Cincy Game Grades

[WCABBall]

One mans humble opinion:

QB: D

Hard to give and F to any player making their first NFL start but the grade may have been in order. The center exchange is elementary and should never occur, rain or no and his first half performance was more than dismal. However, there were signs of life in the second half. Claussen gave reason for hope with his second half play and it will be fun seeing him develop. Still second half or no, first NFL start or no - a loss and a 53 QB rating is not good.

RB: C-

This grade would be lower but the biggest part of the problem was Davidson. I mean come on dude, DWill was averaging over 6 yards a carry and he gets 10 carries. WTF is that. Stewarts fumble was a killer but helmet on ball, it happens. The guy does not have fumble history so I give him a break there. However, it could not have come at a worst time

WR: D-

Again Smith is the only playmaker we have and our O coordinator couldnt find a way to get him involved. Gettis and Lafell are average at best, but noone to get open is a very big problem

OL: C-

I know this may appear to high but only 1 sack given up and the average per carry for the RB was decent. Still having problems picking up blitz. Need to play much better. To many high draft picks to play this poorly

Offense: D

You can claim youth, weather, or any other factor but the truth is you have to score points in the NFL period. Right now the Panthers cant do that. Its partly players, mostly coaching in my opinion.

DL: B-

Again may be slightly high considering we had only one sack but the line is playing strong against the run. I know Benson had 80+ yards but on 27 carries. Less than 3.2 per carry is not bad against one of the better runners in the league. Really need more pressure though especially this coming week.

LB: B

Anderson looked really strong and could have had a couple more picks in this one. Love the way he runs to the ball. Beason made some plays also and the addition of Connor is working nice. Did a good job of limiting Greshams involvment in the passing game.

DB: B

Their best game yet, especially out of the safties. Both played much better taking better angles and limiting big plays. Though Marshall played his best game of the year. This unit really needs to step up and play consistent. This week was a start.

Defense: B

Thought this unit played very well. Kept Carolina in the game and gave us a very good chance to win this ball game. With the weapons Cincy has, to hold them to 13 into the fourth I personally thought was not bad. Yes the last TD was to easy, but the fumble by Stewart was deflating to the entire team.

Coaching: F

This staff has no clue whats going on. The fake punt was so obvious yet noone on the staff called time out. I was yelling at the screen, saw it all the way. Offensively, the fact is we run the same formations over and over and over again. The same plays over and over and over again. There is not originality, no creativity, no urgency to get the ball in the hands of your few playmakers. 10 carries for DWill is a disgrace. He MUST carry the ball 20 times a game minimum and you cant say the score dictated it. It was a one score game into the 4th. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE game planning