(01-07-2016, 04:45 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Dalton improved in every aspect this year and played great in the big games as well.

He reads Defenses better than AJM, he is the better athlete, he has way more time with the receivers
and was playing the best football of his career before that injury. Dalton would of gave us the best
chance to win this game no question.

But that doesn't take much away from McCarron either who i think can play well enough to win it.

AJM just needs to get the OL to the LOS faster and not throw picks.

The getting to the line faster thing isn't on AJ. How many times did we use multiple TO's in the first quarter with Andy at the helm? 

(01-07-2016, 05:57 PM)BonnieBengal Wrote: They also picked the Bengals to go 6 - 10 this season.  They looked at the world through Steeler colored glasses.  Very Steeler friendly site.

They don't really even try to hide it either.

(01-07-2016, 04:28 PM)PlayerFormerlyKnownAsMousecop Wrote: Agreed, but I still don't think he showed he was an elite quarterback just yet.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Dalton fan and I've always said that I thought he was going to be a sort of Drew Brees-lite. But his playoff and prime-time struggles are very real, and I'm under the impression that he still had a hard time in a few big games he played in this year (Pittsburgh, Houston, etc.)

Maybe this was supposed to be his year to prove that wrong (see: MVP caliber game against Seattle), and I think it still can be, but he still needs to get over that hump, whether it's this year or further down the road (if ever).

There isn't a whole lot to point to if you want to focus on prime-time and playoff record as the only indication whether or not Dalton has progressed far enough to get over those humps. For me it was just simply how I saw the offense play and I saw him play. I can't point to one thing in particular but in general we were rolling over defenses for most of the year.If the team plays close to its potential like we saw in the first 8 weeks we looked like the best team in the NFL imo.

What I saw from the first Pitt game was ugly on both sides. Seems like a game like that happens with Pitt and/or Baltimore once a year were the stats aren't anything to be excited about but it was a tough fought win. Houston wasn't Andy's best game but you have more problems then just Dalton when TJ Yates comes out looking like a starter.

If Dalton was playing against Pitt it's not like I think he would light them up or anything but Im a lot more confident we win the game. The Bengals are going to be coming into this game pissed off from the last Steelers game focused and ready to take care of business. It will be a solid team win just like the first game or they will come out too amped up and beat themselves.

(01-07-2016, 05:29 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And people forget that the Steelers desperately needed to win that game to keep their playoff hopes alive.  That was a very big game for them.

I think it's safe to say the Steelers backed into the playoffs.

Lest we forget it was the Houston game where Eifert had his worst game by far in his career. Three dropped passes which had he caught them would have meant at least 7 more points. In a game we lost by 4.

I love how now people in the media are making out like there is this huge drop off between Dalton and McCarron. Such short term memories. Is there a drop off? Sure, but it isn't the chasm people are alluding too.

Whilst he was having an MVP esc season all the comments were something along the lines of 'we have to wait until the post-season to really judge him'. Now he is out for the game, it seems people are crowning it a loss because he would have undoubtedly won the game. Errrr, Dalton has just as much to prove in the playoffs as McCarron.

(01-07-2016, 07:07 PM)BritishBengal Wrote: I love how now people in the media are making out like there is this huge drop off between Dalton and McCarron. Such short term memories. Is there a drop off? Sure, but it isn't the chasm people are alluding too.

Whilst he was having an MVP esc season all the comments were something along the lines of 'we have to wait until the post-season to really judge him'. Now he is out for the game, it seems people are crowning it a loss because he would have undoubtedly won the game. Errrr, Dalton has just as much to prove in the playoffs as McCarron.

Exactly I'm not saying dalton isn't better because he is at this point in their careers but If dalton was starting going into this  there would be multiple threads about dalton not being our guy for the future if he was to lose .

Why would you expect anybody to pick the Bengals to win? They've choked year after year in the playoffs and our QB who has been having a great year is out. If you weren't a Bengals fan you'd be picking the Steelers too.

Only way this team will change the low expectations is to do something they can't do.

Win in the post season.

How maddening is it to hear " The Bengals are a very good regular season team"

Kinda like saying "He's very good at getting girls in bed.....once he does tho...can't finish the job"

It's all about sliced bread. Pittsburgh used to be better than sliced bread, but since the advent of all the different artisan breads on the market they're just so so.

Florio’s a **** sucker

I want everyone to think we are going to lose. The victory will just be that much sweeter!

(01-07-2016, 03:17 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: The Steelers also have preparation time against McCarron too. Let's just hope the team can do enough to win Saturday. McCarron needs to have the best game of his career, because playing like he has been probably isn't good enough to beat the Steelers.

Truth 

Florio is a steelers fan. You can't take him seriously

(01-08-2016, 02:35 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Florio is a steelers fan.   You can't take him seriously

You don't care about the safety of players. I can't take you seriously.

(01-07-2016, 07:07 PM)BritishBengal Wrote: I love how now people in the media are making out like there is this huge drop off between Dalton and McCarron. Such short term memories. Is there a drop off? Sure, but it isn't the chasm people are alluding too.

Whilst he was having an MVP esc season all the comments were something along the lines of 'we have to wait until the post-season to really judge him'. Now he is out for the game, it seems people are crowning it a loss because he would have undoubtedly won the game. Errrr, Dalton has just as much to prove in the playoffs as McCarron.

Many people are crowning it as a loss is because McCarron really hasn't looked all that great. He's looked like a serviceable backup. Pretty much like Hasselbeck with the Colts. Except there's a MUCH better supporting cast all around.

Did Dalton have to win a playoff game? Absolutely. But he silenced SO MANY critics this season and really put this offense on his back. He was clutch in key situations and a big reason why we went 10-2.

(01-08-2016, 02:35 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Florio is a steelers fan.   You can't take him seriously

That's a fact.

(01-07-2016, 07:45 PM)GodFather Wrote: Why would you expect anybody to pick the Bengals to win? They've choked year after year in the playoffs and our QB who has been having a great year is out. If you weren't a Bengals fan you'd be picking the Steelers too.

Only way this team will change the low expectations is to do something they can't do.

Win in the post season.

How maddening is it to hear " The Bengals are a very good regular season team"

Kinda like saying "He's very good at getting girls in bed.....once he does tho...can't finish the job"

I would expect them to pick the Bengals to win because  they are the better team, even with McCarron.  All I keep hearing from the "experts"  is that the Steelers amazing offense is going to score big Saturday and that Ben and Brown are going to get 4 + TDs.  Do the "experts" not realize that the Ben R has only 1 TD pass against the Bengals total in the two games they played this year?  And that was when Kirkpatrick was covering Brown in the first game.  As soon as they put Adam Jones on him in the first game, the scoring stopped.  The second game Adam Jones didn't even play, and McCarron coming off the bench threw two picks, one of which was a pick 6.  Ben R had no TD passes in that game.  The Steelers secondary is weak, and AJ McCarron can throw a good deep ball.    I expect the Steelers to do what they usually do, which is try to injure our best players.  The only way they win is to take out AJ and Eifert.  I expect them to go after McCarron too because all we have after him is Wenning.

ELO ratings pick us at a 58/42% clip. Also 5% chance of winning the super bowl.

(01-07-2016, 03:10 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: They say McCarron didn't play well against the Steelers........  yeah, that's because he was unexpectedly thrown into the fire with no preparation, jackasses.

We'll come after Ben with their running backs being injured and nothing to keep our pass rush honest, and Hill will run down their throats to establish the tempo while McCarron picks apart their swiss cheese secondary.

Not to mention that Eifert is healthy again and so is our secondary.

Those "experts" need to GTFO with those predictions.

There are really no "experts", just talking heads writing articles.  They are no more qualified to predict game outcomes than you and I, or anybody else that follows the game for that matter.

The only thing they do is piss off the teams and fans they don't pick, so for that I say THANK YOU to them.

I'm feeling good about the game, even with AJM.  AJM sees a better defense in practice every day and won't be concerned with the Stoolers.  Heck, the Ravens are playing better D than the Stoolers now and we got through that one.

(01-07-2016, 05:08 PM)BengalChris Wrote: That's all true, but for a guy with 3 starts I think he's doing pretty well.

I for one will not give Dalton a pass for a playoff loss however. He needs AJM to play well enough to get us to the next round so that he can get his shot at his own playoff W this year. Then he'll need to deliver in Denver.

I don't think Denver gets by KC.  If we can somehow win our 1st and 2nd round (and that won't be easy) we may just have a home AFCCG.