What can we say about a 4-12 team that most of us thought would be playoff bound in 2011? It is a little hard to nail down what went wrong with this team. The offense and defense looked to be pretty good and I am very surprised that they struggled. However they suffered through a 10 game losing streak. They did win two of their last three. I am very surprised that Head Coach Marvin Lewis will return with this team. This season was a total disaster, and we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong.
The offense was not great. They scored 322 points or 20.1 per game. That was good for 22nd best of the 32 NFL teams. QB Carson Palmer had a down year throwing for 3,970 yards and 26 TD’s. That is balanced with 20 INT’s and that is one of the key reasons this team failed. I am also willing to bet that once the losing began Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco were locker room cancers that made it difficult to improve their performances. The running game also averaged less than 100 yards per game and that will just not get it done.
The Defense wasn’t much better. They gave up 395 points or 24.7 points per game. That was good enough for 24th of the 32 NFL teams. This defense forced just 12 fumbles, and recorded just 16 INT’s. They also only sacked opposing QB’s 27 times. Given those numbers we can argue that their needs lie on the defense particularly in the secondary and along the D line.
Much Like the Denver Broncos I think we can safely assume that the Bengals will be using the 4th overall pick in the coming NFL draft on a defensive player. However adding a young wide out to the mix wouldn’t be a terrible idea either. I could also see them adding a piece to the running game as well.
Related Links:
- Cincinnati Bengals news and notes
- The Business of the NFL
- Joshua Lobdell.com
