Turner Made a Clear Effort to Make a Point - It Worked... But I Still Didn't Like It

[tukafan21]

Am I the only one who felt that there was a clear and concerted effort to NOT pass the ball to CMC throughout most of this game?

He only had 2 catches on 2 targets, and I'm pretty sure they were both very late in the game if I remember correctly. 

Now I get it, they wanted to put tape out there that showed we don't NEED to pass the ball to him 10+ times a game to be dangerous, and it worked... but at the same time I don't think anyone could say that right now he is still the most dangerous weapon in our passing game (even if he's just a decoy).

I don't think he really even ran many (any) routes during the first 3 quarters, which honestly I felt was a way to keep Cam from checking it down to him a bunch of times, and while it worked, I didn't like it as just the threat of him out there catching passes changes the way a defense attacks our offense and because of that I don't think we should ever go a quarter without him getting a couple targets in the passing game.

Long story short... the tape is out there of CMC having a monster game without being utilized in the passing game, teams have to prepare for him as a legit RB now... I never want to see another game like that again, he MUST be utilized in the passing game and make defense account for him on each and every play to open up the rest of the offense.

Okay... now bash me for being a "bad fan" for complaining after we won by double digits, I'm clearly a terrible fan..........

[Dex]

Wut

[X-Clown on 1]

Honestly, given how stout Cincy's rush defense has been, I'm thinking Turner was banking on Cincy game planning for us to throw it to CMC 15 times.  They never expected we'd hand him the ball right up the gut 28 times --- worked like a charm as CMC gashed them over and over again.  Kind of wish we would have had this type of chess playing mentality going into SB 50.

[Broku]

Did you see

[Pimpdaddy]

sounds like if hes getting shut down in the run we can use him as a receiver...you know...in game adjustment

[Broku]

The td screen to Anderson. The defense is always aware of cmc and it shows 

[CashNewton22]

You’re not a terrible fan and I understand the concern but it’s entirely possible the staff saw something on film indicating we could run on the Bengals and I’m pretty sure they were right. The offensive gameplan was great imo.

[pantherclaw]

CMC just had his single most complete game of his career to this point. 

Seriously.

[BIGH2001]

6 minutes ago, CashNewton22 said:

You’re not a terrible fan and I understand the concern but it’s entirely possible then staff saw something on film indicating we could run on the Bengals and I’m pretty sure they were right. The offensive gameplan was great imo.

This is correct.  The game plan was clearly to attack on the ground first to open up the passing game.  And it worked very well, so no need to complain the week after he just caught 14 balls and ran only a few times.  This is the sign of a good OC - gameplanning for a specific opponent rather than calling the same plays every game resulting in offensive gridlock (Shula).

[panthers55]

Turner gameplanning for the Bengals and then rode the hot hand. He wasn't trying to do anything as a statement and clearly wasn't trying to not throw it to CMC. The Bengals defense was set up with the DEs playing a wide 9 and often 6 or 7 in the box. This was to contain Newton in the pocket and keep CMC from going wild on dumpoffs in the flats. The running lanes were between the tackles as were our best run blockers. Look at what happened late when Christian got the pass in the flat and 2 defenders were right there.  Turner and the offense took what the Bengals gave us. Turner did a good job scheming against a fast defense that is prone to overpursuing.

[tiger7_88]

15 minutes ago, Dex said:

Wut

CONTINUING TO DO THE THING THATS WORKING IS BAD GUYZ!

[XOBlackxJokerOX]

Play action works best when you have a run game. CMC is a RUNNING BACK who can run routes not a WR. He was used as such yesterday. Not sure why it's a hard concept to fathom. 

[hepcat]

It's called taking what the defense gives you and the run was there all game so they did it. McCaffrey was tearing up the Falcons in the pass game last week so they kept doing it. It's great to have a weapon that can do both.

[UpstatePanther]

30 minutes ago, Pimpdaddy said:

sounds like if hes getting shut down in the run we can use him as a receiver...you know...in game adjustment

Those exist?