I get it was the 1st game, and everyone is disappointed, and has had their say...myself included...but without an endless diatribe, what ARE the real reasons it wouldn't be us this year?

I'll start...the O-Line needs to gel/react accordingly. Didn't see a lot of improvement from last year. WAY too many sacks. Sacks don't win games.

I was actually encouraged by the OL this game. They seemed to gel a little in the second half and Collins flashed and Volson seemed to hold his own. I was worried going into the game...especially about Collins not taking part in camp for some reason.

For me it comes down to ZT. You could argue he costs us that game yesterday and I still don't trust his in game decision making and offensive scheme. I think the game plan going into the game yesterday with a new OL against a really good Steelers defensive front was absolute trash.

(09-12-2022, 04:38 PM)GridironMonarch Wrote: I get it was the 1st game, and everyone is disappointed, and has had their say...myself included...but without an endless diatribe, what ARE the real reasons it wouldn't be us this year?

I'll start...the O-Line needs to gel/react accordingly. Didn't see a lot of improvement from last year. WAY too many sacks. Sacks don't win games.

Burrow would have been sacked a dozen times yesterday with last year’s OL.

Bengals offensive line in Week 1 of each season:
- vs Pitt (2022): 65 pass block snaps, 4 sacks allowed
- vs Minn (2021): 35 pass block snaps, 4 sacks allowed

Stop pretending like this isn't a vastly improved unit.

— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) September 12, 2022

(09-12-2022, 04:38 PM)GridironMonarch Wrote: I get it was the 1st game, and everyone is disappointed, and has had their say...myself included...but without an endless diatribe, what ARE the real reasons it wouldn't be us this year?

I'll start...the O-Line needs to gel/react accordingly. Didn't see a lot of improvement from last year. WAY too many sacks. Sacks don't win games.

The oline was worlds better than last season, especially in the 2nd half.  We dont give enough credit to the Steelers excellent defense.  Crazy 1st game for a rookie at LG.  

This is like opposing fans saying their oline sucked and giving no credit to Geno.

Our defense was amazing.

How many more games will Burrow have 5-6 turnovers?  None.
How many more games will the longsnapper get injured and cost. us the game twice?  None.
How many more game winning TDs will Zac not challenge?  None.

Volson will get better, the entire oline will get better.  The offense as a whole will get better, we know what they can do, if the defense can keep up this great effort we will be fine.


As to your question:

The Bills look incredible, the Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers are all better than us right now (at least the football world thinks so and they maybe right today).  The competition will be the reason we dont go far, IMO.

(09-12-2022, 04:52 PM)casear2727 Wrote: The oline was worlds better than last season, especially in the 2nd half.  We dont give enough credit to the Steelers excellent defense.  Crazy 1st game for a rookie at LG.  

This is like opposing fans saying their oline sucked and giving no credit to Geno.

Our defense was amazing.

How many more games will Burrow have 5-6 turnovers?  None.
How many more games will the longsnapper get injured and cost. us the game twice?  None.
How many more game winning TDs will Zac not challenge?  None.

Volson will get better, the entire oline will get better.  The offense as a whole will get better, we know what they can do, if the defense can keep up this great effort we will be fine.


As to your question:

The Bills look incredible, the Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers are all better than us right now (at least the football world thinks so and they maybe right today).  The competition will be the reason we dont go far, IMO.

I’m not buying the Ravens being better than us, but I agree with the rest of your post.

(09-12-2022, 04:43 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Burrow would have been sacked a dozen times yesterday with last year’s OL.

Bengals offensive line in Week 1 of each season:
- vs Pitt (2022): 65 pass block snaps, 4 sacks allowed
- vs Minn (2021): 35 pass block snaps, 4 sacks allowed

Stop pretending like this isn't a vastly improved unit.

— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) September 12, 2022

Yeah, not going to disagree there. I didn't say they DIDN'T improve...just not A LOT, judging from yesterday's performance.

As mostly everyone else has stated, no pre-season time hurt. Not just them, most of the starters. But who is to blame there? Not the OL. So, I understand. I was simply mentioning reasons in general that could bring about a disappointing season. I do hope that there is vast improvement throughout the season, as I hope we all do. Thanks for the reply. It is appreciated. 

(09-12-2022, 04:52 PM)casear2727 Wrote: The oline was worlds better than last season, especially in the 2nd half.  We dont give enough credit to the Steelers excellent defense.  Crazy 1st game for a rookie at LG.  

This is like opposing fans saying their oline sucked and giving no credit to Geno.

Our defense was amazing.

How many more games will Burrow have 5-6 turnovers?  None.
How many more games will the longsnapper get injured and cost. us the game twice?  None.
How many more game winning TDs will Zac not challenge?  None.

Volson will get better, the entire oline will get better.  The offense as a whole will get better, we know what they can do, if the defense can keep up this great effort we will be fine.


As to your question:

The Bills look incredible, the Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers are all better than us right now (at least the football world thinks so and they maybe right today).  The competition will be the reason we dont go far, IMO.

Fair enough, I see your point(s). Some would say "any given Sunday," etc -- but if you're a "better" team, ultimately -- you just are. Understood. Thanks for the post. 

What it took for the Steelers to beat us by a field goal in overtime.
7 sacks, 5 turnovers(4 Ints), a pick 6, a miss pat, and a miss cheap shot. Oh and the ref missing a TD against us.

(09-12-2022, 05:01 PM)J24 Wrote: What it took for the Steelers to beat us by a field goal in overtime.
7 sacks, 5 turnovers(4 Ints), a pick 6, a miss pat, and a miss cheap shot. Oh and the ref missing a TD against us.

Yep. ALL bad stats. Something that should NEVER be repeated in ANY other games this season, but I'm not a Pollyanna. I'm trying to remain optimistic, but I am of the mindset there will be at least one more "off" game. We can only hope.

Thanks for the post!  

(09-12-2022, 04:41 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I was actually encouraged by the OL this game. They seemed to gel a little in the second half and Collins flashed and Volson seemed to hold his own. I was worried going into the game...especially about Collins not taking part in camp for some reason.

For me it comes down to ZT. You could argue he costs us that game yesterday and I still don't trust his in game decision making and offensive scheme. I think the game plan going into the game yesterday with a new OL against a really good Steelers defensive front was absolute trash.

We are probably all of the collective thought that he should've learned something in the offseason, right? It's almost like he never looked at the tapes...rinse and repeat. I saw too many familiar, ineffective patterns of play.

Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for the entire team...INCLUDING Zac. Thanks for the reply! 

(09-12-2022, 04:52 PM)casear2727 Wrote: The Bills look incredible, the Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers are all better than us right now

Sounds about right.

IMHO. Current Tiers….

I. Bills are sick

II. Chiefs and Chargers - a tiny tad off from the Bills

III. Bengals, Raiders, Stoolers, Patriots, Rat Turds, Fins, and Browns
*The Browns won w a nobodyQB against a fired up vengeful Mayfield at home w a decent team

(09-12-2022, 08:39 PM)Whacked Wrote: *The Browns won w a nobodyQB against a fired up vengeful Mayfield at home w a decent team

Meh, is there any evidence that playing with emotion actually helps Baker at this level?  Seems like he's just crap when it's the 4th quarter, when he needs to put together a game winning drive, when he's motivated/pissed etc.

All he managed to do was give a proverbial middle finger to Hue Jackson when Hue was so low he had to look up to see a snake.

Anybody remember the Chiefs starting out 1-3 or whatever last season ? It's 1 game don't

(09-12-2022, 08:39 PM)Whacked Wrote: Sounds about right.

IMHO. Current Tiers….

I. Bills are sick

II. Chiefs and Chargers - a tiny tad off from the Bills

III. Bengals, Raiders, Stoolers, Patriots, Rat Turds, Fins, and Browns
*The Browns won w a nobodyQB against a fired up vengeful Mayfield at home w a decent team

The Panthers are a decent team?

(09-12-2022, 08:39 PM)Whacked Wrote: Sounds about right.

IMHO. Current Tiers….

I. Bills are sick

II. Chiefs and Chargers - a tiny tad off from the Bills

III. Bengals, Raiders, Stoolers, Patriots, Rat Turds, Fins, and Browns
*The Browns won w a nobodyQB against a fired up vengeful Mayfield at home w a decent team

I don't know that you can really put the Bengals in that tier until their play deserves it. 

If the o-line still looks bad in week 4, I'll be a little bit concerned.

We should be 2-1 in 2 weeks. If we aren't, there's issues.

(09-12-2022, 04:41 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I was actually encouraged by the OL this game. They seemed to gel a little in the second half and Collins flashed and Volson seemed to hold his own. I was worried going into the game...especially about Collins not taking part in camp for some reason.

For me it comes down to ZT. You could argue he costs us that game yesterday and I still don't trust his in game decision making and offensive scheme. I think the game plan going into the game yesterday with a new OL against a really good Steelers defensive front was absolute trash.

The oline of mostly  veterans blew chucks Sunday with tons of  sacks, little run blocking terrible yards per carry..

Yeah, not as worried about the oline as much...

Save for Volson. Really don't give a shit whether he's a rookie or learning or that he was, "thrown to the fire," he still looked bad against guys not on rosters right now in the pre-season and he had a god-awful game in his debut.

He CAN be a Boling type, but even Boling played sparingly his first year. Volson had great anchor and stood up to bullrushes in the PS, but that was absolutely not the case yesterday.

Seriously, another game like this and get Carman in the following game; give him *1* game and if he can't do it still, revert to Scharping.

Cannot have 4 guys playing well and 1 dud.

(09-12-2022, 04:38 PM)GridironMonarch Wrote: I get it was the 1st game, and everyone is disappointed, and has had their say...myself included...but without an endless diatribe, what ARE the real reasons it wouldn't be us this year?

I'll start...the O-Line needs to gel/react accordingly. Didn't see a lot of improvement from last year. WAY too many sacks. Sacks don't win games.

Biggest thing for me is they are still not doing job one:  Protect Joe.  Maybe it was on Joe, too....holding the ball way too long.  1, 2, ball is out!  Not, 1, 2, 3, **** arm, get sacked, fumble, etc.  

If Joe has more games like this, he will not stay healthy.  They need to know their foe and if they came out with a non-sexy run first and run second and hit their guys on 5 yard patterns to move the chains and AVOID HITS AND TURNOVERS against a team you are 100% better than, you win that game going away.

SAME SCENARIO this weekend!!!  Learn from history.  Play ball control and defense and let your defense win the game for you and have your offense protect Joe and not turn the ball over.  I can forgive it this week.  If  you do the same GD thing again next week and lose to another turd QB...