(08-13-2016, 11:53 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I have been one of his biggest defenders saying we needed to give him a chance when he is healthy.  Last night showed he has zero football IQ, zero strength (how is this possible, but TEs put him on his back several times), and played with zero passion. 

How many more chances should he get?  Zero.  

On the positive side, I thought Clarke was getting pressure on the right side and looked to have a very high motor every snap he was in there.  

Right

If Hunt doesn't get it by now - he's never going to.

(08-13-2016, 12:29 AM)Vanilla Heat Wrote: Looks like Erickson is this preseason's Dane Sanzenbacher.

With a name like Vanilla Heat, be prepared to have about 50 racist comments coming your way 

(08-13-2016, 12:11 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: With a name like Vanilla Heat, be prepared to have about 50 racist comments coming your way 

He does look like Wes Welker out there...  doesn't he?!?

(08-13-2016, 03:32 AM)treee Wrote: I am surprised that people are saying they were disappointed with Dawson's play because I saw him make a few good place and never saw him an exceptionally bad play either.

I was waiting to see if anyone else commented on this before starting a new thread.  I "iso'd" him a great deal, on special teams and in the running game, and I thought Dawson was the best LB out there and it wasn't even close.  The guy made a cut and tracked down a returner that showed some serious wheels.  I was really surprised to hear people say he had a bad game.  He looked strong, instinctive, and fast.  

I didn't see much of the game, but I hear Jeff Luc was wrecking people. Is there any truth to that?

(08-13-2016, 12:15 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: I was waiting to see if anyone else commented on this before starting a new thread.  I "iso'd" him a great deal, on special teams and in the running game, and I thought Dawson was the best LB out there and it wasn't even close.  The guy made a cut and tracked down a returner that showed some serious wheels.  I was really surprised to hear people say he had a bad game.  He looked strong, instinctive, and fast.  

Agree, Dawson got blocked out on a couple plays but that happens to every LB - every game. Overall he had a really good game !

Vigil had some good plays as well.

(08-13-2016, 12:10 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Macaroni is a decent backup QB but floats his passes far too much for my liking...  needs to take some cheese off the ball.

?????  He could start on another team right now.

Peyton Manning had an 'average' arm at best.

(08-13-2016, 11:59 AM)camman007 Wrote: Did Uzomah do anything or did he just get pulled with the 1st stringers?

He was open on a nice seam route that AJ threw to him, but the defender did a nice job just getting a hand on the ball and he didn't come down with it.  He did demonstrate some serious wheels, and you could tell Minnesota wasn't about to give him anything.  I think with AJ Green out there, as well as out #1 RBs and offensive line, it will be fun to watch what Uzomah can contribute.  

You could see that he is a more confident player this year.  

Licata wasn't bad too.

Reality Check (What we can pretty much bet on is going to happen or not happen as far as the franchise track record, and our one preseason game analysis)

First and foremost, the jury is still out until 3 more games have been played.

Nugent is not going anywhere.

Tate will stay, if nothing else as a receiver, as he may be replaced on returns as we know they are already looking for another option in that position.

Not sure if this is Hunt's last contract year, but if it is, and he continues on the first preseason game path, he will be gone.

Lewis, 'typically' doesn't ignore rookies that play as well as Vigil and Erickson has ... so far.

(08-13-2016, 12:57 AM)Whatever Wrote: The WR picture just got even more muddied.  Tate made a couple of good catches, and if he continues to make plays, his job will be safe.  Core was as good as advertised in TC reports, but did get called for holding on ST's.  Alford had a nice KR, a good PR that netted 24 yards after the coverage team was forced to take him down with a horse collar tackle to prevent a one on one with the P, and a nice screen that he broke for 14 yards.  Erickson had a nice TD catch out of the slot, a PR TD, and should have drawn a PI.  Simonese flashed with a big catch and run.  

On the downside, Wright didn't show a lot and Kumerow pulled the same game day disappearing act he pulled all last preseason.  After the first preseason game, I see it as Green, Boyd, LaFell, Tate, Core, and Alford making the main roster with Erickson and Simonese on the PS, possibly switching Alford and Erickson.  With Simonese's upside, Core and Wright's ST's play, and Alford and Erickson's return abilities, it's hard to see Kumerow even making the PS, at this point.

I don't see Kumerow making it but Wright has some game-day skins on the wall and he did have a nice sliding catch across the middle last night. I don't see Alford making it over Wright at this point.

The Good:
Hardison, Clarke and Brown all looked good along the Dline. Hardison, especially, always seemed to be in the backfield. He never did much with it, but it's only a matter of time.

Vigil and Dawson looked fine at LB. Neither made any stand out plays to me, but seemed to be in position most of the game.

Smith and Shaw looked good in the secondary. Smith had a blitz early game that reminded me of Reggie Nelson's blitzes.

Westerman, Fisher and Ogbuehi looked good on the Oline. Westerman especially seemed to be very comfortable in the game and was able to move very well. Ogbuehi didn't disappoint at RT, in my opinion. He had a lot of high impact blocks early in the game. Several led to 3rd down conversions.

Erickson, Boyd, Core and Alford looked good at WR. Both Alford and Erickson showed well as PR. Boyd and Core will be seeing some significant playing time this season, I imagine.

Not much to say on RBs. Carson looked good, but I don't think any RB cracks our top 4 this year regardless.

McCarron and Dalton looked like themselves.

The Bad:
Cut Hunt today. There is nothing we can gain from this man. All he's doing is wasting snaps where we could be seeing guys with actual potential.

Not much to say on LBs. There were some bad missed tackles during the game all around though.

Brown and Hillary looked bad in the secondary. Their guy always seemed to be a free reception whenever the Vikings needed a conversion. In addition Hillary is not good on punt coverage. He had the ball corralled on a short punt but just let it bounce into the end zone anyway...

I didn't notice any standout bad players on the Oline.

Kumerow can beat a 4th string CB but he can't see a ball. Tate looked good enough that he'll probably get a roster spot again if he keeps this play up.

For RBs, again, not much to say. No stand out bad players, but nothing that will take a roster spot from the established RBs.

Wenning is worthless.

First off it is time for the Margus Hunt experiment to end. He was horrible last night and acted as if he was not even interested in the game half of the time. He could not even beat their 2nd and 3rd string offensive line. However I was impressed with Will Clarke. I thought he played his heart out and showed why he will be the backup defensive end. Also, Chykie Brown has got to go. I never liked the signing in the first place. He sucked in Baltimore and is even worse here. He has no place on this team period. Next, I hope this is the last year that Mike Nugent is our kicker. He has no leg strength and if this was a regular season game he would have cost the team the game with his missed field goal. l know everyone loves him but I am sorry he is an average kicker now who is only getting older and worse. On the good side of things though, I thought the first team offense and defense looked sharp. So much for Hue Jackson being a huge loss like everyone in the media has said because unless I missed something Ken Zampese called a fantastic game and looked even better than Jackson in his game plan. I think the rookie wide receivers looked really good and Erickson is making a strong point to make the team. Great game by him in limited action. I think Tyler Boyd is going to have a great rookie year and is going to be in contention all year for the rookie of the year. He looked as good as advertised. I also think Cody Core made a strong point that he is going to make a push for this team. I also think that the last spot for wr may come down to Brandon Tate or Mario Alford and if Alford continues returning kicks like he did last night, I think he will have the edge. Also it is great to have a backup like AJ because he looked very solid. Finally, I think Nick Vigil showed why he was drafted in the 3rd round because he is going to be an absolute stud on this defense and I think he is going to eventually over take Rey Maualuga in the middle. I think this team is going to have a great season and I would be shocked if they do not win at least 10-12 games this season. Hopefully everyone heals up soon and it will make the team even better. Who Dey

All the usual...Erickson look great, Hunt and Brown looked terrible, etc, etc. 

The thing that stood out the most to me was how natural and comfortable Core looked. I didn't realize he was that tall either. 

Did AJ Green bulk up in the off season?

(08-13-2016, 12:10 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: Macaroni is a decent backup QB but floats his passes far too much for my liking...  needs to take some cheese off the ball.

(08-13-2016, 12:22 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: ?????  He could start on another team right now.

Peyton Manning had an 'average' arm at best.

Don't get me wrong.

He's a good backup and might be able to start for a team.

Some of those deep passes were floaters and this is pre-season play after all... take it with a grain of salt.

(08-13-2016, 11:53 AM)jfkbengals Wrote: Still watching, but so far Hardison has looked pretty good, but I find it telling that he Deshawn Williams saw action before he did.

Also, I think people are pinning too much blame on Hunt for the escape on the second drive.

As has been stated already, there was also no containment from the secondary, and there have been no complaints about the missed tackles before the RB cut it back.

I think it was Dawson's responsibility to fill the gap on that play that could have been a safety versus a 10 yard gain. He not only over committed, he flowed 3 yards deep into the backfield where he was not needed. If he steps up into the vacated area by the flow of Hunt inside, the RB probably does not reverses field. In my humble opinion, that play was all on Dawson and very little on Hunt.

(08-13-2016, 11:52 AM)BengalsRocker Wrote: I thought I saw Clew out there.  Did he play special teams?

He may have been, but I did not notice him. Of course that is good at times unlike Brown who showed horribly. My mistake, I thought he was not going to play.

Actually the most surprising thing about the game is that Dawson wasn't all that impressive, and over pursued/lost gap integrity. He needs to clean that up.

I thought RG3 looked good that first drive til he threw the pick. But that throw to Pryor was pretty sweet. Oh wait wrong game.