Next game
Washington Redskins (4-3) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (3-4)
Where: London
When: 9:30 a.m. Sunday
TV: Ch. 19, 45
Radio: 700-AM, 1530-AM, 102.7-FM, 104.7-FM
The itinerary and flight path may be set, but make no mistake about it, the Cincinnati Bengals can head in one of two directions on their trip home from London.
A victory today against the Washington Redskins (4-3) would get the Bengals (3-4) back to .500 and send them into the bye week on a two-game winning streak with some positive thoughts about surviving the toughest part of the schedule to stand just a half game behind AFC North-leading Pittsburgh.
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But a loss would drop the Bengals to 3-5, which is a cross-Atlantic flight away from 4-4 in terms of perception and feel.
“There’s a big difference,” head coach Marvin Lewis said. “It’s a big difference when you have time away, as we do with the bye next week. The players have some time off and a good opportunity to get back to even to start what then is an eight- game schedule. That’s a big difference.”
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Here are six things to watch today as the Bengals try to get on the positive side of a great divide:
Pressure on
The Redskins have allowed just 10 sacks this season, fourth fewest in the league, but the Bengals need to find a way to get some pressure on Kirk Cousins.
Washington leads the league with just six three-and-out series this year, and the best way to add to that total would be for the Cincinnati pass rush to record some sacks on first and second down to knock the Redskins off schedule.
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Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther made it clear that he doesn’t intend to blitz more to get the pressure he wants.
“In order to play good against good offenses, you’ve got to rush four guys and cover,” he said. “Against good quarterbacks, because a lot of times you’re going to see them blitz adjust. So we’ll do our pressures, our simulated pressures, and then our four-man rush off of that. We’ve got to get better at that. We’ve got to continue to keep putting pressure in the pocket, and when you play against a guy who runs all over the place, you’ve got to keep your rush lanes.”
Pressure off
The flip side of the pressure discussion has been what Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has been facing. Dalton has been sacked 22 times through seven games, which is just 10 shy of the 32 the Bengals allowed in 2015.
Through the first seven games last year, opponents had gotten to Dalton just six times.
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“I still think that’s a distorted stat, sacks. I still think that hits, pressures, sacks, add them all up and that tells you a lot more about a team than just counting sacks,” Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “The reality is I watch on film a million times a week quarterbacks that elude the crap out of 17 guys coming and that doesn’t go down as a sack, but that wasn’t a positive play for the offensive line.
“The reality is, you get in third and longs and you’ve got to hold on to the ball. You’re trying to find a way to get somebody open. Sacks are going to happen. It doesn’t tell the story of the game. The story of the game will be us being able to protect these guys enough to keep it efficient and keep Andy with the ability to throw the football.”
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Tackle toggle
Starting right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi said he thought he improved last week while working in a platoon Eric Winston one week after getting benched in New England.
Bengals coaches agreed, but the platoon is expected to continue against Washington with Ogbuehi working two series to Winston’s one.
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“I’ll know when we think we need to do something different,” offensive line coach Paul Alexander said. “I’m not going to worry about that until that happens. I don’t care if it goes on indefinitely. I don’t care if it goes on one week. I really don’t care. I just think it’s the right thing for our team right now and that’s why we’re doing it.”
Ogbuehi, who is in first year as a starter after being drafted in the first round last year, admitted he struggles against the bull rush, and waiting for him in London is Pro Bowl linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, who leads the Redskins with 6.5 sacks, 4.5 of which have come in the last three games.
Expanding Eifert
After being limited to 15 snaps with one catch for 9 yards in his debut last week against Cleveland, look for Tyler Eifert to have an expanded role this week.
Eifert said both his ankle and back felt good after “mixing it up” for the first time, and he certainly will be a valuable asset in the passing game with Redskins Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman expected to shadow A.J. Green all over the field.
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The Bengals have won their last six games when Eifert catches at least four passes, and they’ve triumphed in seven of the last eight when he scores.
He may not return to his full workload of about 90 percent of the snaps, but 50-60 percent is a reasonable expectation.
Backup back
Washington running back Matt Jones, the fourth leading rusher in the NFC with 460 yards and a 4.6 average, will not play Sunday due to a knee injury.
It’s a significant loss for a Redskins offense that has averaged 142.3 rushing yards in its last four games.
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Rob Kelley, an undrafted rookie from Tulane who has 17 carries for 103 yards, is expected to start for Jones, while Chris Thompson stays in his role as third-down back.
The Bengals defense hasn’t exactly feasted on young and inexperienced players this season. See: Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prerscott and Trevor Siemian.
Zamp’s revenge
When Marvin Lewis hired Jay Gruden as offensive coordinator in 2011, he did so by passing over Ken Zampese, who had been on his staff for eight seasons.
“I’m sure that (Zampese) wanted to be coordinator, but I think he handled the situation with class and he was really a big part of the reason we had a lot of success,” Gruden said this week. “He was crucial in the development of Andy Dalton and our whole offense in general. He’s great with Xs and Os. He knew the players well and that helped me out a ton. I knew he was an offensive-coordinator-in-waiting without a doubt.”
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Zampese may have said and done all the right things at the time, but there’s no question it would mean a lot to him to orchestrate a victory over Gruden, just as he did last week when the Bengals had their best offensive game against Cleveland and Hue Jackson, another man who bypassed Zampese for the Bengals offensive coordinator job in 2014.
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