Funny how two preseason games can change the note entirely. Outside one play, I thought we dominated the Bears. I was prideful and felt pretty confident moving forward. The Dallas game shook me to my core. I have to remind myself that it is PRESEASON.

That being said, last year we had the offensive issues in the preseason. Everyone said, DON'T PANIC IT'S OKAY. It turned out to be a historically bad offense with every right to panic.

(08-20-2018, 04:32 PM)The Caped Crusader Wrote: Funny how two preseason games can change the note entirely. Outside one play, I thought we dominated the Bears. I was prideful and felt pretty confident moving forward. The Dallas game shook me to my core. I have to remind myself that it is PRESEASON.

That being said, last year we had the offensive issues in the preseason. Everyone said, DON'T PANIC IT'S OKAY. It turned out to be a historically bad offense with every right to panic.

If it was game 3 where the starters played the majority of the game and we got dominated I get ya. But our starting O only played what, 2 maybe 3 series? Lots of team will struggle at some point of the game and have a couple bad series. Is it the type of performance you want to see? Obviously not. But our offense cant really play worse then they did last year and we still won 7 games. 

If we light it up next game does that mean we're going to the superbowl? Because those of the types of swings people are putting into preseason games.

(08-20-2018, 04:40 PM)Sweetness Wrote: If it was game 3 where the starters played the majority of the game and we got dominated I get ya. But our starting O only played what, 2 maybe 3 series? Lots of team will struggle at some point of the game and have a couple bad series. Is it the type of performance you want to see? Obviously not. But our offense cant really play worse then they did last year and we still won 7 games. 

If we light it up next game does that mean we're going to the superbowl? Because those of the types of swings people are putting into preseason games.

I agree. Why I'm not putting too much into it. I'm excited regardless of the results in pre season (albeit timid after last year). 

First half of Dallas game reminded me of 1st game against Baltimore last season, its called being totally dominated and looking like someone sold the Cowboys a copy of are game plan, we need to find the traitor and fire him. Either that or we are still running the most predictable plays in Nfl history.

(08-18-2018, 09:44 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Wow, where to begin.  What a painful half of football to watch, for a Bengal fan..

First of all, the OL is still very much a "work in progress".  They clearly couldn't open any holes, when rushing to either side of the line.

Second thing that jumps out at me?  The rushing defense is still terrible.  If Zeke Elliott had been in the game, it could have been ugly..

Now, I will say that the Bengals never had field position on their side, and the refs were letting Dallas get a bit grabby on their TD drive.  However, that does not excuse the inability to stop the run, or cover a TE.  Hell they made some no-name TE look like a young Jason Witten out there.

Of individual note?

Driskell is not good.  He locks on, and stares down his receiver, the entire defense gets there at the same time as the ball.  This should put a rest to the "Driskell for backup" debate.

Dre K. is more of a sly dog than I've given him credit for.  After getting his ass rolled by the Cowboys' tackle, he comes back the next play to take Zach Martin out of the game.  Nice work Dre, nice work.

CJ Uzomah might not be a bust.  He might just need to be more involved in the offense.

Billings?  He ain't the man, yet.  On 3rd and 1, he ended up on his back, blocked right out of the play.

Cordy Glenn?  He won't ever be mistaken for Whitworth, but he seems to be getting the job done.

Billy Price?  No penalties, no bad snaps.  Only good rushing play came up the middle.

Bobby Hart?  He didn't suck, but he wasn't a badass either.  He might be alright.

Redmond?  I didn't notice any particular screw ups, but the pile didn't move as much as I had hoped it would, on his side of the ball.

Andy Dalton?  Seemed to revert back to "I only see AJ" mode, once the defense proved stout.



I'm sure that I missed a few details, but those are my thoughts.

I have to agree.

Dre surprised me with his play, which is good because I had him down as a weak spot.

Dalton looked off and the line was letting Dallas get in his face.

Glenn, as you say, will not be confused with Whittworth, but he is our best tackle. Hart was nothing special.

Ogbuehi was awful, 2 holding calls, allowed a sack and jumped off sides. That's about as bad as you can get going up against the second team. We should find someone else to come in as the backup.

Our young DEs did produce sacks, in fact they all did. That's nice.

Ok so NFL network is replaying the Bengals Cowboys game right now...

Well I noticed again Michael Johnson is receiving the LDE snaps. He started the game at LDE Dunlap at RDE. Dunlap moved to LDE when Johnson moved inside on passing downs...I don't know why they are working MJ on the strong side but neither Carlos or MJ look good when switching sides.

Edit: Third drive Carlos is playing mostly strong side but is still switching...

I watched the game a third time. My god. Michael Johnson is a waste of space. He got easily blocked on the edge by a TE at least three times . Provided zero pass rush n never came close to making a tackle. He was just horrible. Concentrate on him. You’ll see what I mean. I don’t care if he’s playing for free get him off the field.

Socal Bengals fan Wrote:I watched the game a third time.  My god.  Michael Johnson is a waste of space.  He got easily blocked on the edge by a TE at least three times .  Provided zero pass rush n never came close to making a tackle. He was just horrible.  Concentrate on him. You’ll see what I mean. I don’t care if he’s playing for free get him off the field.

I could see keeping him as a backup or using him as a nickle DT on passing downs. Personally I think Willis should start based off what I've seen, he plays the run well and looks like he can get to the QB. Who knows we well see how it all shakes out I never thought the Bengals would cut Lafell or Iloka. They are starting two Rookies this year and their seems to be a youth movement with this team. 

(08-22-2018, 05:42 PM)Socal Bengals fan Wrote: I watched the game a third time.  My god.  Michael Johnson is a waste of space.  He got easily blocked on the edge by a TE at least three times .  Provided zero pass rush n never came close to making a tackle. He was just horrible.  Concentrate on him. You’ll see what I mean. I don’t care if he’s playing for free get him off the field.

Saw the same thing. On most of the plays where our D was getting gauged for runs it was right at MJ  

(08-22-2018, 11:18 PM)lone bengal Wrote: I could see keeping him as a backup or using him as a nickle DT on passing downs. Personally I think Willis should start based off what I've seen, he plays the run well and looks like he can get to the QB. Who knows we well see how it all shakes out I never thought the Bengals would cut Lafell or Iloka. They are starting two Rookies this year and their seems to be a youth movement with this team. 

I know it was against 2/3rd stringers, but Okoye impressed me. I hope he gets some snaps earlier in this weeks game. I want to see if he could bump MJ off the roster. 

Ehhh..it's still just preseason..no game planning where the main goal (other than hopefully winning) is to determine who stays and who goes. The real reason for these games is to figure out who gives the team the best chance in the regular season and nobody really cares how well Joe Mixon does in just a handful of limited, unplanned snaps.. He'll play a lot this season regardless of  1 preseason game barring injury and the same goes for most of the established starters. It's to see who does well among those guys who are still trying to make the team. 
Even powerhouse teams often do terrible in preseason games and terrible teams often look great in preseason.. I'm not reading too much into this one game. 

(08-19-2018, 09:01 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Why? They have 3 All Pro’s on that line. He wasn’t going to screw them up that fast. Whit was an absolute stud for us for many years under PA. If a player is already elite I don’t think coaching is going to matter that much.

I thought about replying to that with pretty much what you said, then i realized who made the post.

(08-19-2018, 01:29 AM)Trademark Wrote: My prediction, the Browns finish with a better record than us this year

Vegas would agree with you.