Yes, I know the Texans are a good team. When I say this was a trap game, I'm thinking more along the lines of the Bengals overlooking the Texans to the Ravens game on Thursday.

Prior to the game, there were some on here that considered this a trap game and were worried (turns out, rightfully so). There was some "discussion" about whether or not this was even a trap game, but it's clear to me that it was. The offense disappeared after the opening drive until the 4th QTR and the defense being largely ineffective all game are evidence of that. I'm not saying the coaches didn't gameplan for the Texans, but it seems to me that they didn't put much thought into the gameplan and didn't seemingly make any adjustments until the 4th QTR.

It looks to me like the Bengals went in with a we'll beat them because we're better so we spent more time looking to the Ravens game attitude which maybe would've worked if the Texans were actually a bad team.

I just hope beating the Ravens on Thursday was worth the loss yesterday because losing to Baltimore means we may not even make the playoffs this season.

Tanner Hudson continues to impress when given opportunities.
Burrow is looking for him, and he's making receptions.
Hudson is leading the TEs in yardage, YPR, and catch % and he's only been active for 4 games:
Hudson - 126 yards, 9.0 YPR, 77.8% catch
Smith - 89 yards, 6.4 YPR, 70.0% catch
Sample - 52 yards, 6.5 YPR, 72.7% catch
Wilcox - 17 yards, 5.7 YPR, 60.0% catch

Not to get too far ahead, but Hudson could potentially be around a 400-500 yard TE if he got enough opportunities for an entire season, as he's on pace for 31.5 yards per game.

On top of the stats, Hudson also just looks the best as a receiver among the TEs. He doesn't look clunky like most TEs do.

Why is it when we have played teams this year against teams who have multiple players on the offensive line out with injuries and YET they still protect much better than our starters?  Frank Pollack. The old common saying is it always starts up front and in the trenches and it's absolutely true. We cannot do a damn thing on offense because we have a line like EVERY year that has serious protection issues with Pollack's coaching

CJ Stroud was grilling steak before he would throw the ball yesterday and the Texan's defensive line got to the backfield before Burrow received the snap. It effects the entire offense, passing/running and it doesn't matter the play calling when your constantly dinking it out to the side to avoid a sack before the WR and company get fully into their route.

This is the last year Pollack is in his contract and I am going to be completely disgusted if we re-sign this guy this offseason without looking for an offensive line/running replacement coach that can actually give this offense the protection it so desperately needs.

Not making this thread to pile on Nick Scott but CTB is tied for 2nd in the AFC with 9 pass breakups and Dax Hill is tied for 3rd with 8.




Now in the construction of this post i got curious and looked and Nick Scott literally has ZERO PBU’s.

This means he has broken up literally zero passes in coverage. He has been targeted 23 times in coverage and has broken up zero of those targets and had given up 13 receptions prior to the Houston game. To my knowledge he didn’t break up a pass against Houston so add more targets but no PBUs



This is BAD and in comparison Bates has 5 PBUs and factor in Bates is a main stay on the “Don’t throw in this guys area” list so he’s doing that with QBs weary of throwing in his direction.






I’m calling it right now and i HATE to do this because i actually like Scott’s physical skillset but there’s a reason the Rams let him go and there’s a reason there wasn’t competition for his services this offseason. But if we continue to start Nick Scott and play him as many snaps as we do, we will not get any better on D than we are right now.

There’s a reason he’s getting thrown at so much. Hes the 21st most targeted guy in the league and that doesn’t automatically mean he’s trash as Jessie Bates is 19th in the league at being targeted but what happens when you target Scott and Bates are totally different. When you target Bates he has 3 picks and 5 PBUs and has more tackles than Scott. This means Scott can’t cover AND doesn’t have the IQ to “feel” where the ball is going and get in on gang tackles.




I have a name for safeties that are physically there but don’t actually
Do much in coverage. Nick Scott is a ghost. He’s there and he scares you a little bit because he’s physically where you want to pass but he can’t touch you and he can’t actually harm you.

The trait we’ve all seen is his lack of confidence in coverage. That would be ok if behind that lack of confidence he had raw talent, but he doesn’t have that either. Our front 7 and corners got used to playing in front of safeties who had insane confidence and raw talent. So a lot of factors are leading to our defense being turnover or bust but to me the biggest issue is Nick Scott at FS.

We are putting too much pressure on Scott to be good when we should either not be playing him or not rotate him. Lou thinks we can rotate Scott and Hill at either safety spot on the fly and we just can’t. Dax can because he’s amazing but the weak link is Nick Scott. We’ve even rotated Hilton at safety alot which to me is in response to Scott being so ass because there wasn’t one word of doing that in the offseason.


Step 1 is to bench Scott and give Battle minutes. At the very least Battle is a better tackler. So if we gotta get killed in coverage at least have a guy who can tackle.

If you absolutely have to play Scott step 1 would be to stop
Rotating him and Dax at both safety spots. Nick Scott obviously can’t do the shit. Scott really doesn’t seem to be good at any one aspect. If he could do one thing well, then we’d have an idea of what to do but he below average tackling, below average in coverage and absolutely horrendous as a blitzer because he dies on blocks and even if he’s the free rusher he can’t make a tackle.

My heart is saying bench him but i have an idea he’s an ego signing and Lou basically has to play him to justify the decision to sign him.


If i were Lou right now id see if Scott can cover tight ends and if he couldn’t do that id bench him indefinitely. Hes brining absolutely nothing and atp hes actually losing us games. All the plays where dudes are wide open in zone are because our safeties get lost and tricked by route combos. That didn’t happen with Bates and Bell because they couldn’t be tricked in coverage. You send a crosser across their face and they were smart enough to know it was a distraction.


In summary, and i hate that i have to say this, but if Nick Scott continues to start and get the snaps he’s getting, the season is over.

Same record we had last two seasons when we went to the Super Bowl and then the AFC championship game. In fact we were 7-6 in '21 when we went to the Super Bowl.

Not ready to freak out yet.

We need our trenches upgraded this upcoming offseason; period! We have yet to replace the explosion that Geno provided at 3T and for some reason we keep avoiding it as a team. Hill and Reader are ok, they don't get enough push. This HAS to be a priority this offseason. I also wouldn't mind investing in IOL as well Cappa and Karras deals are almost up and its time to reload. We may very well go on a run this season, but until we revamp our trenches we are going to struggle.

Why does this guy play like Megatron against the Bengals?

But no really, why can't we guard this bum? He has two career games against the Bengals now. What's going on?

Reddest of flags was when we extended Hendrickson at the start of the season.

Why is Murphy assberries?

I've been to every home game but one this year (Bills).

One thing is more apparent being at the games than watching on TV...Burrow is hit almost every play. Doesn't matter if its a completion, a sack, an incomplete pass...the guy is constantly being hit. Some hits are harder than others. Some are around his legs and knees. I hold my breath a lot.

Compare this to Stroud who wasn't even touched yesterday. The Texans moved the pocket masterfully.

All it's going to take is a little bad luck. The hits Burrow is taking just isn't sustainable, especially as he ages.

Let me start by saying this- I love Burrow and he is a top QB in this league. Probably already the best QB the Bengals have had. That’s being said, he is the highest paid QB in the NFL. I think he needs to take his game to another level. You started to see glimpses of it yesterday with their backs agains the wall, but it needs to happen all game long. As we saw yesterday we struggle to compete in shootouts. I feel like the last shootout we won was against the Chiefs in 2021 where Chase went off for 200 yards.

Now, I’m sure the offensive scheme likely contributes to some of the limitations, but I want to see our 250 mil QB play like a 250 mil QB. Our defense is not good enough consistently to just go long stretches and stall as an offense.