That was Ugly! Bengals Week one in review.

Well I thought about making this short and sweet: The Bengals SUCK!

And while that basically sums up their lack luster effort I'll let off a little steam and let you know what I think about their week one performance of lack their of.

The Bengals fell 17-10 in Baltimore today and I really can't think of the last time I was this disgusted with a Bengals game, and consider, well they are the BENGALS, that is saying A LOT! I felt this was an uninspired and lazy effort by the entire team.

This is not going to be a recap of what happened (sportscenter can give you that), more of a reaction to what happened. On offense, the rhythm that they needed to find was MIA. Once again, OC Bob Bratkowski showed me the amazing lack of creativity that should have gotten him fired at the end of last season. There is no excuse for any coordinator with the talent that he has to simply be this bad....EVER! I don't care what defense you are playing, they should never be overwhelmed as they were today. He simply did not put his unit in positions to succeed.

However, as much blame as there is to toss at Bratkowski, the players are not going unscathed here. Carson Palmer was a mess. No other way to put it. The line failed to give him any kind of comfort zone and due to it if I didn't know better it was his play that looked like a rookie in his first start. Somewhere along the line he has lost the fundamentals that made him one of the more promising QB's in the league. He footwork is that of a mediocre college QB at this point. he is running scared and is not planting his feet anytime he has any kind of pressure around him. HE'S PLAYING SCARED! You simply can not do that in this league and have success.

The offensive line was equally unimpressive. They failed to open any holes for the running game and allowed the Ravens defense to harass Palmer all day. This is a unit that needs to get their act together if the Bengals are going to accomplish anything this season.

Chris Perry is going to get less then stellar reviews in his first game post Rudi, but to be honest, Tomlinson could have been back there today and he would not have fared much better. He simply was the victim of zero running room and very predictable play calling. The only knock I have on Perry is he did not show much of a burst once he did find a hole. I'm not ready to write Perry off just yet, but with Tennessee and their stout run D coming to town next week your going to have to be patient with him.

I wish I could comment more on the WR's and TE's, but you simply didn't see them! Housh did have three catches, but that's about it. They only took one shot down field all game and that was a near miss to Chatman. No one in this unit stepped up, but none of them was given much of a chance either.

The only good thing here is I don't think the offense can play worse then they did today, so they can only get better from here.....gawd I hope that is the case at least.

Now on to the defense. Overall, the unit played a mediocre game. They failed to get any real pressure on Joe Flacco as they did not record a sack all game. Their pass D was decent, but seriously, Joe Flacco was not going to light anyone up. They needed to do one thing, stop the run, and they failed! Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain combined for 150 yards on 41 carries! However the two big plays were given up on a double reverse and a 38 yard QB scramble by Joe Flacco....yes, I said a 38 yard run by Joe Flacco! You simply can not give up big plays like this, yet the Bengals find a way to do this year after year.

The final seven minutes was embarrassing for the defense as they allowed the Ravens to run the ball at will, run out the clock and seal the game. This just goes to show the lack of heart that this entire team has. When the going gets tough, this team runs away!

In the end, there is just not much to get excited about here. One of the most uninspiring performances in recent memory for this team in my opinion. If Marvin wants to keep his job, he is going to have to find a way to get this team to play with some intensity. And by the way, did I mention that Bob Bratkowski needs to be fired!