National Football League

Bengals' new offense dismal in opener

Published Aug. 13, 2011 10:14 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

So much for getting rookie quarterback Andy Dalton a little confidence in his pro debut.

Dalton's first pass was well off-target and intercepted. His second was severely overthrown. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis left his offense in for the entire first half of Cincinnati's preseason opener, hoping to get a score against the Lions' backups.

Couldn't even do that.

The Bengals are trying to get over a numbing 34-3 loss in Detroit on Friday night that was their most lopsided preseason defeat in franchise history.

''Yeah, it definitely didn't start the way we wanted it to,'' Dalton said.

The fresh start looked more like old times.

The Bengals ditched their old offense and coordinator Bob Bratkowski following their 4-12 finish last season that included 10 straight losses. It was so grim that franchise quarterback Carson Palmer decided to retire rather than play another game for the Bengals.

Cincy hired Jay Gruden as offensive coordinator, installed his West Coast system and drafted Dalton in the second round to replace Palmer. They were ready for some growing pains with a rookie quarterback and a rookie receiver - first-round pick A.J. Green.

From the start, it was a big ouch.

''A lot of work to do,'' Lewis said. ''I knew it coming in.''

All it took was 30 minutes for everyone else to see it, too.

The Bengals opened the game by giving up a touchdown on the opening drive, fumbling the kickoff and allowing another touchdown. They were down 14-0 before a nervous Dalton got on the field.

On his first play, Dalton tried to get the ball deep to Green along the right sideline. He leaned back to give himself more time against the pass rush and wound up severely underthrowing the ball toward the middle of the field. Chris Houston's interception was as easy as it could be.

So it began.

''There's a lot of anticipation of me coming into the first snap of the game,'' Dalton said. ''And then they score, they kick off and we fumble the kickoff. So there's more of that anticipation. And then the first play wasn't how I wanted it to happen.''

Lewis fumbled his words trying to find the right way to describe the moment.

''You don't want the ball left inside,'' Lewis said. ''From that, that's ... you know.''

The Lions helped the Bengals out immensely, repeatedly getting penalties for late hits or roughing the passer. Cincinnati still couldn't get into the end zone, managing only one field goal against Detroit's starting unit.

So, Lewis kept Dalton and most of the starters in for the second quarter, when the Lions had their reserves running around. They still failed to get into the end zone, managing only one missed field goal attempt. It was 24-3 at halftime.

Dalton finished 11 of 15 for only 69 yards with one interception. Green had four catches for 29 yards. The Bengals' four quarterbacks were a combined 19 of 31 for 135 yards with two interceptions.

''We didn't score on offense,'' Dalton said. ''That kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I'm not used to that.''

The game was awful all-around for the Bengals, who had many of the same problems on offense and defense that they experienced last season. They repeatedly gave up big plays on third down and failed to keep drives alive when they had the ball.

''Good thing it's the preseason,'' running back Cedric Benson said.

Not for long.

share

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Football League