Cincinnati Bengals: Grades Against Indianapolis Colts
Oct 19, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson (34) runs the ball with Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Robert Geathers (91) chasing him down during the third quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts defeated the Bengals 27-0. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
A bad performance offensively, a tired defense, and a punter who was hurting for a break by the end of the game. This sums up the day for the Cincinnati Bengals who ended up on the wrong side of a 27-0 routing on Sunday afternoon.
Bengals Offense: D-
The Bengals would have gotten an F if it wasn’t for the 0 turnovers. They had 135 total yards and almost a dozen dropped passes. They went 1-13 on third down and one failed fourth down. They were terrible and Dalton received only a little protection as the Colts got him for 4 sacks. The running game had no answer for the defensive line, as Bernard and Hill combined for 32 yards gained. It is scary to say, but Jermaine Gresham was the best player offensively in this game.
Bengals Defense: B-
The only bright spot for this team was a defense that forced two first half turnovers and held them to only 10 points to keep them alive. The end of the game brought a tired and struggling defense, who couldn’t stay off the field due to a terrible offensive performance. They did everything they could after suffering a blow to the head on a red zone stop.
Bengals Special Teams: C+
The return game suffered but this grade is a gift to Kevin Huber, who suffered through 11 punts and still averaged 47.7 yards per kick with a long of 63. He continued to keep the Colts in their territory and typically deep giving them long fields. On the bright side, Mike Nugent got a week off and rested his leg after being over used against Carolina.
Bengals Coaching: D+
Hue Jackson saw his first real task and had no answers to a defense that just shut them down in both the running and passing games. Paul Guenther’s defense pushed turnovers and even better yet, he made this defense look good after two weeks of failures. Marvin Lewis seemed to just scratch his head to the absolute 180 on both sides of the ball.
Bengals Overall: D
Some changes need to be made. Bengals nation already seems to be calling for a coaching change, but it seems to be a more of an issue with performance than coaching. Things will need to change after 3 weeks of less than average performances. If they don’t, this team will continue to be in for a long season.