This was not a pretty game of football. Both sides traded mistakes until the Bengals were eventually able to distance themselves and hold off a late Carolina resurgence to get the road win.
Carolina, nursing a rookie quarterback, had some excuse for their play, but the Bengals and Carson Palmer didn't have that luxury. Though the wet conditions in Charlotte can't have helped, they weren't at fault for the majority of errors and poor play.
The Bengals may have earned the win, but they know they have some major improvements to make if they want to contend in the postseason.
Bengals: Three performances of note
Carson Palmer was once thought of as an elite quarterback after Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Since his knee injury people have been waiting for him to return to that form and it's never happened. His PFF rating of -0.5 tells just some of the story (when a QB grades negatively, it's a very bad outing) — if you take away the short middle of the field, where he found his receivers on quick hitch and in routes, he completed just four passes on 14 attempts.
On the other side of the ball, OLB Rey Maualuga had a particularly impressive game, dominating early against the run (+3.5), registering four stops from his five tackles, and routinely blowing up the lead blocker to change the direction of a run play.
The Bengals' offensive line was a strength for much of last season, but the same can't be said so far in 2010. Dennis Roland (-3.9) was taken to task by Charles Johnson all day, surrendering five pressures on the quarterback. At left guard, Nate Livings was routinely driven back in the run game, often blowing up a designed hole and causing the runner to have to redirect or lose yardage. Livings is currently amongst the poorest-graded Gs in the league, and the Bengals have Evan Mathis (who graded well across the board in 2009) sitting on the bench. That makes no sense to us, and may need to change.
Panthers: Three performances of note
The Panthers need an upgrade at fullback. Tony Fiammetta (-2.5) was far too often driven back in the hole by Bengals linebackers, blowing up otherwise well-blocked run plays. Given Carolina's need to lean on its run game with a young quarterback, that's a hindrance it can't abide.
Johnson (+5.4) stepped up in this game and was a nightmare for the Bengals' O-line to block. In addition to his sack, he notched five more pressures on Palmer.
ILB Dan Connor (+2.1) continues his fine start to the season. He scored well against the run in this game, making three stops from his three tackles, but also timed his blitz well, hitting Palmer twice. Connor has had a strong start to the season, and makes the decision to move Jon Beason to the weak side look like a good one early on.
The rookie report
TE Jermaine Gresham continues to struggle at times with his blocking, tending to fail to latch on to his man. This mean he's too often beaten when he should have the defender locked up. DE Carlos Dunlap earned 11 snaps, but was anonymous otherwise. WR Jordan Shipley continues to look like a steal, displaying nice hands, good feel for zones, and the willingness to take a hit to make a catch. DT Geno Atkins is used largely as a pass-rush specialist (22 of his 24 snaps were rushing the passer), and he generated a pair of QB pressures.
For Carolina, Jimmy Clausen had a mixed day, but was already an upgrade over Matt Moore. Clausen needs to develop some touch on his check-down passes, though. The stat sheet will show drops from his backs, but they were from bullet passes that didn't need to be thrown so hard. David Gettis actually started this game, and saw more snaps than Brandon LaFell. Each receiver was thrown at five times, but LaFell still looks the second wide receiver on the team after Steve Smith and seems to be the favorite deep target. He made a nice adjustment on one deep pass, but also adjusted poorly to one.
Random Facts
Palmer could have had two more picks in the first quarter alone, with balls thrown right to defenders. His passer rating under pressure is 40.8 on the season. … Johnson has 14 pressures, but mostly has been close but no cigar (no hits, one sack).
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