Blame the run game

[THE PISTONS]

(11-27-2023, 02:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I do agree that there is nothing wrong with the bodies on the field, nearly as much as the scheme and play calling are not allowing them to develop any sort of rhythm running the ball.

Look at it like this, last year when Jackson was out from the Ravens, they were still a very strong team.  They were on the very edge of sending the Bengals home in the Wildcard round, if it weren't for a great individual effort on the part of Sam Hubbard.  

Why were the Ravens still a good team without their franchise QB?  Because their HC believes in the fundamental value of building a good football team from the inside out.  They select the best, most hard nosed blockers and tacklers that they can find, provide them with excellent coaching to fully develop the fine points of their game, and implement a play scheme that wears other teams down and essentially 'beats them into submission'.

The Bengals rarely even go into "physical mode", where they just line up and implement their will on the other team.  We've seen flashes of in the SF game, the Buffalo game, etc.  But when they go against their own division rivals, he pisses down his leg and puts them back into shotgun repeatedly.  The team simply must be able to go toe to toe with divisional opponents, as well as be able to move the ball on the ground in order to win championships.

I'm a broken record, but Evan Mathis sucked here. He went to the Eagles and was the best Guard in the league for a while.

I read an interview on reddit on him and he said that the Bengals played a passive scheme where the Eagles played an aggressive attack scheme. He said for a caveman such as him that worked well.

In Jim Turners last year here, we couldn't run. Then the other coaches changed the blocking scheme too and we could suddenly run better.

I have no doubt that it's mainly scheme.