Preseason week 1

Well, I'm back. I've had some time to calm down after losing J-Joe and have decided to keep writing. Having the Lions to root for really takes the edge off the ineptitude of my favorite franchise.

Let start with a quick off-season review. I'll give the Bungs a C+ for the whole thing. I thought the draft was very strong, hitting needs and more importantly talent and value. This off season is really going to hinge on Dalton as much as I hate to admit it. I hate how much this league is based on QB play.
So the draft was the only thing that kept it from being an F+. Between not trading Palmer, losing the best football player on your team for nothing, and whatever the hell happened with Donte Whitner, free agency did not go well. There were a ton of free agent safeties available and lord knows they needed help back there.
Nate Clements was about as good of a replacement as you were going to find for the real 22 and I liked the Manny Lawson pick up. He's playing a little out of position right now but he's a talented and versatile defender.


Before we get into the game, I wanted to point out that I have yet to see anyone cover Green in the training camp videos 1v1. While that is exciting, we used to have a guy that could do it...

Also I want to remind everyone that I try to stay away from the obvious on this blog as much as possible. Even in games that are as big of train wrecks as this one, SOMEONE must have played well and I did the digging to find them.

The first Not His Fault They Lost Award of the year goes too:

Michael Johnson - For being the only pass rusher who bothered to show up last Friday. He had provided some good pressure and when the 2s came in and he switched to left end he embarrassed the guy across from him. Every pass play it was a textbook roasting of Detroit's back up RT. He looked like Robert Mathis with an unstoppable speed rush and the awesome looking angle where he runs passed the RT at like 45 degrees. There is a better word for that but is escapes me. He didn't have any sacks but that is because the ball was already out of the QBs hands before anyone could get there if the O-line wasn't there at all. Rough coverage. Very rough.

The Surprisingly It Wasn't Hit Fault They Lost Award goes to, and get used to this methinks:

Andy Dalton - I know he opened up with the pick but he nothing besides accurate after that. Dude has only been a professional football player for 2 weeks and he goes 11 of 15? Yes please!
He didn't have any long completions but Detroit never blitzed either. They rushed 4 very good D linemen and dropped 7, would be very difficult to get anything down field. He was efficient, intelligent and accurate with the ball. He did a great job of spreading the ball around to different receivers and let them try to do something with it after the catch.

I'm sure there was a lot of concern after the first play pick, but I think Andy was maybe the 3rd guy I blame for that. First of all, he was getting crushed as he threw. The 1st team guards did not play well. I know Detroit has the best DTs in the world but you have to at least try to slow them down. Bottom line, he had to get rid of the ball with a quickness and he did a good job of that.

I know the ball was a little inside, but the range on it was actually pretty good. AJ should have helped him out more on that play. He later said he lost the ball in the lights and after watching the replay it sure looks like it. He was in perfect stride to get after it but didn't come inside to contest it with Chris Houston. Houston caught it against his chest and if AJ went up to high point it, he might have taken the ball right off of his silver helmet.
The point is, I'm sure Dalton expected more help from Green and will probably get it 9/10 times.

Like I said, throw was not awful, but it certainly could have been a lot better. AJ Green's ball skills are a million times better than Houston's ball "skills" so I don't question the decision so much. Just would have liked to see that ball further outside. It might have been wiser to dump the ball off to Benson who was able to sneak through the line and broke open to the left but it may have been a called bomb.

For the preseason I'm going to do a areas of concern section.

First and foremost: The starting guards. Yuck. Someone needs to step up and take that job away from Nate Livings. Too many penalties and looks lost at time in pass protections. He's sufficient in the run game but so are a lot of guys. I'm looking for rookie Clint Boling to step up and take his job by the end of the preseason. While Bobby Williams is still a beast in the run game, he got embarrassed by Suh a few times. I know Suh is a freak but he didn't look good in pass pro. This may be his last year. I hope he gets into better form, he's one of my favorite Bengals.

2nd: The coverage! Oh God the coverage! So bad! Right now there is just nothing behind Hall and Clements. With Pacman, Ghee and Wade out there is no one left to cover receivers. Don't get me wrong, the whole team was bad at it on Friday however you need at least 3 corners to play defense in the NFL.
I'm going to make 2 bold predictions here. While never being the official starting corner, if Pacman gets healthy I think he becomes the defacto starter before the end of the season with Clements sliding inside in the nickle package and not always being in on base.
Also, Wade might surprise some people. He played well last year in limited action and should make the team as the last corner.

I did notice that the dynamic didn't change much though with J-Joe being gone. No one throws at 22 and they pick on Leon hall instead.

3rd: Where is the pass rush! Can Mike Brown sacrifice his daughter to Satan (would you miss Katie Blackburn? would ya?)for some pass rush please. I know Dunlap was out but someone needs to get some push somewhere somehow. Geathers looked lethargic. Dunlap will be the defacto starter as soon as he's back

For the returning readers we know I try to stay as positive as possible so I'll have a bright spots section for the preseason too.

1. Geno Atkins - Really good vs the run on Friday. More than once he took his blocker and put him 3 yards in the backfield. He also tracked down that screen from the other side of the field. Love this kid. Also, if anyone else had any pass rush at all is was Geno.
2. Jordan Shipley - This guy just always looks good. <3
3. Jerome Simpson - He sure looks like the real deal doesn't he? I don't want to invite this comparison but doesn't he look like Chad as far as movement and body type?
4. Green and Dalton. Both look pretty damn good.
5. Benson and the right side of the line looked pretty sexy in the run game. I'm excited to see the run game with B Scott back.

Anyway, I should do some work. Don't have time to proof read right now or my boss will rip me apart so please excuse me. Will be checking in next week. Thanks for reading!