Are the Lions Rooting for the Colts?

Bengals Recap:

The Bengals are having a rough go of it this year in a very disappointing season as they are finding it difficult drop games that just last year they would have lost. Once again, against Seattle, it is hard to pinpoint exactly why the Bengals could not pull out a loss.

They played poorly enough on Defense allowing (as they say in the UK) a chunky bit of total yards, 411 to be exact, most of which was through the air. If there is one area of the defense that is showing a desire to lose it is the secondary. But the same can’t be said of the run D. Also the entire D, including the secondary tends to stiffen in and around the red zone, simply not letting teams get a sniff of the end zone. Also, they are not getting it done on special teams as they have continued to make big plays at inopportune times.

If the Bengals continue playing on this level, the season will be completely lost, and they may even have to mail it in and go for a playoff spot.

Keys to Defeat note: If the 90’s represents the lost decade in Bengals history, then the 00’s represents the rolling hills and steep valleys. There has been a small bit of success to point to in the past decade to mix in with the monumental failures that mirror the 90’s. This is clearly a time in the cycle of the Bengals where after an epic fail of a season, they bounce back playing a relatively light schedule. Combine that with Zim’s D finally taking shape and a couple of rookie playmakers and now they are throwing the 2012 draft pick out the window. Tough season, but this organization will overcome!

Keys to Defeat note 2: In addition to fact checkers, statisticians, and a web design team, I also need proof readers...Please sign up for one of these unpaid jobs in the comment section. Thanks.

In Other News – Saints Upset Rams!

New Orleans shocked the Rams by grabbing an improbable loss from the defeated Rams last week. What may be even more shocking is that the game was not close, the Saints managed to lose handily to the Rams scoring a couple of garbage time touches in the 4^th Quarter. The Saints did a great job of letting Jackson run free and stack up yards. Feeley threw it 37 times, which is the right number to pick up a loss, but of those 37 times could not manage to throw a pick.

08 Lions Publically Deny Rooting for Colts Victory:

Meanwhile, the Colts have solidified their place atop the Powerless Rankings, losing in grand fashion to the Titans. The 2008 Lions have not even had an opportunity to break out any cigars or fine champagne because the Colts are losing in such spectacular fashion. They are usually out of it by the half. I talked to one of the 08 Defeated Lions (who will remain nameless cause they don’t want to be the dudes who are seen as grumpy old men with nothing to live for than their place in the history books) and he told me, “Look, I’m really nervous, I mean we had a bad team, I mean really terrible, but these guys seemed to have packed their suitcases for vacation before the season even started without Manning.” Now, with the Falcons coming to town, it looks like the 08 Lions will have to keep their champagne on ice and their Cubans in the humidor for one more week.

I Don’t Hate Palmer:

"Reunited, and it feels so good"

You know, I used to hate Dillon and every other good to great player that came through the Bengals organization and left bitter and disgruntled, but then after a while you begin to think to yourself (at least some of us), maybe it’s not the players…hmmmm, ya think!? Maybe it’s the organization and the guy (and his family) who are calling the shots. I don’t know what Palmer will do now, but I hope he enjoys the rest of his career. Here’s a little video of the once savior of Cincy football: (If the link doesn’t work just search for it on espn.com…I need tech guys who can embed video, ok I need fact checkers and web designers, any volunteers? Don’t all jump at once…)

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7183472

Powerless Rankings:

While our top 3 spots have remained fairly stable the 4 and 5 spots have been a bit of a musical chairs…with this week being no exception as 2 teams familiar with the top 5 Powerless come back after huge statement games:

1. Colts (who on their way to a stellar 1^st half 0-8 have also given up 252 points. If you remember from last week, the KtoD blog revealed the key metric to going Defeated was giving up 500 points, ala the 08 Lions who gave up 516…only here can you get such fine analysis!)

2. Rams (even with a disappointing win, the Rams are still undoubtedly 2^nd worst club in the League)

3. Dolphins (with a defeated record, many of you may be asking why the Dolphins are not #2, good question, fact is they could be, but I like the Rams better in that spot…the Fins are on the cusp though, they continue to apply pressure and who knows they have to visit a fired up KC this week)

4. Broncos (This team has to be crafted around Tebow if he is their guy, but until then…it is going to get worse before it gets better)

5. Jags (the Jags ain’t half bad but are dead last in the league in passing O…but you cut Garrard inexplicably. I will continue to rail on this organization for tanking. If you lose, lose with dishonor! They could take a lesson from Mike Brown in this regard)

Dishonorable mention: Arizona, Seattle

Keys to Defeat:

The Bengals come into this week with a bit of a challenge playing on the road against a decent team (more than 2 wins). So, while it will be a huge challenge to lose this game, it will be at least possible this week. Also here is an obvious note, I am not a fantasy guy, but I would bench CJ2K (what an awful nickname) this week against a cheapskate Bengal run D…

On Offense:

1. Abandon the run game. The Bengals can not control the ball if they want to lose this game, that means 20 runs or less with Dalton passing the ball close to 40 times…

2. Big Red throwing 40 times, but with the caveat mentioned above, running it 20 or less.

3. Be unbalanced. The perfect imbalance would be 40 pass and 20 run…rely on Dalton and stop eating up that clock. Control of the clock is an enemy of defeat, which the Bengals need desperately.

On Defense:

1. Focus on Chris Johnson and the Titans run. Play at least 8 in the box at all times, the whole game without variation.

2. Leave the CBs on an island. Trust them to hold their men down and prevent the big play while everybody is in the box keying on Johnson.

Special Teams:

Must not make big plays.

This game is the first losable game the Bengals have had in about a month, so we will see what they do with their opportunity. Will they continue to slide further and further down in draft position or will they make a stand and stop the slide and begin to make their run for a better pick. We shall see.

One Last Thought:

Even if the Bengals totally blow it this season and make the playoffs, if the Raiders should tank, the Bengals could still get their high 2012 draft pick, so this blog will be watching Carson Palmer and the Raiders with great interest.

OK, maybe 2 last thoughts: May the good Lord have mercy on anybody mocking our (me and Tebow's) faith in Jesus Christ. That is all. 

Join me next Thursday for the Bengals recap (where I wouldn’t be surprised if they held CJ to negative yards), news from the bottom of the NFL, the Powerless Rankings and your Keys to Defeat!

As usual, thanks for reading

God Bless!