Every year we hope to improve on our deficiencies, or mask them. Some things I hope to see this year are a healthy Atkins, less fumbles from Hill, less tip interceptions from AJ, and less high throws from Andy (which seem to last almost a full half sometimes, until he calms down - he almost defines Jekyll and Hyde).

But the elephant in the room is the Bengals prime time performance, which we know is below average. I wish the Bengals had a good motivational speaker (someone other than Marvin) to amp them up, when under the spotlight - we can assume teams like NE and Pittsburgh will put on a show. From just a few locker interviews, it seems like Hill could take on that type of hype everyone up role at some point.

Does anyone suspect any corrections will be made for the suspicious prime time performances the Bengals have been having the past few years, or keep the elephant where it is? They have 4 again this year. Could it possibly just be coincidental that our prime time and playoff performances have been poor (outside of last year, where we were significantly depleted offensively). I'd hate to think the coaches think "it's just another game".

Well, the Tampa Bay game didn't do anything to suggest that we'll see any changes in our Prime Time performance. Even if it was "just a preseason game," there's no excuse for coming out that flat. Listening to Dalton's press conference today, I think I'm hearing a little more maturity and seeing a little more maturity from him. We'll see how it translates into his performance and his leadership on the field.

(09-10-2015, 12:50 AM)Shady Wrote: Well, the Tampa Bay game didn't do anything to suggest that we'll see any changes in our Prime Time performance. Even if it was "just a preseason game," there's no excuse for coming out that flat.  Listening to Dalton's press conference today, I think I'm hearing a little more maturity and seeing a little more maturity from him. We'll see how it translates into his performance and his leadership on the field.

No other team is judged on preseason, so why are the Bengals? Who cares if it was prime time. There is no game planning in that game.

(09-10-2015, 01:02 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: No other team is judged on preseason, so why are the Bengals? Who cares if it was prime time. There is no game planning in that game.

Our looking like crap that game had nothing to do with game planning. They punched us in the face. We didn't answer the bell. 

(09-10-2015, 01:13 AM)Shady Wrote: Our looking like crap that game had nothing to do with game planning. They punched us in the face. We didn't answer the bell. 

It was a preseason game. It doesn't mean anything. It's like if a toddler came up to you and punched you in the face. You just laugh and move on.

(09-10-2015, 12:50 AM)Shady Wrote:  Listening to Dalton's press conference today, I think I'm hearing a little more maturity and seeing a little more maturity from him. We'll see how it translates into his performance and his leadership on the field.

It's funny you feel that way shady because I felt the same way when I listened to his presser. I sensed more of a "you know what screw you guys im just gonna go show you im good." mentality from him... but i'll believe it when I see it. I'll remain carefully optimistic that that is Dalton's current mindset.

Did you see the Denver primetime game last year? That was a pretty good effort.

The Pittsburgh game was a loss, but the Bengals had a pretty good chance to win it at the end.

I'd say that they have already "addressed" the issue and have started to perform better in primetime.

(09-10-2015, 01:13 AM)Shady Wrote: Our looking like crap that game had nothing to do with game planning. They punched us in the face. We didn't answer the bell. 

It's preseason, it's a non-issue.  Teams don't "answer the bell" in preseason, they work on things and evaluate players.  

(09-10-2015, 12:50 AM)Shady Wrote: Well, the Tampa Bay game didn't do anything to suggest that we'll see any changes in our Prime Time performance. Even if it was "just a preseason game," there's no excuse for coming out that flat.  Listening to Dalton's press conference today, I think I'm hearing a little more maturity and seeing a little more maturity from him. We'll see how it translates into his performance and his leadership on the field.

You said it. Preseason or not, the team looked uninspired and the first team played with no desire. I was at that game. The OL was bad, Dalton was bad, Green caught a pass early then looked bad. It wasn't until McCarron came in that the attitude changed.

Gotta tell you a funny story about the game though. When we got the TSA folks to pass security, the TSA guy asked me who our QB was, had my Bengals T-shirt on. I said, "What?" He said, "Who's your QB?" I said, "Andy Dalton, of course. Why?" He said, "Well only 50% seem to know that." I laughed.

(09-10-2015, 01:52 AM)Hammerstripes Wrote: It's preseason, it's a non-issue. Teams don't "answer the bell" in preseason, they work on things and evaluate players.

Well, the team flunked their "attitude evaluation" then. Doesn't attitude count anymore?

(09-10-2015, 01:02 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: No other team is judged on preseason, so why are the Bengals? Who cares if it was prime time. There is no game planning in that game.

This is a bit of a myth.  You can't win the Super Bowl or be eliminated from the post-season in the preseason but plenty of analysis goes into what teams do even before the games "count."  A buddy of mine is a super-biased Giants fan and when I pointed out the critics being skeptical of the Giants' preseason games he said "These games don't count."  Silly me, only one of us was surprised when the team not only didn't win the Super Bowl in 2014, but won a mere 6 games.

Anyways, the entire NFL was being watched and evaluated and criticized/praised for the past month or two.  Did you miss all that?

(09-10-2015, 01:14 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: It was a preseason game. It doesn't mean anything. It's like if a toddler came up to you and punched you in the face. You just laugh and move on.

LOL Is that you AI?

(09-10-2015, 01:14 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: It was a preseason game. It doesn't mean anything. It's like if a toddler came up to you and punched you in the face. You just laugh and move on.

I'm not sure if I'd laugh.  Who's toddler is this?  Is he being supervised?  Am I in my house?  How did he get in?  Was I standing when he punched me?  If so, how did he reach my face?

(09-10-2015, 02:06 AM)Nately120 Wrote: This is a bit of a myth.  You can't win the Super Bowl or be eliminated from the post-season in the preseason but plenty of analysis goes into what teams do even before the games "count."  A buddy of mine is a super-biased Giants fan and when I pointed out the critics being skeptical of the Giants' preseason games he said "These games don't count."  Silly me, only one of us was surprised when the team not only didn't win the Super Bowl in 2014, but won a mere 6 games.

Anyways, the entire NFL was being watched and evaluated and criticized/praised for the past month or two.  Did you miss all that?

The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason in 2008. They did go and break records that year... but not in a good way. Preseason means nothing.

(09-10-2015, 02:19 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason in 2008. They did go and break records that year... but not in a good way. Preseason means nothing.

For the love of all things holy, please show me where I said the FINAL SCORE IN A PRESEASON GAME MATTERS!

The final score and how a team performs (particularly the starters) in preseason are different things.  For example, the Cardinals played the Raiders 2 weeks ago.  The Cardinals offensive line looked like absolute garbage.  By your logic their offensive line could either be the worst in the league or the best.  We simply don't know, because the final score doesn't count.

I find it simply amazing that NFL coaches, owners, GMs, and players use preseason as a means to evaluate who is going to be on the team, or to formulate depth-charts, and even which players are going to fulfill their dreams of making big money playing football and which are on their way back home but you simply can't even be bothered to admit that something SOMETHING that goes on in preseason might actually mean something. Holy crap, the Buffalo Bills gave the starting QB slot to the guy who played the best in preseason, but preseason means nothing! You'd better tell them! Quick, go tell the Redskins that RGIII looking like his typical injury-prone crap self this preseason didn't mean anything and that they should still make him the starter! You need to share your brilliant deep thoughts about football with them!

But noooooooooooooo the 2008 Lions "won" all their preseason games so the Bengals could go out there and score 0 points, Andy Dalton could throw either 12 TDs or 12 INTs and either way we wouldn't have the foggiest idea what kind of squad we were fielding because preseason doesn't matter.  Thanks to the 2008 Lions we can never let anything that might look like an issue in preseason worry our pretty heads.

Just curious, when you talk about the 2008 Lions being 4-0 in preseason do you actually have any idea how the starters played, or are you just assuming they went out there and Dan Orszlslovikiyky threw 6TDs in each game and looked like a Super Bowl MVP?

(09-10-2015, 03:49 AM)Nately120 Wrote: For the love of all things holy, please show me where I said the FINAL SCORE IN A PRESEASON GAME MATTERS!

The final score and how a team performs (particularly the starters) in preseason are different things.  For example, the Cardinals played the Raiders 2 weeks ago.  The Cardinals offensive line looked like absolute garbage.  By your logic their offensive line could either be the worst in the league or the best.  We simply don't know, because the final score doesn't count.

I find it simply amazing that NFL coaches, owners, GMs, and players use preseason as a means to evaluate who is going to be on the team, or to formulate depth-charts, and even which players are going to fulfill their dreams of making big money playing football and which are on their way back home but you simply can't even be bothered to admit that something SOMETHING that goes on in preseason might actually mean something.  Holy crap, the Buffalo Bills gave the starting QB slot to the guy who played the best in preseason, but preseason means nothing!  You'd better tell them!  Quick, go tell the Redskins that RGIII looking like his typical injury-prone crap self this preseason didn't mean anything and that they should still make him the starter!  You need to share your brilliant deep thoughts about football with them!

But noooooooooooooo the 2008 Lions "won" all their preseason games so the Bengals could go out there and score 0 points, Andy Dalton could throw either 12 TDs or 12 INTs and either way we wouldn't have the foggiest idea what kind of squad we were fielding because preseason doesn't matter.  Thanks to the 2008 Lions we can never let anything that might look like an issue in preseason worry our pretty heads.

Just curious, when you talk about the 2008 Lions being 4-0 in preseason do you actually have any idea how the starters played, or are you just assuming they went out there and Dan Orszlslovikiyky threw 6TDs in each game and looked like a Super Bowl MVP?

The people who already have a spot on the team half ass it in the preseason. They already know they have a spot. They are just out there getting a few reps. Just because someone looked really good or really bad doesn't mean anything on the upcoming season. For people like RG3 and the Bills QB they were playing for the starting spot. They were trying to get the spot on the team, because they obviously don't have it locked up. Preseason is pretty much only for the players who may or may not make the team.

(09-10-2015, 01:14 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: It was a preseason game. It doesn't mean anything. It's like if a toddler came up to you and punched you in the face. You just laugh and move on.

Hue wasn't laughing about it and neither was Marvin.

If you watched the TB game and know anything about football you will notice that our D came out in a vanilla base defense with no blitzes or stunts of any kind for the first series...They showed a little more on the second series and TB was much worse with pressure being put on Winston from there on out...Same for the offense...They did not have the full OL (Andre out) and were not showing anything but basic formations and vanilla offense...Did it appear they got punched in the mouth? YES Was it because they did or just not having anything but a basic game plan?

Hate to derail this into a discussion about our upcoming Prime Time games, but:

Last year Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan was discussing this (Bengals Prime Time). He stated that when he was with the Steelers they would practice in the actual stadium under the lights at least once the week leading up to a Prime Time game. He stated it is a different "look' and no amount of day time prep can simulate the conditions.

I wonder if the Bengals do this prior to PT games? Maybe I'll Ask Jim O.

(09-10-2015, 01:01 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Hate to derail this into a discussion about our upcoming Prime Time games, but:

Last year Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan was discussing this (Bengals Prime Time). He stated that when he was with the Steelers they would practice in the actual stadium under the lights at least once the week leading up to a Prime Time game. He stated it is a different "look' and no amount of day time prep can simulate the conditions.

I wonder if the Bengals do this prior to PT games? Maybe I'll Ask Jim O.

Yes, he started doing this last year I do believe. I remember him saying he pushed practices back to 8pm, but cant seem to find a link for it. I did find this nice little nugget:

"“They don’t need to worry about some of that. All they know is since Andy and A.J. [Green] have been here, I think we are 2-4 and we lost the last four after winning the first two. That is the most important thing and it really doesn’t matter when we play. It’s probably my fault still because I don’t like to play the night games. I’d rather play every game at 1 p.m. here. But we got to win this one. It’s an important game for us and both teams. It means a lot to both teams.”


Link

(09-10-2015, 05:55 AM)McC Wrote: Hue wasn't laughing about it and neither was Marvin.

This.  Go tell them that performance didn't matter.