Cincinnati Bengals: Winners and Losers from Their Loss to the 49ers

To say that the Bengals' home-opener against the San Francisco 49ers was ugly would be an extreme understatement.  Not much went right for the team from the Queen City.

Of course, some guys can appreciate their own accomplishments.  The team may not have won the game, but we continue to see certain strides made by this young team.  We can't expect a 13-win season, as the Bengals are the third-youngest team in the NFL.

There are lots to discuss from this game, so here are some of the aspects we noticed in week three.

Winner: Cincinnati Defense

The 49ers' offense isn't really that good, so I question just how big of a victory it is to shut them down. Given the game's outcome, it's one of the only things that fans can smile about.

Jonathon Fanene was an absolute nightmare to Alex Smith all day, having two sacks. Altogether, the team sacked Smith five times.

Frank Gore was also ineffective, carrying 17 times for only 42 yards and fumbling once.

All in all, the defense was aggressive—heavily aggressive—demonstrated by Smith playing an entire game with a defender in his face. 

Whether the offense is regularly good or not, the Bengals' defense is firm.

Loser: Andy Dalton

For the first time in 2011, Andy Dalton showed signs of weakness and vulnerability.  This slide could be dedicated to the entire offense, but Dalton gets the "honor."

His passes were erratic and sailed over receivers' heads, were off-target and often times could very well have been intercepted. The pass mistakes were rookie errors that he had done so well of avoiding.

The 49ers' defense isn't really that good but unfortunately for Cincinnati, they came to play with some power on Sunday.  Dalton threw for 157 yards and had two picks.

Dalton showed that he may not be flawless just yet.

Winner: Andre Caldwell

Despite a weak offensive performance, Andre Caldwell finally made himself known on this offense.  He had six catches for a little more than 50 yards.

Clearly, those aren't top-notch stats, but the Bengals need guys to step up after a recent season ending injury to Jordan Shipley and the eventual suspension of Jerome Simpson. 

He did a nice job against the 49ers' defense as well when he went up for balls and was able to turn and run effectively after the catch. Kudos for sticking out, Caldwell.

Loser: Bengals' Offensive Staff

Marvin Lewis is the head coach of the team, so how involved is he with the play-calling of the team really eludes my knowledge. Still, the team's style of play has been pretty much the same since he took over as the coach years ago.

Between him and new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, they couldn't manage to put together an effective string of plays.  I've mentioned in previous articles that this Bengals team used to give up on third downs and just take a silly dump pass to setup a punt.

In Week 3, the team went right back to doing that. There were very rarely plays attempted to get big gains.

Got to be a bit more daring and unpredictable, coaches.

Winner: San Francisco Defense

What can be said about the Niners' defense?

They only allowed six points, stopped Andy Dalton's momentum, and basically shut down the Bengals in every offensive category imaginable.

I think that makes them a collective winner.

Loser: Frank Gore

Frank Gore continue to struggle against the Bengals. 

He came into the game averaging under three yards per carry and he left the game the same way.  Seventeen carries for 42 yards is simply unimpressive.

Go ahead and add in that he fumbled at a key part of the game in the fourth quarter.

Gore leaves Cincinnati watching his stock quickly plummet. 

Winner: Special Teams

Mike Nugent accounted for all of the Bengals' six points, and David Akers had seven of San Fracisco's thirteen. The kickers were the catalysts for both teams.

However, this isn't limited to them—how 'bout those punters!

Andy Lee punted seven times for the 49ers and had a long of 60 yards.

Kevin Huber punted seven times himself for the Bengals and had an average length of 45.3 yards.  Between the two punters, they pinned their opponent inside the 20-yard line five times.

Got to love a game won on special teams!