OK. I think most have wondered about the playoff puzzle and the absolutely mind-blowing idea that the Bengals, Broncos, Patriots could be 16-0 at the end of the season and what tie-breakers are involved.

First, all 3 teams can not go 16-0. We play the Broncos and New England plays the Broncos. So, those games (it goes without saying) are HUGE. Not only because of the "blemish" on our record, but also because of the first tie-breaker: Head-to-Head. This basically means a 2 games lead over that team if you win those matchups.

Given the above the NE/Broncos Bengals/Broncos games are paramount to getting that coveted #1 seed. If we beat Denver and Denver beats NE then we'd have the inside track. If NE beats Denver and we lose to Denver, NE has the inside track and Denver has the inside track on #2. We would thus fall to #3 even at 15-1 as we lose head to head and strength of schedule. If Denver wins against both NE and Bengals, they pretty much can lock the #1 seed up. Additionally, we lose to NE currently on strength of schedule.

Current strength of schedule for each team currently (as of the records today of opponents):

Broncos 47.2% Winning % of opponents
New England 44.8%
Bengals 42.9%

Strength of schedule is a huge tie-breaker here for the #2 seed.

I am sure many of you are familiar with this stat.

MOST REGULAR SEASON WINS SINCE 2011
Patriots..........56
Broncos.........53
Packers.........52
Bengals.........48

But here is another way to look at the records of these four teams since 2011

MOST REGULAR SEASON WINS SINCE 2011 AGAINST TEAMS THAT FINISHED WITH A WINNING RECORD
Broncos.........17
Bengals.........13
Packers.........13
Patriots.........12

http://www.nfl.com/share/10103061-7033-0000-0057-4394d4a29c83?campaign=social-share

Gave Marvin they game ball for being the first team in the history of the AFCN and AFCC to go 8-0. Pretty cool stuff

...on the Johnny Manziel Show.



I've been surfing all day for Bengal love. Between Greg & Jerruh's Bruiseapalooza Slideshow and Lil' Johnny's Special Big Night, the Bengals once again are relegated to the back pages. Unfricking real. Eight-and-oh well. Are they already topped out on Andy's story? Now they're like, "Well, they did beat the Broncos on Monday night." Now? Our guys' story gets flushed for a Browneyes scrub who pirouettes and chest bumps an imaginary friend? Grrr!

Why isn't Andy doing a commercial where he's another Andy? Huh? You think America isn't ready for another lovable redhead? It is. So what's up?

Why ain't Ickey two-steppin' for sammiches no more? Hm?

More Bengals, dammit!

According to 538 with the win over Browns Thursday night they became the greatest team in franchise history. Our elo rating has never been higher. Elo is a metric kind of like chess based on who you beat and who you lose against. They have been compiling elo for every NFL team over 60 years. The 81 Bengals had the best elo before last night after they defeated Chargers in AFC championship.

I make it a habit to visit the bengals weekly opponent message boards. After victories I like to visit their game threads just to wallow in their tears.(I Know, I'm evil) The past few years I've had to lay off the Browns though. They have been so pathetic I just felt too sorry for their fans(who are some of the best fans out there). I almost just want to give them a hug and let them know that we understand because of the 90's. There was one post that typified their sadness but also had a pretty insightful take on the game in my opinion. Here it is.

marktroy wrote: Once again, numbers are meaningless.

What fans miss is that since we're always bad, good opponents are rarely fired up to play us. This isn't about halftime adjustments as it is about good teams waltzing out, sometimes after a big game previously, and mailing in the first half. Then if the game is close they dial it up a notch in the 2nd half.

People wanna act like it's a level playing field and some great motivational speech by our HC will spur us to inspired play over a quality opponent in the 2nd half. Or that there's some incredible strategy move that's available to overcome the disparity in talent.

See this for what it is. The Cards and the Bengals sleep-walked thru the first half of our games because they could. Add in that the Cards had to make an eastern trip and the Bengals had a big rivalry game 4 days earlier, and you have uninspired play from a couple of good teams for a half.

Then they got serious until they blew us out. Once the 3rd quarter is over, then they started laughing in the 4th quarter. See this for what it is people. We don't belong on the same field as those teams. They can bring their C games and still blow us out.

Anyone else notice the tackles he's making on special teams? I can recall at least three that resulted in the other team starting a drive with bad field position.

His rating of 139.8 was his best this year, it wasn't a 1:00 PM game... But a primetime game.

If someone had told you that Dalton had gotten a 139.8 passer rating, you would probably have guessed it was a 1:00 PM game.

This year is different, Dalton isn't scared of the big lights anymore.

#WhoDey #Dalton4MVP

Fivethirtyeight has up an article arguing this is the best Bengals team ever...and that was before last night's game.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/these-bengals-may-be-the-best-in-franchise-history/

First off, this needs to be said. Who Dey! Good win, gotta love 8-0.

That said, maybe it's time to finally make Gio the starter?
Hill: 104 Carries at 3.3 YPC
Gio: 91 Carries at 5.6 YPC

Gio is on pace for more than 1,300 total yards as a backup this year. Maybe it's time to let him carry a heavier workload and let him try to shine? When the weather starts getting terrible, leaning on Hill's 3.3 YPC isn't going to be the answer. If Gio keeps performing anywhere close to what he's been doing thus far, he has a chance to join the top RBs in the league.

Gio is 13th in rushing yards so far this year and the only person above him who also has at least 5.0 YPC is Gurley.

We as Bengals fans have focused on Dalton's improvements (for good reason, he should be in the top 3-5 MVP candidates) but we haven't payed nearly enough attention to the huge strides Gio has taken in his game.