Alright, after watching last night’s game against the Patriots, I officially don’t feel good about the upcoming season. The most important group of players on the field, the offensive line, made Swiss cheese look like a brick wall. Anthony Collins, YOU sir, need to block the one guy who is (gasp!) not being blocked! He inexplicably double teamed one dude, while opening a hole wider than an eight-lane super highway to the QB. He also had a holding penalty that negated a very good gain by our running back. So my endorsement of Collins as a good replacement of Andre Smith is now in abeyance… Of course, I don’t know how Smith will do, but his butt needs to get in camp ASAP. NOW!!!!!

The second most disconcerting problem from last night is our turnovers. Cedric Benson almost loses a fumble. Daniel Coats makes a nice catch, fumbles, and loses the ball. Sigh… Do I need to explain why turnovers are worrisome? The defense had some huge missed tackles. One was against Wes Welker which allowed him to run for 33 yards. Our running backs did not look all that great either. But a lot of that goes back to the O-line providing better protection.

There were some positives. I mean, the offensive line wasn’t awful ALL the time. They opened up some holes and allowed J.T. O’Sullivan to complete a touchdown drive. Chris Henry has been our best receiver so far for this fake season.  Jerome Simpson made a ridiculously good catch on that drive… even though it was nullified by his offensive interference. Penalties, penalties, penalties. Boneheaded plays seem to be the staple of the Bengals offense (and defense) sometimes. The defense seemed porous at times, but they did stop Brady from scoring any touchdowns. Some of it I think could be contributed to Brady not being sharp. But the defense actually made some nice plays. They sacked Brady once, hurried him once. Jonathon Joseph had a nice pass defense which would have led to a first down right next to the Bengals’ endzone.  And of course, Chad Ochocinco… he had a HECK of a game.  Nice catches and the extra point.  I couldn’t help but smile when I saw him line up and kick a perfect extra point.  That was amazing.  AND he had a nice kickoff.  Awesome!
It is STILL a preseason game… but my confidence about the Bengals season went down two notches. Here’s hoping the O-line gets better and we can make some tackles.