The Cincinnati Bengals finally did something about two weeks worth of stagnant offense. Coordinator Ken Zampese was released on Friday.
When the Bengals dropped another game to their newest rival, the Houston Texans, it was a nasty and ugly prime-time defeat. The Bengals’ defense was able to keep up the pace and look like a championship unit. But, the offense? Well, that’s another story. They bumbled and plodded their way to three field goals, en route to a 13-9 letdown.
Before the Thursday Night Football showdown was in the books, fans were calling for heads to roll. The result was the firing of offensive coordinator Ken Zampese on Friday.
The reasoning was simple. No doctorate in physics was needed to make the call on what had happened over the first two weeks of the season. In eight quarters, the Bengals had managed to post zero touchdowns under the guidance of Zampese. How bad is that? No team has committed such ineptitude since the 1939 Eagles.
When it gets to that point, heads must roll. Fortunately, Zampese–the man in charge of the horrendous output–is the odd man out. Hey, he could really be a nice guy. But, his game plans stink like an Akron rubber factory.
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Bill Lazor has been saddled with the responsibility of getting the Bengals offense back on track. When the Bengals hired him, he had been tossed out as the Miami Dolphins’ OC. But, in 2014, Lazor led the Phins to the No. 14 position in total offense. In a cruel twist of fate, that was one spot ahead of the Bengals.
Hopefully, Zampese didn’t do much damage to Andy Dalton’s mindset. The Ginger needs to relax, stop over thinking and just play football.
Enough Is Enough
When A.J. Green talks…people listen. If you’re old enough to remember the E.F Hutton commercials from back in the day, you know what’s up. Green was asked to become more vocal this year. What happens when you request more input from the quiet one? You get the truth.
With his first huge gainer of the TNF matchup with the Texans, he popped up from being tackled and flexed. What the? Is that Green? Why, yes it is. In fact, it was refreshing to see A.J. get emotional on the field. He’s usually reserved. But, after that flex move, he wasn’t involved in the game plan as much. Huh? But, Green is your star player. And what happened to John Ross, after the fumble?
How did Green feel about the lack of touches coming to him?
"“I don’t control the play calling. I just go out there and run the play.”"
Ouch and double…ouch (insert Hutton commercial).
Carlos Dunlap has been frustrated for some time. Marvin Lewis talked to him about a tweet earlier in the year that showed his concern over moves being made by the franchise.
I don't see the plan but guess that's not my role to either.
— Carlos Dunlap (@Carlos_Dunlap) March 14, 2017
But, then there was the Adam Jones way of summing things up.
"“It’s frustrating for all the guys. We have a lot of younger guys here. They’re going to play football for eight or nine more years, Me, I know my clock is ticking. I have a window, and it’s probably three to four more years. I’m trying to win by any means necessary. We need to do whatever we have to do to fix this.”"
Zampese is done. However, tune in for the results in Week 3.