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KEY MATCHUPS
DECEMBER 20, 2009
The 9-4 Bengals are not only playing with heavy hearts Sunday, they are also playing the biggest game of their season in San Diego in a last stand for the second seed in the AFC playoffs against the 10-3 Chargers.
The Bengals.com Roundtable emerges with a split decision that favors the Bengals’ sixth-ranked running game and its potential to keep quarterback Philip Rivers’ swashbuckling passing game ranked fifth on the sidelines.
That flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that says the Bengals simply can’t go on the road and outscore a team that has racked up at least 20 points in 19 straight games. In their last 19 games, the Bengals have scored 20 points in six.
Plus, they are missing two of their leaders on defense in tackle 
But, “They should be able to run the ball on the Chargers,” says The Eye, an NFL scout familiar with the Bengals AFC North, and The Sage, a former NFL player with double-digit seasons in the league, says, “I think they’re going to play well in spots where San Diego doesn’t.”
The Bengals can run it and they should have an easier time passing this week because the Vikings don’t play as much man coverage, with which the Bengals have had trouble, the Sage says. He calls it 24-21, Bengals.
But Big Bird, another double-digit veteran of the league, is concerned enough with the Bengals passing game that he asks, “They can run it, but can they score?”
“If I’m the Chargers, I’m looking at the tape from last week in Minnesota and I’m loading the box and making them throw it,” Big Bird says. “It just looks like the only receiver that can get open for them is Chad (Ochocinco). I see the Chargers winning by something like 24-10.”
Both former players think the Chris Henry tragedy is going to have a positive impact on what happens on the field.
“They liked him and they’re going to miss him and they’ll play hard,” The Sage says. “You figure a guy like Chad is really going to go after it.”
Big Bird: “No question they’ll be playing with some extra emotion. But I also think it’s a little different because he was hurt and hadn’t been with them for a month. It’s not like he had been playing and didn’t make it back for practice Wednesday. But it is a bonding type of deal.”
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To a man The Table believes the Bengals have the edge running the ball against San Diego’s 3-4 alignment. Not only is center “They play what Pittsburgh plays, but they don’t look it with their inside backers,” The Eye says. “They’re not as big or as thick as the prototypical 3-4 inside guys and teams have run it on them. Dallas ran it down their throats.” The Chargers are ranked 21st in the NFL against the rush and The Sage isn’t surprised. “They don’t have their best down lineman in Jamal Williams and now they’re not very powerful up front. The Bengals have to assert themselves up front and control that part of it.”
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The Table figures that LT It is Phillips that has seven sacks and while he’s built a little like James Harrison and plays a little like Elvis Dumervil, he’s not that elite. Yet he’s still dangerous enough that The Sage says the Bengals have to re-think their three-tackle rotation. “Who plays three right tackles?” The Sage asks. “You’re going to have these guys rotating in and out and Phillips is going to be over there all lubed up. I haven’t quite figured out the three-headed monster. I think they’ve got to decide on a guy. I think Andre would be OK but it’s tough to ask a rookie at this point in the season. I think you stick with a guy like Roland. He was playing well earlier in the season.” Collins was used last week on third down against the Vikings, but the Bengals have to decide if they want to keep tipping their hand.
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It is the No. 1 question in Bengaldom and everyone seems to have an answer on why the Bengals passing game can be contained in a phone booth. The Sage and Big Bird come down harder on the receivers than quarterback The Bird is also wondering why Caldwell’s speed has been hemmed in at the slot position. “You can see Carson’s frustration,” Bird says. “The corners are sitting on the routes and he’s not even really taking the time. He’s looking at his first read and going right to the checkdown.” But The Eye says the Chargers play a softer Cover 2 and Cover 3 than the Vikings and they play very little man-to-man, which should free up Caldwell, he says, because Caldwell is more effective working in nooks and crannies rather than against underneath man-to-man coverages. And Caldwell has caught last-second winning TDs against the 3-4 defenses of Pittsburgh and Baltimore and his career-high six catches came in the first Steelers game. The Table figures The Ocho is going to get his catches against either corner, Antonio Cromartie or Quentin Jammer. Jammer, The Eye says, is a little smoother than Cromartie going after the deep ball but he says The Ocho is superior to both athletically and the Chargers will no doubt double-team him like the Vikes double-teamed both outside receivers last week.
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The 5-6, 185-pound Sproles is frightening quick. Huber dodged a bullet when he didn’t get the Vikings’ Percy Harvin last week, but he gets him now. Sproles is not as big as Harvin, but he’s a true Rocket Man when it comes to speed. He’s got a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown this season and he averages more than eight yards per shot. Plus, Huber is coming off what has to be his most rookie-like game. He had a great opportunity indoors in Minnesota last week to dominate the game and keep the Bengals in it, but he literally shanked it off his foot with several bad hits that gave the Vikes frequent short fields. Not only that, the Bengals are going to be sucking wind on special teams because of injuries. Peko’s injury forced them to go heavy this week on the line and they cut Purify, a good special-teams tackler. And rookie safety And Sproles is no day at La Jolla returning kicks. He hasn’t returned one for a TD, but he’s got a 66-yarder to his credit.
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Some are calling this “a mirror game.” As in the Bengals defense is going tio have to use some smoke and mirrors to beat one of the the hottest quarterbacks in the league. Look at it. This is a defense that doesn’t have three of its biggest pressure players in Peko, Crocker and Antwan Odom going against Rivers and his 115 passer rating that is the highest in the NFL during this eight-game winning streak. “If he has a clean pocket and is able to sit back there and throw, he’ll kill you. He’s an excellent pocket passer,” The Eye says. “But if you get people in his face, get him out of pocket, he’ll throw it up for grabs at times trying to make something happen.” The Sage says you can bet that Zimmer won’t let Rivers sit and throw and although The Eye gives the Chargers a 'C' grade on the offensive line he also says they are better pass setters than run blockers. So then Zimmer is going to have to blitz in some form. That’s what Bird advises. He’s aware how one team other than the Bengals once prepared for the Chargers and they beat Rivers by breaking tendencies with blitzes he had never seen from certain players. “That’s the key. You have to confuse him,” Bird says. “If you can’t get pressure from up front consistently - and they’ve gotten some - you have to be creative.” The Sage says the Bengals will have to come up with something because “Rivers is legit. In my mind, he’s a top five quarterback.” The Bengals have done more than OK this season against the pass. After seven games against Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre and Matt Schaub, they are allowing quarterbacks only a 73.7 passer rating while picking off more balls (15) than allowing TD passes (14). Four of them are in the top seven in NFL passing, but only the second-place Favre is ahead of the third-place Rivers.
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You have to believe that in the rookie Nelson’s first NFL start that Zimmer is going to keep Nelson as far away from Gates as possible. This guy continues to be an absolute stud. He leads San Diego with 71 catches and 1,038 yards and his five touchdowns are only two off the lead. But that’s just the half of it because the Chargers go with double tight ends so frequently. “He creates mismatches because if they stay base, he’s more athletic than your linebackers,” The Eye says, “and if you go nickel, they’re still using two tight end sets and now you’re smaller.” The one thing going for the Bengals is the corners are good enough to hold up one-on-one while Gates is double-teamed. “No matter who you’ve got on Gates, he’s a very difficult guy to defend,” The Bird says. “He’s a basketball player. He just boxes you out.”
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No doubt the Chargers saw the film from last week and how Vikings running backs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor hurt the Bengals more catching the ball out of the backfield than they did running it. And that’s what Sproles is all about. Plus, Zimmer hasn’t been very happy lately with how his team has tackled screens, and they’re going to get plenty of work on it Sunday. The toughest thing about the pint-sized Sproles may be trying to find him first in the sea of blockers. “Just look at his numbers catching the ball,” Bird says. “He’s averaging more than 11 yards and he’s got 40 already with three touchdowns.” Don’t forget the one for 81 yards: “He’s their one guy that can score from anywhere on the field,” The Eye says. How can you possibly go this far in a Chargers scouting report and not have mentioned running back LaDainian Tomlinson? And the man has 10 touchdowns. Because he’s got no 100-yard games and a 3.2 yards per carry average. “He still runs physical, but I think he’s lost that first quick step and doesn’t make you miss,” The Eye says.
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The Twin Towers vs. what Peter The Great King of Sports Illustrated calls the NFL’s best cornerback tandem. Both Jackson and Floyd are 6-5 and can go up and pluck it. Jackson has seven of the duo's eight TDs, but Floyd is averaging 17.8 yards per catch. “I’ve been riding with Leon and Johnathan all year and I’m not going to stop now; they’ve got the edge,” Big Bird says. “The interesting thing is what happens in the red zone with the height differential.” Both Hall and Joseph are 5-11, but maybe Joseph gave a hint of what is to come in the red zone after a play on the 6-4 Sidney Rice last week. Favre threw it up and over Joseph in the corner of the end zone and Rice leaped and caught it for a split second, but Joseph kept grinding and knocked the ball away at the top of Rice’s jump before he could put it away. Favre has a similar chuck-and-duck philosophy to his big receivers, but despite some long throws the longest completion to a Vikings receiver was 16 yards. “Rivers will throw a long jump ball to those two guys and a lot of times he gets the yards because it’s either a completion or interference call,” The Eye says. “But they’re not nearly as athletic as Joseph and Hall. Sidney Rice can run by you, but these two guys shouldn’t run by the Bengals corners.”
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Williams
Roland
Caldwell
Huber
Zimmer
Rivers
Jones
Hall
