|
First, Dick LeBeau. Now, Bill Belichick. For the Bengals offense, it doesn’t get any easier. A week ago, Cincinnati had to decipher LeBeau’s zone-blitz scheme. Who would be coming? When? From where? But at least there was a starting point. The Steelers’ scheme was no mystery.
Today against New England, Cincinnati can’t count on anything. Patriots coach Bill Belichick made his reputation by figuring out a way to implement wholesale changes in his defense on a weekly basis. "You don’t know what’s coming," Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson said. Like Pittsburgh, New England uses a 3-4 as its standard alignment. But that can change dramatically. "They change up from week to week," Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. "They do a great job of scheming against other teams’ offenses. Coach Belichick is famous for that. They’ve shown a ton of different things so far this year and in the past." As big underdogs to St. Louis in the first of New England’s three Super Bowl titles, the Patriots defied the conventional wisdom that expected their game plan to be based on pressuring quarterback Kurt Warner. Instead, Belichick’s strategy was to harass running back Marshall Faulk. Caught offguard, the Rams’ high-powered offense sputtered. It’s all part of the Belichick mystique, and Cincinnati is prepared to be surprised. "All we can do is prepare for everything and try to get ready for everything and hope we cover all of our bases," Palmer said. Asked whether it was more difficult to prepare for Belichick or LeBeau, Palmer said, "That’s a toss-up. Both of those guys do a great job of taking something away. That’s what we’re expecting." Last week, the Steelers based their game plan on preventing receiver Chad Johnson from having a big game. He caught only one pass for 11 yards. That could be harder for New England to do because of injuries to its secondary. Cornerback Randall Gay is out for the season and three other defensive backs are listed as questionable. But New England’s front seven, featuring lineman Richard Seymour and linebackers Mike Vrabel and Tedi Bruschi, remains formidable. In Cincinnati’s last game against the Patriots in December 2004, the Bengals had success offensively, totaling 478 yards. Palmer was 18 of 24 for 202 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game because of a sprained knee in the third quarter. "That’s in the past," Palmer said. "This is a new team. They’re going to have a bunch of new looks for us, and we have to be ready for them." Columbis Disptach
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
http://www.dispatch.com/bluejacket/index.html |
