The Bengals stink!

Maybe it isn’t time to throw in the towel, but the Bengals 27-10 loss to the Detroit Lions didn’t give season ticket holders an ounce of hope as they settled into their seats at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since December.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Rudi Johnson didn’t play. Chad Johnson (sorry I already messed up and wrote his name this preseason) conveniently injured his shoulder as veteran cornerback Brian Kelly intercepted Carson Palmer on Cincinnati’s first possession.

Jon “Baby Hands” Kitna only had to throw three passes before he was relieved. Kitna completed all three attempts for 76 yards and had a touchdown pass.

All three of Kitna’s passes were completed to second-year wide receiver Calvin Johnson. First, Johnson beat second-year cornerback Leon Hall for 40 yards and later he ran past Johnathan Joseph for a 27-yard touchdown. On Hall’s play, Johnson showed that Hall may have trouble covering the other team’s taller athletic receivers, as Johnson just cut inside Hall, jumped and pulled down the football.

On the touchdown catch, Joseph was called for an illegal contact penalty. If you breakdown the reply it looks like Johnson is the one who benefits from the contact as he shoves Joseph to the side. Personally, I believe that the call should not have been made. Nevertheless, Joseph needs to be able to deal with that type of contact and catch up to the receiver. It looks like he was expecting help from safety Marvin White, who seemed to have a good view of the play as he watched from the endzone.

The dark spots:

Before injuring his shoulder and causing an interception, “Ocho Stinko” dropped a pass and complained about the location of the throw. From my view it appeared like the receiver awkwardly jumped for both balls instead of staying on his feet to make the catch. The play of “85″ showed that he may quit as soon as he makes his first embarrassing play this season. The Bengals cannot depend on him this season. If he plays well in ‘08, he will be paid well in ‘09. However, if he plays terrible, he will be on another team. Either way, “Flip Flop O” gets his way.

Even though he didn’t get any help from Chad and other injuries (T.J. and Rudi), quarterback Carson Palmer didn’t look very good. Statistically he completed six of his 13 attempts for 50 yards. He didn’t lead his offense to a single point, was intercepted (not his fault) and was sacked (which wasn’t his fault either).

The Bengals franchise-taged offensive lineman Stacey Andrews looked lost when he lined up at right guard. After Eric Ghiaciuc lined up at center for the first two series, veteran right guard Bobbie Williams slid over to center. Andrews moved over from right tackle to guard as Willie Anderson came in off the bench to play tackle. Initially, the Lions defensive line ran some stunts where the team had its defensive tackle pull to the outside on the snap as the defensive end jumped to the inside. The fact that the D-line didn’t run straight into the O-line confused Andrews.

The bright spots:

Even though the experimental (with Williams at center) line struggled at first, they settled down and helped backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and veteran running back Kenny Watson to a 99-yard touchdown drive at the end of the second quarter. Having Williams at center, Whitworth and Andrews at guard and Anderson and Levi Jones at tackle gives the Bengals a huge line that have the ability to dominate an average D-line. Hopefully, Marvin Lewis will keep experimenting with this because you could tell that the group is not completely comfortable together and needs more repetitions.

Fitzpatrick was the best player in a Bengals uniform. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve wanted him to be named the No. 1 quarterback after his performance. He completed 11 of 14 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also showed some athletic ability (didn’t realize he was so athletic) as a runner. He rushed for 31 yards on three carries including a 21-yard scramble on a third and eight. It is safe to say that Fitzpatrick was well worth that seventh-round pick that the team gave up in the ‘08 NFL Draft, especially when you consider that the Bengals still had two choices in that round.

Receivers Marcus Maxwell, Jerome Simpson and Glenn Holt all looked impressive. Maxwell caught three passes for 37 yards. He doesn’t look fast, but has the confidence of Carson Palmer and looks to be a solid route runner. Simpson led both teams in receptions (5) and yards (114). He reminds me of Chad Johnson as a rookie, like “85″ Simpson probably won’t have a huge season in his first year, but he has the athletic ability to be a superstar. Holt made only two catches for 22 yards, but both receptions were on low hard thrown passes. Holt also made an impressive tackle on special teams on the opening kickoff.

Overall

It is the preseason and thank goodness. The Bengals looked terrible. The first half was unbearable to watch and gave the impression that the Bengals would be lucky to win one game this season.

However, there were some bright spots including the play of first-round pick Keith Rivers. Rivers looks like he will lead this team in tackles and will be a great rookie. I also liked the push that third-round pick defensive tackle Pat Sims had on the Lions offensive line. Sims was able to push the 0-line back, but he did so against Detroit backups.

I honestly hope that the Bengals play much better on Saturday against New Orleans. If they don’t, this could a long and stressful season.