Week 16 Grades: Bengals get flagged for not handling Bills
There is no way a playoff team still playing for position in a game against a team playing out the string should lose in that situation, especially at home.
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| The Bengals left their most rabid fans glum Saturday. (Getty Images) |
It's also a quick way to earn a failing grade in this space.
The Cincinnati Bengals are the recipients of an F this week for their terrible 37-27 loss at home to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday. Even the holiday spirit couldn't save them.
Bah, humbug.
When the Bills and quarterback Kelly Holcomb can carve up your defense, that's not exactly the way you want to be entering the postseason.
Can Carson Palmer and the offense get to 50 in the playoffs?
They might need to get there.
Does Marvin Lewis really have a defensive background?
The Bengals are better on defense than they showed against the Bills, but how much better? If they are to make a playoff run, it has to be significantly better.
Maybe Santa put some defensive help under their tree Saturday night. If not, they might be a home team in the playoffs that could go one and done.
Losing to Buffalo at home in a game that mattered is great cause for concern. They better realize that.
Getting an F now is one thing, but getting one in the playoffs will send you out of the tournament.
Two weeks to fix it. Can it be done?
We shall see.
| Week 16 Grades |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27, Atlanta Falcons 24 (OT) | ||
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Buccaneers: It wasn't easy, but they found a way to win it. The running game was good with Carnell Williams getting 150. They do have to cut down on some of the mistakes in the postseason. | |
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Falcons: The playoffs are out for this team. They had trouble with the run defense all season and it showed up again. The blocked field goal was brutal in overtime. | |
| Buffalo Bills 37, Cincinnati Bengals 27 | ||
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Bengals: With a chance to possibly get the second seed, they laid a big egg at home. The defense is a major worry heading to the playoffs. It made Kelly Holcomb look like Jim Kelly. | |
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Bills: Give this group credit for not quitting. Holcomb had a big day. The defense did a nice job against the Bengals passing game and the two returns for touchdowns by Terrence McGee were the difference. | |
| Dallas Cowboys 24, Carolina Panthers 20 | ||
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Cowboys: The Cowboys won this game with their running game. Julius Jones had a big-time game with 194 yards and two touchdowns. The offensive line played well for him. | |
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Panthers: This one stings for the Panthers. They basically blew their chance to win the division. The run defense was awful. | |
| Miami Dolphins, 24 Tennessee Titans 10 | ||
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Dolphins: Ricky Williams had a big day, rushing for 172 yards. The defense did a nice job against the Titans' passing game, getting four sacks and plenty more hurries. | |
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Titans: Steve McNair was awful with a 7.2 passer rating before sitting down with an injury. Billy Volek didn't do much, either. | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars, 38 Houston Texans 20 | ||
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Jaguars: The offense finally came alive. David Garrard had a good day throwing the football and Fred Taylor cracked the 100-yard mark. The secondary gave up a few big plays, though. | |
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Texans: The passing game looked good at times, which is a god thing for the future. The defense needs a lot of work. | |
| Washington Redskins 35, New York Giants 20 | ||
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Redskins: They moved the ball well against the Giants defense, even when Mark Brunell went down. The defense did a good job containing the Giants high-scoring offense. | |
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Giants: Those defensive woes have to be a concern heading toward the playoffs. Eli Manning has to show he can win a road game, too. | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers 41, Cleveland Browns 0 | ||
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Steelers: This was domination across the board. The offense clicked, the defense was suffocating and the staff had this team prepared. | |
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Browns: Young teams will have days like these. We expect it from the offense with a rookie passer, but the defense is better than it showed. | |
| Detroit Lions 13, New Orleans Saints 12 | ||
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Saints: They find new ways to lose close games every week. The defense played well all day, except for the final drive. The offense just can't score touchdowns. | |
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Lions: Give Joey Harrington credit for winning it with a late-game drive. Maybe it's what he needs to gain some confidence. The defense did a good job. | |
| Kansas City Chiefs 20, San Diego Chargers 7 | ||
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Chiefs: This was a day for the defense. A week after the San Diego offense put up big numbers in beating the Colts, the Chiefs shut it down. Larry Johnson won his duel with LaDainian Tomlinson. | |
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Chargers: So much for all that playoff talk. The offense didn't show up, and as a result the team will be staying home come playoff time. | |
| San Francisco 49ers 24, St. Louis Rams 20 | ||
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49ers: Maurice Hicks set the tone with his big run to open the game. The run defense did a great job shutting down the Rams rush attack. This was a heck of a win for this young team. | |
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Rams: They can't blame this one on Jamie Martin. He threw for 354, although he was picked off twice. The run defense was terrible. | |
| Arizona Cardinals 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21 | ||
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Cardinals: Josh McCown had a nice game taking over for Kurt Warner. Karlos Dansby continues his big season with an interception return for a touchdown. | |
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Eagles: -- They just don't have enough horses left to run the race. They couldn't must much on offense, but with everybody missing isn't that what we expect? | |
| Seattle Seahawks 28, Indianapolis Colts 13 | ||
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Seahawks: Shaun Alexander continues to put up big numbers. The defense had a nice day against the undermanned Colts offense. | |
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Colts: We expected this type of game from this group following Tony Dungy's family tragedy and with several injured players resting. They can't be graded. | |
| Denver Broncos 22, Oakland Raiders 3 | ||
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Broncos: It was a good day for the defense. They shut down the Raiders offense. Jake Plummer had a decent day, too. | |
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Raiders: Kerry Collins was bad again, which should mean his time is up in Oakland. This was an uninspired bunch, which we come to expect from this group. | |
| Chicago Bears 24, Green Bay Packers 17 | ||
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Bears: The defense had another good day except for a late-game lapse. Lance Briggs had the big play on an interception return for a touchdown. | |
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Packers: At least there was some fight this week, unlike last Monday. There just aren't enough good players on the field anymore to win these games. | |
| Baltimore Ravens 30, Minnesota Vikings 23 | ||
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Ravens: For the second consecutive week, the Ravens got a good game from Kyle Boller. That's a good sign for the future. | |
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Vikings: They made a nice run at the playoffs, but they're finished. The defense didn't play well against the pass, which made Boller look good on this night. | |
