....is our health.

The past several years injuries have killed us. Atkins in 2013. Eifert, M. Jones, Green in 2014.

But if we can stay healthy (or healthier than other teams) we can make a real shot at this thing. Every year, the healthiest teams are the ones contending at the end. If we can catch a few breaks throughout the season and enter the postseason near full health (especially at the most important positions), we CAN make a run.

Everyone has injuries. But if we can have less than whoever we play, I have hard time seeing us lose.

Anyone else find them annoying ? They were so horrible and they also sounded salty about us smacking the Raiders around

I watch in amusement as those same individuals that were trashing this team after that MNF preseason loss in Tampa are now back on the bandwagon so quickly..Too funny.

Not sure if there is a 50 posts rule, but hopefully you all remember me from the other board. 

I just saw that Forbes came out with their yearly valuation of sports franchises.  The Bengals are now valued at almost $1.5 billion... that is $400 million more than last year.  I guess it is good to be an NFL owner...

http://www.forbes.com/teams/cincinnati-bengals/

34-27 Bengals.

Not gonna be easy this week.

"I don’t think he should be suspended,” he continued. “We were just playing physical. I should’ve been playing physical. Honestly, I didn’t even know I hit my head on the helmet.”

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25301521/amari-cooper-adam-jones-shouldnt-be-suspended-for-head-slam

They can't face the truth that the mighty Bengals are going to win the division crown this year. They simply can't handle the thought.

Here is what is said after week 1 of football.



(its about suggs/AFCN)

"This is a devastating season-ending injury, the ugh, awful moment of the week. I named Suggs as one of the NFL's nine most indispensable defensive players back in June. Yes, T-Sizzle's getting long in the tooth, but he still is a pass-rushing stud and the pulse of the tough Ravens defense.

Still, I'm not ready to overreact.
Pittsburgh's play selection -- why in the world did Todd Haley call that trick play with the Steelers marching on the game's opening drive? -- and defense were terrible last Thursday in New England. The Bengals looked fantastic at Oakland on Sunday, but a) they were playing the Raiders and b) we know the Andy Dalton-Marvin Lewis duo's reputation in a big spot.
The road to a division title just got much more difficult for Baltimore, but I certainly wouldn't deem it impossible."



In my homerist opinion, the stars are aligning.

Steelers cant cover a TE? well we have a top 5 TE waiting around.
Baltimore loses Suggs and has a dismal offense.
Cleveland is already starting Johnny!

I know its week one and things change in the NFL very quickly but if this was the stock market I would be buying the Bengals in bulk.

I think the only one who can challenge us is the Steelers currently, so lets sweep them this year and make things easy! Who Dey!

The Oakland game was a good victory for this team opening up on the road in a place the team had never won before. Scratch one team blight off with that win.

But now we have San Diego next and the last time these teams met the Bolts handed the Bengals an embarrassing loss at home in the playoffs.

This won't be a second year QB playing on one of the worst teams in the league. Instead we have Rivers, a crafty QB with some decent weapons and a defense to boot. Rivers is coming off a very good game.

On defense we're going to need to keep that fire going and we'll have to defense the TE position, something we historically have had difficulty with. San Diego is one of those teams that knows how to use a TE very well and even though Gates is suspended, they've got a decent backup at the position. More pressure on the QB would be nice.

On offense, we'll need to keep the diverse play calling and formation going. We'll need to execute well for all 4 quarters to expect to win this game.

Look, most people won't admit it because they want to save face, but what the Bengals did yesterday on defense is what that unit has needed to do for what seems like EVER. For years Bengals players have taken the high road when it comes to the beat downs that were administered to them. Rivers' broken jaw, Huber's broken jaw, Carson's knee, Shipley's concussion. Steelers and Ravens hooting and hollering at the Bengals players after every play. NOW THE BENGALS ARE THE BULLY. And I hope it never stops.

- I don't mind that Pacman took the Raiders rookie star receiver and smacked him around. Not.... one.... bit. In fact, it was perfect based on how crazy that entire string of events unfolded that play.

- I don't mind that Dre-kirk jawed at a notoriously mouthy Crabtree after a great play and after the game was well in hand.

- I loved the pile of Bengals bullying the Raiders O-lineman (77?) after the guy was flagged for a personal foul AND holding (the same play Pacman beat up Cooper).

- I loved Pacman not letting Carr run out of bounds for a first down and instead making him pay for trying to get extra yards - causing a backwards fumble and negating a 1st down.

- I was fine with the headlock tackles.

- I loved going for it on 4th down from inside their 5 on the opening drive.

- Iloka's penalty was ticky-tack. If he hadn't of smashed the guy so hard the player would have not been under him with flowers already starting to sprout up and, therefore, it wouldn't have looked so bad. But still, I was fine with it.

- I loved all of it!

The fact is that the Bengals have been on the wrong end of these types of plays and these types of games for 20+ years. Seeing the defense taking the driver's seat in relentlessly delivering punishment is a great thing, to me. All without Burfict, too! At first I was worried about the penalties, but then saw that they had the talent to make up for it and, frankly, I'm leaning towards the intimidation factor being more valuable than a few yards here or there in the grand scheme of things.

This team has the look and feel of something different. I was wondering.... What do you fellow fans think about how those events unfolded from a big picture standpoint? Does it feel different? The same? Are you embarrassed? Want them to clean it up? What's your take here?

Lame title, I know, but I've been able to get a few minute sat work here, so I'll try to finish as much as possible while I can. This was a great game to watch and despite AJ's drop and Hill not getting a lot of help on the right side, there was nothing wrong on either side of the ball... except for Adam Jones. Anyways:

Top 5 on O:

1. Boling with a +4.5. 4 carries for 43 yards running behind Boling and he had some great pulls to the right as well. Pass blocking, only gave up a hurry but was solid in 38 snaps. Great start.

2. Eifert with a +3.3. And to think, if he doesn't drop that seam route, his grade (and totals) are even higher. What a fantastic game from our stud TE, we needed him desperately last year; let's hope he continues to perform at this high level for the rest of the year.

3. Whitworth with a +2.8. What else? A perfect game (Joe Thomas had 2 hurries given up and Peters plays tonight; I will keep score in my sig) and 7 carries for 46 yards, running behind him. Not to mention, he split out wide and had a GREAT block on the screen, where he just bullied that DB to the ground. Still the best LT in the game.

4. Andy with a +2.4. Superb game from Andy, where he was essentially flawless; if we get him like this throughout the year, we're in position to win each and every game.

5. Hill with a +1.7. Don't be deceived by the low YPC; he was a stud yesterday and even overcame a lot of the terrible blocks from the middle-right. I hope he absolutely balls next week.

Bonus 6. Gio-van with a +1.6. Only put him here because he was as good as Hill in every facet; THIS is the Gio-van we know!

Top 3 on Raiders:

1. Taiwan () Jones +2.1
2. Murray +1.3
3. Olawale +1.2

Bottom 5 on O:

Fisher -1.2 (good to see him get involved, but he's a weak run blocker, thus far)

Hewitt -1.5 (didn't think he did this poorly, but maybe it was just rust. He had a couple of key blocks, from what I saw)

Bodine -1.6 (not stellar, but at least he was better than the next 2 guys...)

Zeitler -3.0 (he looked awful yesterday and I saw him get creamed by Dan Williams {who IS an awesome NT} consistently. He'll bounce back next week)

'dre -4.2 (not the start we were hoping for, but I think he'll bounce back too)

Top 5 on D:

1. Geno with a +6.6. Not only is he back, he did things while being double teamed for the whole, entire day. So glad he's back to his normal self!!!!

2. Adam with a +4.1. AND his penalty took -0.9 off of his grade; he was a stud on the field yesterday and I'm super glad to see that he still has it at his age; keep it up! (but not the stupid penalties...)

3. Dunlap with a +2.3. Positive in every facet, 1 sack, 1 hit and 4 hurries, plus a TFL. He needs more than a sack per game for the sack crown, but I hope he can at least make PB this year with one a game; that would be great!

4. Rey with a +2.3. Glad some people noticed his exploits yesterday; he had a good game, solid against the run (as usual), though he did miss 3 tackles... some things never change!

5. Leon with a +1.8. Sending a message to the team, opposition and fans; he's not done and he will have his presence known. Great job in coverage and tackling.

Top 3 for Oakland:

1. Tuck +8.2
2. Dan Williams +7.1
3. Mack +2.1 (he was neutralised for the whole day though, basically)

Bottom 5 on D:

Lamur -0.8 (THAT is how often you have him on the field for, though he wasn't stellar when he was on it)

Peko -1.2 (-0.9 of that was pass rush. He didn't do anything wrong yesterday)

MJ -1.3 (pass rushing was horrid but he had his usual solid day against the run. Good to see him back out there)

Dingleberry -1.4 (see above. Had a MT though where MJ didn't)

Dre -1.6 (-0.9 was his penalty but I still didn't think he did as bad as the grade suggests; we're good at CB)


On teams, Nuge' was positive, Huber was negative (I thought he could've done better too, but he wasn't bad) Burkhead had his penalty, but did anyone see how he almost blocked 2 punts? He's our new Herron lol. Dennard was also positive.