VS Saints

So I realized today that I never introduced myself in this blog. It doesn’t matter for a variety of reason but my name is Joel, I live in Cincy. By day I’m and phone jockey and by night a musician. I’m also a full time football nerd.
Alright, paper work handled, lets get into this game. Most of you probably didn’t get a chance to watch this game because it was blacked out in the local market. I was able to watch it the first time by setting up a laptop in a bar and watching an illegal stream and then again last night on rewind. It was actually a decent game. It was pretty standard 2010 Bengals. Threw too much, only showed up in one half and made too many mental errors.
I had a tough time picking out a winner this week. Even though I blew my rant wad on him last week, the winner for this game’s Not his Fault They Lost Award is, Chad Ochocinco. This guy is still one of our best players. I’ll try not to review too much but he’s flat out one of the best receivers in the world and he showed off some of that two Sundays ago. He is among the best three in the league at making the tippy toe catch along the sideline. It happens to me all the time where I’ll see him make a catch and be 100% sure he was out of bounds. Then you see the instant replay and he finds a way to make his toes touch. Chad never gets credit for sacrificing his body either. He’s great at fighting the instinct to protect himself when he goes to the ground making a catch. A lot of guys can’t make the tippy toe catch because of that. Your natural instinct is to put your foot where it will best support your weight. In bounds or out Chad will lay out to make a catch. He has the best body control in the league too. I don’t think people realize how hard it is to catch a ball thrown behind you and this freak will twist his body around like a transformer in mid air to grab balls that he has spoiled casual Cincy fans with.
This week’s Surprisingly it Wasn’t his Fault award goes too, your quarterback, Carson Palmer. Another guy that I totally blew my rant wad on with the last blog. He actually put together a fairly solid game. 0 picks, a touchdown and damn near won the game. The bungs chose the 2nd half to show up this week and needed to put up a lot of points on a very good defense. Carson was creative, slippery and poised against a very good defense. He didn’t let his noodle arm get him in trouble. What surprised me was how good he looked in the pocket. He showed good mobility and escaped some easy sacks while keeping his eyes down field. It was like someone bolted Chad Pennington’s arm (or lack of) onto the Carson of ’05. Part of his success was Chad getting back to running the dig route too. Chad has made a lot of hay with that route in the past and used the out as the change up. For those of you not familiar with the dig route, you run about 14-18 yard down field then cut in as hard as you can. Chad really is a freak when it comes to his break at the top of his routes. Carson still missed a few deep balls but didn’t get his team in trouble against a team known for its turnovers. If the Bengals would stick to the run a little more, this guy could win games for us. I’d still like to see us grab someone in the draft with an arm but for now, this version of Carson will do. I hope he shows up in the last few games.
I didn’t really have a young buck of the week. Shipley was pretty good as usual, Brain Leonard was a man as he usually is but is he young enough to count? I love this guy. He moves the chains 3 times before he even wakes up in the morning. Does he ever NOT get a first down? Anyway, Gresham had a pretty good day but had some gross drops that pissed me off. Dunlap had a big sack and played well but I think he’s been on like every blog I’ve ever done.
So instead I’ll give it to the Not His Fault the Lost runner up, Domata Peko. He is another guy that could be on here every week. This guy is really under appreciated in the league. He could be a nose tackle in a 3-4, 3 technique guy, whatever you want. Zimmer said he’s the best tackle he’s ever worked with which is absurd considering he’s been in Dallas with Jay Ratliff and Hotlanta. His motor is endless and he is surprisingly agile. He blew up a screen in the 2nd half for a 9 yard loss. It wasn’t even on the side of the field he lines up on. I didn’t give it to him though because of that 55 yard run that went strait up the middle. I’m not saying it was his fault, he had his gap and his assignment taken care of. But if he slams his guy a few yards backwards, who knows? Also he had like 5 tackles or something crazy against the best guard tandem in the league.
We should be the Cincinnati Samoans. Are any of the Samoans on our team not awesome? Rey rey, Fanene and Peko? More please! I love their super soft demeanor off the field and strait murderer on the field. Its like there is a switch in these guys that goes on when they get in their stance and turns off when the whistle blows. Love it, love it.