A missed extra point, catastrophic coverage breakdowns and a late comeback victory. Such events are becoming almost run of the mill this season. In a matchup of two rookie quarterbacks between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars, neither Andy Dalton nor Blaine Gabbert would ultimately put in the game winning (or losing) performance, instead leaving it to their more experienced teammates to decide which way this game swung.
In the end Cincinnati had just enough to win, taking advantage of an errant Brad Meester snap to deflate the Jaguars, before a late fumble recovery TD created a gap in the score line that simply wasn’t reflected in the play. Let’s get into some of the key performances in this one.
Cincinnati – Three Performances of Note
1. Controlling the middle of the field
In past seasons the region of the field that rookie quarterbacks principally struggle with has been short and intermediate (between the line of scrimmage and 20 yards) throws over the middle. This is the region in which defensive co-ordinators can most play around with coverage. Rolling up safeties, dropping linebackers or even dropping defensive linemen – this aspect of the game seems to take the longest for rookie quarterbacks to master. Andy Dalton (+1.6) is putting up, in light of this recent trend, impressive numbers in this region of the field and continued that this week. Here he went 12 of 19 for 112 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars. with the Jaguars’ linebackers putting in such strong and active performances this is particularly impressive from a rookie.
2. Wrong starters?
The Bengals have struggled ever since Antwan Odom’s injury to find a solid presence at defensive end and on the evidence of this week (and the season so far) they are shooting themselves in the foot this season. With the return of Robert Geathers to the starting lineup the Cincinnati Bengals are keeping their best two ends on the bench. Once again this week Carlos Dunlap (+1.2 pass rush) and Frostee Rucker (+3.3 overall) outperformed the starting duo of Geathers (+0.4 overall) and Michael Johnson (-0.9). That Dunlap in particular cannot get his hands on more than 20 snaps per game when he is registering pressure once for every five times he rushes the passer is particularly baffling.
3. A welcome return to the fold
Bobbie Williams’ (+3.0) suspension is finally over and he was welcomed back to the fold for the Bengals with wide open arms this week, marking his return with the sort of high caliber performance the years have taught us to expect from him. After just one game Williams is already the Bengals’ second highest graded offensive lineman; in fact other than Williams only LT Andrew Whitworth is grading positively this season. Williams was perfect in pass protection and didn’t allow any negatively graded plays as a run blocker either. Just what the doctor ordered at a problematic right guard spot.
Jacksonville – Three Performances of Note
1. Linebackers shine through
As the season progresses the Jaguars’ new look linebacking trio is starting to develop and gel. This week was the turn of Clint Session (+3.5) to put in his best performance of the season, making a pair of strong plays against Nate Livings (4:38 and 0:58 left in the fourth) to particularly highlight his strong play. Together, the Jaguars' LBs combined for 14 defensive stops and played a pivotal role in limiting the Cincinnati running game to only 2.5 yards per carry. To add to their work in the running game the three down pairing of Paul Posluszny and Daryl Smith only allowed 21 yards on seven receptions. The Jaguars invested a great deal in revamping their linebackers and it’s really starting to pay off for them.
2. A defensive line split down the middle
Amongst both starters and backups the Jacksonville defensive line was split almost precisely down the middle in terms of the performances they put in this week. Those lining up to the defensive right side put in solid or better performances and those to the left struggled to make an impact. For the starters, DLE Matt Roth and DLT Tyson Alualu struggled badly to make an impact as pass rushers (two total pressures) against Andre Smith and Bobbie Williams, whilst on the other side Jeremy Mincey (+2.8) in particular was extremely impressive against one of the best left tackles in the NFL, Andrew Whitworth, registering three stops in run defense off blocks by Whitworth. This extended to depth defenders where CJ Mosley was extremely impressive in run defense, three defensive stops and John Chick (+1.6) was able to pop up with positive plays both rushing the passer (sack at 10:43 in the second quarter) and dropping in to coverage (pass defense at 12:41 in the fourth).
3. Inconsistencies at tight end
For whatever reason Marcedes Lewis (-5.1) cannot put good performances together in back to back weeks in 2011. He opened up the season with a solid showing against Tennessee, but after missing a week then played poorly against Carolina in week three. One week on from that, after a solid display run blocking against the Saints last week, he put up his worst performance of the season against the Bengals this week. Lewis dropped a pass and in particular struggled with his run blocking (-3.3) where, uncharacteristically for him, he struggled to handle defensive ends one on one and on occasion looked lost trying to block in space. Fortunately for Jacksonville fans if he follows his current season trajectory he’ll be back on song with a strong performance next week in Pittsburgh, which would be more than useful against the Steelers’ outside linebackers.
Game Notes
● Blaine Gabbert’s accuracy on intermediate routes was disappointing. Gabbert was 1/6 for 13 yards on passes aimed between 10 and 19 yards down the field
● Only Thomas Howard and Chris Crocker played all 58 snaps for the Bengals on defense
● Rookie A.J. Green played every single snap for the Bengals, the first time he has done so in his pro career.
PFF Game Ball
Daryl Smith, LB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Daryl Smith (+4.7) was all over the field for the Jaguars; seven defensive stops, only 18 yards allowed on five receptions and one pass defense.
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