[Bengal Cat]

I agree, the defense played a very good game, their second week in a row. They held Arizona to 247 yards offense, and only gave up three touchdowns, one of which was set up by a Cincy turnover at the 24-yard-line. The defense was amazing the second half, and gave the offense every chance to win. Encouraging to see, even if it was just the Cardinals.

The offense, though, continues to sputter. They rack up a ton of yards between the 20's, but when it comes to finishing drives off in the end zone, they simply choke. The tally for the Bengal offense yesterday: 2 TD's, 2 FG's, 20 points total. That will simply not get it done, unless you have a top-notch defense and rely on them to win games.

Yet another game where the Bengals were the better team, yet lost. They are maybe the biggest underachievers in several years. I still root for them, and that will never change, but I don't know how much longer I can sit and watch this crap on TV every week.

I think the main reason for the problems in the red zone can be linked with the lack of a running game. Teams aren't having to worry about the run as much and the compressed field makes it harder to get anyone open. Also without a serious running game, play action isn't as effective either. When we were having a lot of success in the red zone, alot of TD passes came off of play action.