NFL: Week 3 Review
It wasn't pretty, in fact it was ugly, but a win is a win. The Bengals were able to pull out a victory in rainy Carolina 20-7, against a struggling Panthers team. To say the offense looked terrible would be an understatement, Carson threw two interceptions and probably should have thrown at least two more. The offensive line did a poor job at pass protection, but the run blocking was good enough for Cedric Benson to rack up 81 yards and two total TD. The offense ran 17 more plays, gained more yards and held the ball for almost 13 mintues more than Carolina and still looked bad.
Everyone is probably ready to run Carson Palmer out of town, but give the guy a chance. The guy won a Heisman Trophy and has been to the Pro Bowl, so don't think his is not talented enough to be the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has never been the same since suffering that knee injury in 2005 and he has been bother by a bad elbow and thumb the past few seasons. That's a lot of wear-and-tear for a guy who is in his 8th season.
Carson has a line that has maybe two decent players on it, Bobbie Williams and Andrew Witworth. Witworth is really a guard playing tackle and Nate Living, Kyle Cook and Dennis Roland, are probably not going to a Pro Bowl anytime soon. God only knows if Andre Smith, a top 10 pick, will every become a guy the Bengals thought he would, and him not panning out has really hurts the Bengals.
If you look at the other great quarterbacks in the NFL like, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady, they all have at least two, maybe even three Pro Bowl caliber players on the offensive line. You put Carson on the Colts, Steelers, or Patriots he has at least one, maybe even two Super Bowl rings. Palmer doesn't have that luxury though and it can be seen in games like against Carolina. The Bengals offense would be a whole lot better if they had a line that was good at both run blocking and pass protection. Their line is built to run the football, not pass protect. That works against teams in the AFC North, like Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but not the rest of the league. Be thankful that our defense is as good as they are, or we would be in real trouble.
The Bengals defense played outstanding yesterday, forcing four turnovers and dominating the line of scrimmage. They have won the last two games for the Bengals and if they can contiune to play well, they can and will carry this team. Just look at the Steelers, they are 3-0 without Big Ben, because their defense has been the best in the league. Give the offense some more time to figure everything out and the Bengals will be unbeatable with their defense. Carson Palmer is a good quarterback and everyone calling for him to be benched needs to realize that this team would not be where they are today without Carson Palmer. They never would have stopped being the "Bungels" and wouldn't have won two division titles without him. I have 100% faith in Carson and so should the rest of Bengals fans. He is the only guy I want running the Bengals offense and in the big moments, I want the ball in his hands, because the guy is pretty damn good.
Now for the guys that had us either saying, "Holy Crap," or "C'mon Man," in Week 3 and there were a lot of them.
"Holy Crap"
MIN-RB Adrian Peterson: 23 car, 160 yds, 2 TD
BAL-QB Joe Flacco: 22-31, 262 yds, 3 TD. A much better performance from Flacco than last week.
BAL-WR Anquan Boldin: 8 rec, 142 yds, 3 TD
CLE-RB Peyton Hillis: 22 car, 144 yds, TD. The Ravens don't give up many 100 yard rushers, so a impressive game from Hillis, who also caught 7 ball for 36 yards.
NO-WR Lance Moore: 6 rec, 149 yds, 2 TD
PIT-QB Charlie Batch: 12-17, 186 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT. Despite the 2 picks, Charlie Batch played a lot better than most thought he would, as the Steelers won again.
TEN-RB Chris Johnson: 32 car, 125 yds, 2 TD
NE-QB Tom Brady: 21-27, 252 yds, 3 TD; 142.6 QB Rating
Dallas Cowboys: They finally got a win and beat a very good 2-0 Houston Texan team. QB Tony Romo and the Boys showed the rest of the league they aren't done yet.
Kansas City Chiefs: No one had the Chiefs going 3-0 to start the season. They have shocked everyone and they already have a two game lead on everyone in the AFC West. Watch out for K.C.
IND-WR Austin Collie: 12 rec, 127 yds, 2 TD
IND-QB Peyton Manning: 27-43, 325 yds, 3 TD; 109.2 QB Rating. Told you here would be in section every week. So far, 3-3 on the season.
SEA-RB Leon Washington: Returned two kickoffs, 101 and 99 yards, for TDs and help the Seahawks improve to 2-1.
NYJ-QB Mark Sanchez: 15-28, 256 yds, 3 TD; 120.5 QB Rating. A night and day difference from the Sanchez and Jets offense everyone saw in Week 1.
"C'mon Man"
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers had opportunities to get back into the game, but they were dominated in time of possession and total plays ran. Not to mention four turnovers did not help rookie QB Jimmy Clausen, who had a long first day at the office.
CIN-QB Carson Palmer: 19-37, 195 yds, TD, 2 INT. It's hard putting Carson here, but Palmer did not play well at all. Palmer and the Bengals offense need to fix a lot of things if they are to compete for the playoffs. Palmer will figure it out and he is due for a breakout performance, trust me.
MIN-QB Brett Favre: 23-34, 201 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT. Minnesota is still waiting for last year's Brett Favre to return and I will go ahead and say it now, no matter what happens, this is Brett's final season. Well...maybe not.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The hype over Tampa Bay's hot start faded fast as the Bucs were blown out by the Steelers.
San Francisco 49ers: A team that most, including myself, picked to win the NFC West, is off to an 0-3 start. QB Alex Smith has no played well and the 49ers have a lot of work ahead of them. The good news, an 8-8 record can still win the division.
Stay tuned later in the week for my Week 4 predictions and what to watch for in Cleveland, as the Bengals battle their in-state rivals, the Browns.
Everyone is probably ready to run Carson Palmer out of town, but give the guy a chance. The guy won a Heisman Trophy and has been to the Pro Bowl, so don't think his is not talented enough to be the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has never been the same since suffering that knee injury in 2005 and he has been bother by a bad elbow and thumb the past few seasons. That's a lot of wear-and-tear for a guy who is in his 8th season.
Carson has a line that has maybe two decent players on it, Bobbie Williams and Andrew Witworth. Witworth is really a guard playing tackle and Nate Living, Kyle Cook and Dennis Roland, are probably not going to a Pro Bowl anytime soon. God only knows if Andre Smith, a top 10 pick, will every become a guy the Bengals thought he would, and him not panning out has really hurts the Bengals.
If you look at the other great quarterbacks in the NFL like, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady, they all have at least two, maybe even three Pro Bowl caliber players on the offensive line. You put Carson on the Colts, Steelers, or Patriots he has at least one, maybe even two Super Bowl rings. Palmer doesn't have that luxury though and it can be seen in games like against Carolina. The Bengals offense would be a whole lot better if they had a line that was good at both run blocking and pass protection. Their line is built to run the football, not pass protect. That works against teams in the AFC North, like Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but not the rest of the league. Be thankful that our defense is as good as they are, or we would be in real trouble.
The Bengals defense played outstanding yesterday, forcing four turnovers and dominating the line of scrimmage. They have won the last two games for the Bengals and if they can contiune to play well, they can and will carry this team. Just look at the Steelers, they are 3-0 without Big Ben, because their defense has been the best in the league. Give the offense some more time to figure everything out and the Bengals will be unbeatable with their defense. Carson Palmer is a good quarterback and everyone calling for him to be benched needs to realize that this team would not be where they are today without Carson Palmer. They never would have stopped being the "Bungels" and wouldn't have won two division titles without him. I have 100% faith in Carson and so should the rest of Bengals fans. He is the only guy I want running the Bengals offense and in the big moments, I want the ball in his hands, because the guy is pretty damn good.
Now for the guys that had us either saying, "Holy Crap," or "C'mon Man," in Week 3 and there were a lot of them.
"Holy Crap"
MIN-RB Adrian Peterson: 23 car, 160 yds, 2 TD
BAL-QB Joe Flacco: 22-31, 262 yds, 3 TD. A much better performance from Flacco than last week.
BAL-WR Anquan Boldin: 8 rec, 142 yds, 3 TD
CLE-RB Peyton Hillis: 22 car, 144 yds, TD. The Ravens don't give up many 100 yard rushers, so a impressive game from Hillis, who also caught 7 ball for 36 yards.
NO-WR Lance Moore: 6 rec, 149 yds, 2 TD
PIT-QB Charlie Batch: 12-17, 186 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT. Despite the 2 picks, Charlie Batch played a lot better than most thought he would, as the Steelers won again.
TEN-RB Chris Johnson: 32 car, 125 yds, 2 TD
NE-QB Tom Brady: 21-27, 252 yds, 3 TD; 142.6 QB Rating
Dallas Cowboys: They finally got a win and beat a very good 2-0 Houston Texan team. QB Tony Romo and the Boys showed the rest of the league they aren't done yet.
Kansas City Chiefs: No one had the Chiefs going 3-0 to start the season. They have shocked everyone and they already have a two game lead on everyone in the AFC West. Watch out for K.C.
IND-WR Austin Collie: 12 rec, 127 yds, 2 TD
IND-QB Peyton Manning: 27-43, 325 yds, 3 TD; 109.2 QB Rating. Told you here would be in section every week. So far, 3-3 on the season.
SEA-RB Leon Washington: Returned two kickoffs, 101 and 99 yards, for TDs and help the Seahawks improve to 2-1.
NYJ-QB Mark Sanchez: 15-28, 256 yds, 3 TD; 120.5 QB Rating. A night and day difference from the Sanchez and Jets offense everyone saw in Week 1.
"C'mon Man"
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers had opportunities to get back into the game, but they were dominated in time of possession and total plays ran. Not to mention four turnovers did not help rookie QB Jimmy Clausen, who had a long first day at the office.
CIN-QB Carson Palmer: 19-37, 195 yds, TD, 2 INT. It's hard putting Carson here, but Palmer did not play well at all. Palmer and the Bengals offense need to fix a lot of things if they are to compete for the playoffs. Palmer will figure it out and he is due for a breakout performance, trust me.
MIN-QB Brett Favre: 23-34, 201 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT. Minnesota is still waiting for last year's Brett Favre to return and I will go ahead and say it now, no matter what happens, this is Brett's final season. Well...maybe not.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The hype over Tampa Bay's hot start faded fast as the Bucs were blown out by the Steelers.
San Francisco 49ers: A team that most, including myself, picked to win the NFC West, is off to an 0-3 start. QB Alex Smith has no played well and the 49ers have a lot of work ahead of them. The good news, an 8-8 record can still win the division.
Stay tuned later in the week for my Week 4 predictions and what to watch for in Cleveland, as the Bengals battle their in-state rivals, the Browns.
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