pretty big time in this league," Benson said. "Big `ups' to the guys up front who are making it happen."
Bob Bratkowski
The Bengals had a 12-play scoring drive that lasted nearly seven minutes and a 17-play scoring drive that lasted almost 10 minutes. Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said he noticed the Lions overplaying the run late in the game, but he continued to call running plays because the Bengals wanted to run out the clock.
It made for an unimpressive finish to the game, but it might have set the Bengals up for bigger things down the road.
"It's good to know that, even when (an opponent) comes in with that mindset, we can still run the ball," Palmer said. "That's tough to do."
Whitworth smiled and said, "So much for that makeshift offensive line that wasn't supposed to be able to block anybody."
The Bengals now have two big opportunities to show their new identity, with games against 10-1 Minnesota and 9-3 San Diego. Don't be surprised to again see Smith, Whitworth and Roland line up next to Williams, with Benson running behind them.
"I think we've pretty much settled in to what we are," Bratkowski said. "We'll keep that same approach as we go on. We generated a big pass play today; that's a positive. We'll always continue to do that. We will be who we are, and that's physical and aggressive."
More from Sunday's game:
Notes: DE Jonathan Fanene scored a touchdown
Paul Armstrong's photo gallery
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Andre Smith, Andrew Whitworth, Bengals, Bob Bratkowski, Cedric Benson, Dennis Roland, Kyle Cook, Lions
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