10-21-2022, 10:13 AM
(10-21-2022, 02:34 AM)Science Friction Wrote: No respect to the F-Birds but if you can't beat Atlanta at home, you ain't advancing deep into the playoffs. Bengals better win this CONVINCINGLY.
I can't disagree. Unless the falcons are some hidden juggernaut like we were last year, the Bengals have no business losing this game. Not if they are even a shadow of who we think they are.
There are games that terrify me as a fan going in. KC last year both times would be good examples. Buffalo this year on MNF. The common theme is that those games feature teams with quarterbacks that are possibly and probably better than ours. It's nauseatingly redundant, but it's a quarterback driven league. The Falcons have a fine running game and beat the hell out of a good 49ers team last week. A good 49ers team with a guy under center that nobody wanted in the offseason, including his own team. Beating a a team that's superior on paper is a different deal when the team has a legit head and shoulders better than your qb qb starting.
Tennessee was a superior team on paper and the 1 seed in the playoffs last year. They lost because their qb is a middling to sometimes good just guy and he cost them the game. Mariota can cost his team a game easily in a close contest. He's also going to have a tough time if he gets behind big and needs to score fast and his killer run game is rendered useless.
In short, the Falcons should be taken seriously, but the Bengals have the far superior quarterback. This is a team they should beat all day.
