Bengals vs. Cardinals: Cincinnati Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Cincinnati Bengals visited old friend Carson Palmer and the Arizona Cardinals on the Week 11 edition of Sunday Night Football and lost a heartbreaker on a late kick, 34-31.
Cincinnati came out firing in much cleaner fashion after a loss six days prior on prime time to the Houston Texans to ruin an undefeated run. As the game wore on, though, Cincinnati suffered injuries in the secondary and came up short.
It was a mixture of the hobbled secondary and questionable play-calling hurting the Bengals by the game's end, as Palmer threw for four touchdowns to keep the team at bay in what could have been a preview of something bigger to come for both teams.
Within, let's take a look at the instant grades, notes and quotes surrounding the team after the loss.
Position Grades for Bengals
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | B |
| WR | B |
| TE | B |
| OL | C |
| DL | B |
| LB | B |
| DB | D |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | C |
Things went from bad to worse for the Bengals coming off the Monday loss.
Andy Dalton never really looked comfortable in the pocket Sunday night, airmailing several deep passes on his way to a 22-of-39 line for 315 yards and two scores. Protection around him was an issue, but he missed on some inexcusable throws.
Which, in turn, is why it's hard to blame his weapons too much.
Most of his receivers had quiet nights—the exception tight end Tyler Eifert, who caught three passes for 22 yards and two scores.
On defense, Geno Atkins and the defensive line applied good pressure most of the night, but even it couldn't hit home often enough to neutralize Palmer and the Arizona offense.
The blame there, though, goes on a secondary that suffered blow after blow most of the night from an injury standpoint. The backups couldn't stand tall when called upon, but the starters didn't do much better after a pair of first-half interceptions.
When it comes down to it, much of the blame has to fall on the coaching staff. It's popular to point the finger at the quarterback. But Marvin Lewis' team couldn't keep pace or make the necessary adjustments—and the offense leaving so much time on the clock for the defense to get exposed late served as the perfect example.
Flags Plague Bengals Yet Again
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One week removed from a sloppy performance at home in the team's first loss of the season, one of the main culprits wound up being the amount of yellow laundry on the turf.
Said issues plagued Marvin Lewis' team again Sunday night in Arizona, as the Bengals tallied 10 penalties for 108 total yards. Whether it was jawing after the play for a personal foul by Jeremy Hill, Andre Smith going low on a blocker or something else, Cincinnati couldn't help but shoot itself in the foot.
In the end, the issues cost the team the game. It's a budding trend now and one the Bengals will need to get under control in a hurry.
If not, more teams will take advantage.
Bengals Fluster an Old Friend...for a Half
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The biggest storyline entering Sunday night was, of course, Carson Palmer taking on his old team and vice versa.
No matter who falls where on each side of the argument, there wasn't any debating that the Bengals had Palmer's number in the first half of Sunday's game, picking him off twice.
Palmer threw a pair of errant passes, one intercepted by corner Leon Hall, the other by Reggie Nelson.
Of course, as one can glean from the final score, Palmer wound up turning it around. As the Bengals suffered injuries, the Arizona offense came alive. Palmer would end up throwing for 317 yards and four touchdowns while spreading the scores out to four different targets.
Call it a tale of two halves—Cincinnati just didn't win the important one in a very, very personal battle.
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Bengals Take More Injury Hits
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As if losing two in a row wasn't bad enough, the Bengals took further hits to the injury report Sunday night, especially in the secondary.
The Bengals entered the game already down top corner Adam Jones. But as the team captured on Twitter in the third quarter, things went from bad to worse for the unit: "INJURY UPDATE: Dennard reported w/ shoulder injury. Return is doubtful. Shawn Williams reported with ankle injury. Return is questionable."
Injuries were going to catch up with the Bengals at some point. It's the nature of the sport in what is quite a long season. Prior to about a week ago, the Bengals had been one of the league's remarkably healthy teams.
That changes now, and how the team plugs the holes will decide how far the team can go. Keep an eye on the injury report for the next week while the team prepares for an encounter with the St. Louis Rams.
Dre Kirkpatrick: "We Didn't Finish."
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Cincinnati cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick has been a mainstay as an interviewee this season, acting as a strong voice of the team after games.
He was quite succinct about the team's loss in the desert, according to ESPN's Coley Harvey: "Bengals CB Dre Kirkpatrick: 'We didn't finish. That's the bottom line and the headline from this game. We just didn't finish.'"
Despite the aforementioned flags and injuries, the Bengals were in a position to at least force overtime. But interesting decisions on both sides of the football prevented the team from turning a late tie into a potential victory.
In fact, those interesting decisions took the spotlight in other interviews.
Marvin Lewis Explains Late Offensive Approach
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With about a minute left in regulation and knowing his secondary was down several key players against an elite quarterback, Dalton gunned a pass to the end zone looking for A.J. Green rather than handing the ball off to Giovani Bernard.
The result? An incompletion followed by a converted field goal but plenty of time on the clock. Palmer used it to move his offense down the field for the game-winning drive.
After, Lewis explained the decision, according to 700 WLW's Lance McAlister: "'We took a shot at the touchdown at the end...and you know...we wound up losing.'—Marvin with Lap."
It's hard to complain about Lewis and his staff being aggressive and wanting to put a great team away with emphasis. On the other hand, running the ball, burning clock and setting up a chip shot would have made sense, too.
Call it a decision the staff will have to live with. It's one of those 50-50 situations coaches end up either praised or hated for. It just didn't work out this time.
Domata Peko and the Controversial Call
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A curious thing happened late as the Cardinals lined up for the game-winning field goal.
As everyone got set, an official decided that defensive tackle Domata Peko was calling signals and he flagged the Bengals. The decision resulted in moving up the attempt half the distance to the goal, whereas the flag going against one of the Cardinals would have incited a 10-second runoff and sent the game to overtime.
Lewis, though, says Peko wasn't doing anything of the sort, according to Geoff Hobson of the Bengals.com: "Lewis says Peko was only alerting his guys for run and not calling signals."
It's a game of he said-she said now, but it's still interesting to hear at least one side of the story for such an important call.
Folks may never know what the outcome would have looked like if that flag didn't go against the Bengals. But it was rather fitting that on a day with so many flags against the team as it was, one final one put Cincinnati out of its misery.
Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
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