Oct 7, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Miami Dolphins cornerback
Sean Smith(24) grabs the helmet of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback
Andy Dalton(14) in the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE
If the Bengals are to rebound from Sunday’s gut-wrenching loss to the Miami Dolphins, then they’ll have to take at look at some of these disturbing trends they’ve had, and do everything in their power to correct them, or else they’ll be sitting at home for the playoffs:
As much praise as everyone has given Andy Dalton over the last three weeks, the Bengals dropped to 0-4 when QB Andy Dalton has 40 or more passing attempts. Part of that stat can also be attributed to the lack of a consistent running game that has evaded the team the past two seasons. Trailing from much of the second-half in Sunday’s loss against the Dolphins, coupled with an ineffective running game, Dalton was forced into 43 pass attempts, threw two interceptions, including the game-ending interception to safety Reshad Jones.
The Bengals are now 11-62 under Marvin when trailing going to 4th-quarter. Decisions like kicking a field goal on 4th-and-5 are why.
The offense has converted just 7 of their last 34 3rd-down opportunities(21%). The NFL average is 39%. This was the death of the Bengals on Sunday, as they had six drives between the 2nd and 3rd quarters that ended with a punt, fumble(on 3rd-down), punt, interception(on 3rd-down), punt, and punt.
The Bengals have put together eight drives of 10 plays or more. They’ve scored one touchdown, five field goals, punted once, and turned the ball over on downs once. If the Bengals don’t get big plays, they struggle to score, plain and simple.
Cincinnati drove the ball three times into Miami territory in the 4th quarter, yet came away with zero points.
Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers say the Bengals have some huge problems they have to do everything to correct now, or else they’ll be saying this a lot the rest of the season:
No shld of would of could of's. learn from it use it to advantage for next game and rest of season. Played hard but didn't win. #WhoDey
— Carlos Dunlap (@Carlos_Dunlap) October 7, 2012
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