35-7 Bengals

I'm a fan, not a player, so looking ahead and dreaming a bit hurts nothing. I was thinking this morning about how after last night's game the AFC seems to be the Bengals conference to lose. With the Patriots and all of their injuries, if we stay healthy, we should have the upper hand. The Broncos look good but starting a backup quarterback in January never bodes well. So am I wrong for saying it's ours for the taking?

So this brings me to my look ahead dreamer question. Which NFC team would be the most worrisome to play in the Super Bowl? I have it like this :

1. Carolina
2.Minnesota

That's it, nobody else worries me, not even green Bay. Carolina I think is the obvious choice here. But Minnesota makes me nervous for two main reasons, Adrian Peterson being Adrian Peterson and Mike Zimmer knowing us inside and out.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to think ahead to that February night in San Francisco when our Cincinnati Bengals will be hoisting the Lombardi trophy high into the California air.

With the Broncos defeating patriots last night and the possible loss of Gronk for a few games, shit just got real. Do we have enough of our issues worked out to get there? Patriots schedule is not real tough going forward but their key player injuries are piling up.

Chris Lewis-Harris is injured now, and our depth at CB has gone down to our top 3 plus Josh Shaw.

I think it would be wise to call up Troy Hill.

I believe he was on our practice squad at the beginning of the season. Bengals.com does not list him on our practice squad now. I can't find any information about him being cut or another team picking him up.

Does anyone have any information on his whereabouts? And if he is available, do you give him a call and see if he can take over as our 5th CB?

With the Broncos defeating patriots last night and the possible loss of Gronk for a few games, shit just got real. Do we have enough of our issues worked out to get there? Patriots schedule is not real tough going forward but their key player injuries are piling up.

I read an article about ANOTHER weapon for the STOOLERS that emerged Sunday and it got me thinking (and frustrated)....

"One reason to get excited: Markus Wheaton was a nonfactor for the first 10 games, but exploded for nine catches and 201 yards. Wheaton had been waiting to emerge as the Steelers’ primary slot receiver. With the Seahawks paying extra attention to Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant, Roethlisberger smartly worked the middle of the field and Wheaton capitalized. "Better chemistry," Wheaton said of what prompted the breakout, referring to finding a rhythm with Roethlisberger."

Am I a homer to think that MJ=Bryant and Sanu=Wheaton?

Brown is > AJ but AJ still commands a double team thus allowing MJ and Sanu to get more looks yet our 3 WR don't put up the yards like CRAPsburgh and Eifert should be the equalizer of the issue related to Brown>AJ as Eifert warrants special attention /coverage too.

Maybe it's Big Jen's talent but I feel like we win games in spite of our offense some times (not always of course ) where CRAPsburgh only wins due to their O.

We are the better overall team but I feel we should also be the better O (thus, crushing everyone).

I love my Bengals and maybe expect too much (?) but I don't "see" why Pitt's O is so much more potent than ours or more feared. I think it's b/c they allowed to hit the gas and try to light it up and our coaches
limit our O. Not sure what it is.

We also have a crazy dynamic player in GIO that they don't and AD is having a good year

What is it that makes Crapsburgh so scary to play?

On that note, why don't we play to our optimum levels weekly?

We have more talent on O than anyone IMO and despite winning - I still feel we leave a lot in the tank.

We saw the first 1/3rd of the season what this team can REALLY do. We looked like we knew we were he best and the bully on the block. Man that was fun to see as a Bengals fan. Then, it's as if the coaches poured water on the O and said "slow down fellas, let's not hurt anyone's feelings."

It's like we are a really good team w a lot of talent that keeps it contained and don't play passionate/inspired/swagger football on O

The D plays with that X-factor at times. More than than the O.

Discuss.....

Guy can't catch a break with these sacks: not only did he BARELY miss 3 of them, his actual sack gets called back on a "hold," <_<.

Anyone think he'll break the sack slump this week? I hope so...

After the game, Foles went up to Andy and told him he has a great team!

That's more than just the typical good game stuff and I feel like the rest of the league is afraid to play us!

The rest of the league knows and is acknowledging that we have a great team!

I can't believe there's a chance this could happen, but it's a real possibility. They've already demonstrated they can lock us down in our own house. Given this last game, and our playoff history with them - I am not excited about the prospect of facing them again.

Limit the stupid penalties and dropped passes, and they shouldn't be a problem.

Am I wrong or did Burfict look damn good today?

Seemed like he was all over the field and finished 7 tackles (6 solo), which was second only to Kirk.

Great thing is he is only going to get better as he recovers more, but I was impressed with his play.

Anybody else think he played as good as I think he did?