NFL: The Cincinnati Bengals drop from the ranks of the unbeaten

The Texans handed the Bengals their first loss of the season

After last night’s Monday Night Football game, there are only two undefeated teams left in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals (8-1) lost 10-6 to the Houston Texans (4-5) in a game where the Bengals could do nothing offensively against a defense that ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in total defense, rush defense and pass defense.

The Bengals were plagued by penalties, drops and an inability to block the front seven of the Texans in both the running and passing game. This created a disjointed effort that forced the Bengals to play in many long down situations, allowing the Texans’ defensive backs to play tight coverage downfield and force check-down passes while the defensive line could pin their ears back and rush the passer without threat of the run.

Bengals’ Game Plan

It was clear early on that the Bengals game plan was to throw many different formations and shifts at the Texans defense to try and keep them off balance. This included unbalanced lines and tackles lining up in tight end positions in order to force Houston to show their defensive play call early and give quarterback Andy Dalton easy pre-snap reads. This was a solid game plan, especially against a defensive line that has the ability to be dominant.

However, Cinncinati crippled themselves due to unforced errors and their inability to block Texans defenders. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson stuck to his penchant of using a variety of screen passes to help get Dalton going, but when it became apparent that the Bengals were going to be in a lot of long 3rd downs, this was not a feasible game plan for winning.

As the game wore on, the Texans could sense this was the only way the Bengals felt they could move the ball and really focused in on forcing the short screen throw, and then rallying in droves.

Offensive Line vs Defensive Line

The game was effectivley won by the Texans defensive line (and outside linebackers who essentially work as edge defensive linemen in Houston’s 3-4 scheme), as they consistently whipped the Bengals front men. Whether it was a run or pass, Houston’s defensive front consistently won their 1-on-1 battles, getting constant pressure on the pass and allowing the Texans’ linebackers to fill effectively to shut down the run.

The standout for the game for the Texans was outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, who was constantly finding himself around the ball and finishing plays behind the line of scrimmage, ending the game with three tackles for loss. Also, JJ Watt was his usual dominant self, recording a sack, forcing a hold, chasing down run plays, and making right tackle Eric Winston’s life miserable all through the game.

It didn’t help that the Bengals fullback, Ryan Hewitt, and tight end, Tyler Eifert were abysmal in blocking, surely not helped by having some impossible assignments blocking Watt 1-on-1.

Monday Night Dud

Speaking of Eifert, arguably the second best tight end in the NFL this year, the third-year player out of Notre Dame had a night he will most surely want to forget. Never the great run blocker, he is supposed pull more than his own weight in the pass game.

Coming into the game, he had 37 catches for 434 yards and 9 touchdowns, but last night he proceeded to drop as many passes as he caught. Combine this with his already poor run blocking and he was a glaring negative in the midst of an awful showing by the Bengals offense. His drops were timely, including two 3rd downs, and even when he was able to get open due to a Texans defender falling, Andy Dalton could not come up with the easy connection, helping stall another drive.

Lone Bright Spot

The Bengals did have one offensive player who came to play last night in running back Giovanni Bernard. He finished the game with 13 total touches (rushes and catches) for 79 yards and bailed out a Bengals offense that would have struggled to pick up a first down with out him.

He converted one 3rd & 4 on an outside run where it seemed like the offensive line didn’t block a soul, and converted two other 3rd downs when Dalton immediately checked down to Bernard more than seven yards away from the 1st . Bernard is best when he is able to jitterbug his way around the field, freezing people with time cuts and using his elusiveness to slip by for those precious yards. With Jeremy Hill struggling to perform like last year, it might be time for Gio to get more carries.

What Does This Mean?

In the long run, this game probably isn’t the end of the world for the Bengals. Everyone lays a dud in the NFL, as it is hard to bring it consistently for all 16 weeks of the regular season, but this game has to be a little disheartening when considering it was a home, prime time game.

The best teams usually take care of business in the spotlight, and for a team trying to shake the perception that they cannot win the big games, this one has to sting. While it was disheartening to see an offense that has been a top five outfit all year play so poorly, it does not mean they cannot get right back to their dominating ways, as they have already played very well against some of the top defenses in the league this year. However, they will have to right the ship quickly as they go against one of the top teams in the league next week in another prime time game, this time on the road against the Arizona Cardinals.