What to take from the Bengals Fake Game #1

Depth, Depth and... some more Depth!

Done are the days where Bengals fans would have to worry about Andy Dalton going down and The Mighty (Awful) Bruce Gradkowski would step in as Quarterback. We do not about you all, but we for certain were always worried whenever Dalton took a hard hit or an awkward fall because we knew that Bruce would come trotting out to the field. His play at Quarterback just did not fit what the Bengals were looking for and the team finally realized that after too many years of him as backup. Looking into this year and after Thursday night, we got to see a glimpse of just what we have to look forward to if Dalton does have to miss a few minutes or games. Taking over in the second quarter Josh Johnson received a great amount of playing time, over two quarters of the game. We have been hearing good things about him during training camp and finally we were able to see it in a game, all be it a fake game, but nonetheless he showed us that we have a solid backup which is huge in the NFL. Whether it was his 64 yards rushing on 4 attempts or his 9 of 16 passing with 100 yards and 1 TD, he did a great job at controlling the tempo, adjusting at the line and not turning the ball over on stupid mistakes. We aren't saying that he is starter material or that we have completely ignored his below par first few years in the NFL (5 TD 10 INT), but needless to say if Dalton goes down against the Browns again we probably won't have to rely on a backyard football play for us to come away with the win!

The Orange and Black even displayed an admirable performance from a 3rd string Quarterback has a pretty decent amount of starting NFL experience and has showed flashes of talent from time to time. Us Bengal fans might remember him as the guy that almost came back and beat us in the fourth quarter last year while they were trailing us by a little over 2 touchdowns. Enter John Skelton, the starting QB for the Cardinals last year was signed by the Bengals in the offseason and is currently listed as our 3rd string QB. Although his playtime came in the 4th quarter where we decided to run the ball 20 times, Skelton managed to find Sanzenbacher on a seam down the middle with a perfectly thrown ball. Depth at QB is huge in the NFL and something the Bengals have lacked for awhile until now and that has to make Bengal nation felling pretty good.

Go Bucks!

Some of you have heard of him and some you maybe have not. It's okay because after Thursday night every Bengal fan has been introduced to the speedy Dane Sanzenbacher. Drafted by the Bears out of The Ohio State University, Dane struggled to find the field for the Bears and they ended up letting him go come seasons end last year. Hey, fine by us! Although it was only one game, Dane has been impressing coaches all training camp Special Team-wise and Offensively. Shortly after his 71 yard punt return where we saw his quickness and agility, Sanzenbacher followed if up with a perfectly run seam right down the middle and a quick 10 yard jolt into the endzone for the second time Thursday night against the Falcons. With Baby Hawk out for what looks to be awhile, look for Dane to maybe work his way into the starting slot and become a great option for Andy Dalton this year.

Defense Wins Championships

The Bengals Defense was nothing short of perfect Thursday night against the Falcons. It looks as if teams are certainly going to struggle with running the ball on us this year. Our D-Line is stacked to say the least.  Geno, Dunlap, Johnson, Gilberry, Geathers, athletic freak Margus Hunt, second year player Devon Still and let us not forget Bengal leader Domata Peko! That is a frightening front line to look at if you are the opposing team. Then comes the new look Linebacking core which played with some attitude Thursday. Adding James Harrison looks like it is going to be a great signing for the Bengals, the leadership and experience he will be able to teach to LBs like Vontaze Burfict and Rey Maualuga can only help them.  Will he still have to adapt to more pass coverage responsibilities? Yes.  Is he still a man among boys at times on field?  Absolutely. Speaking of Rey did any one else notice him actually cover Chase Coffman on the out route on 3 and 9 and actually look decent in pass coverage? Where was that last year against the Texans? Oh well, you cant live in the past and if Rey keeps up with the decent pass coverage and the growth of Vontaze and the Veteran James Harrison, how can anyone run on that front 7?

Who else was excited to see Kirkpatrick make it on the field? We were for sure and we definitely saw what kind of speed and man coverage Dre has which made him 1st round material in the draft. If he can stay healthy and line up with Veterans like Leon Hall, Terrance Newman and Adam Jones, wow we are looking at a secondary that has the quickness, has the ball hawks and has the perfect blend of coverage for the NFL. Finally there was the Safties fighting for the second starting job opposite Reggie Nelson who once again looked amazing. Splitting time were Taylor Mays, Shawn Williams and George Illoka. None really outperformed head and shoulders above the others but Taylor Mays and George Illoka showed some great run D at the line of scrimmage. Shawn Williams looked great in pass coverage and we saw some weakness in the run D, but this should be an interesting battle all preseason and we cant wait to see who steps up and takes the spot!