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Preview: Bengals vs. Patriots
The Cincinnati Bengals will travel to Foxborough, Mass., for a Thursday night preseason match up with New England. The Bengals will be looking to rebound from a 17-7 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 of the preseason.
The Bengals will be without starting quarterback Carson Palmer, who suffered a high left ankle sprain during Friday’s game at New Orleans. That means backup quarterbacks J.T. O’Sullivan and Jordan Palmer will seek significant playing time against the Patriots.
O’Sullivan had a good showing in the team’s first preseason game, completing nine out of 11 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. O’Sullivan is expected to get the nod as starter for Thursday’s game.
That being said, I anticipate a slight change in the Bengals offense with O’Sullivan under center. The offense will be run more to the quarterback’s strength, which is with quick, short-to-intermediate passes, letting the receivers do the work. I do expect O’Sullivan to take some shots down the field to his favorite target, Chris Henry. Henry was on the tail end of three long touchdown passes on the final day of practice in training camp.
I also look for wide receiver Andre Caldwell to see a fair share of passes thrown his way. Caldwell has the ability to be creative with the underneath routes.
Continuity among O-line
I’ll let center Kyle Cook address what needs to take place with the offensive line:
“One of our lower points last season is that we didn’t run the ball well and we want to step that up this year,” Cook said after practice Monday. “Communication is key and we have to make sure that all five guys are doing the same things. If half the line is doing one thing and the other half is doing another, we’re not going to succeed. From day one since OTA that was our biggest thing to commit to and we have be on a roll so far. Things are developing well for this unit.”
Expect to see a lot of Cedric Benson and rookie sixth-round pick Bernard Scott running the ball. Big C’s O-Meter will be on.
Note: The-O-Meter is used to rate the offensive line’s performance throughout the season.
Safety net
Safeties Roy Williams and Chris Crocker complement one another very well in the deep secondary. Williams is best known for his ability to support the run and being a thunderous hitter. The safety actually demonstrated in camp the ability to play well in coverage, which many had questioned. Williams further solidified that ability on the last day of camp when he intercepted a pass and took it back the other way.
Crocker has proven to be one tough hombre himself. Not only can he cover, but will come up and lay a lick on you as well.
The real test for the starting safeties will be trying to contain quarterback Tom Brady and the Pats’ potent passing game.
Things get rather dicey behind Williams and Crocker. Chinedum Ndukwe started off well in camp but his play leveled off. Marvin White continues to struggle in pass coverage but will knock you into the middle of next week running the ball. It’s too bad the Bengals can’t combine the two safeties into one. I guess then they would have Ronnie Lott. Ndukwe, who intercepted passes with regularity during camp, can cover but has trouble supporting the run. White, who is a tackling machine, is not a very good pass defender.
Behind Ndukwe and White, you have Corey Lynch, Kyries Hebert and Tom Nelson.
Brady could light up this secondary like a Christmas tree if the play of the Bengals safeties isn’t up to snuff.
Team news: The Bengals announced today that center Dan Santucci has reverted to the team’s reserve/injured list after clearing waivers. Santucci, who suffered a foot injury in practice on August 5, was waived/injured on Monday of this week.
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Comments
By nyc
August 20, 2009 1:58 PM | Link to this
lets be realistic…at best..the bungals win 2 maybe 3 games this season….they are a non-factor..in the nfl..if anyone disagrees with this..they must be using some type of mind-altering substance…
By madkins
August 20, 2009 2:11 PM | Link to this
nyc, really????? 2 to 3 games you must be the one on mind altering drugs. You expect this team that won 4 games with Ryan Fitzpatrick to be worse this year with Carson Palmer. Unbelievable.
By tv?
August 20, 2009 2:49 PM | Link to this
is this game going to be on time warner? or basic? hopefully it isn’t on the nfl network
By nyc
August 20, 2009 3:17 PM | Link to this
i thought i was being generous…to be honest with ya…i think they will go 0 -16….ala detroit…ocho doesnt want 2 b there…oh..he wants 2 be there…henry was suppose to never suit up with them again…oh..thats right..he is back…lol…your number one..is not signed..doesnt really want 2…he will be a non-factor..significant free agent signings???…never happens…and palmer is not physically able to even travel…go figure….0 - 16
By Kevin Jones
August 20, 2009 3:47 PM | Link to this
TV - The game will be on Cincinnati Channel 12. If you’re not in that area, check the team page they’ll be able to tell you where to watch the game. NYC - Wow, what a hater. I call you a hater, and not a debater because you brought nothing worth while to your argument about why you think will be so horrible. Sure, you said things, but none of which made much sense.
By BRAD
August 27, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this
BIG C - WE HAVE OUR 3rd GAME TONIGHT SO I COME TO THE DDN FOR NEWS AND YOUR INSIGHTS AND THIS IS THE ‘latest!?!?!?!’ WHAT GIVES. CHILD, PLEASE!