I don't have a complaint about how Dalton played against the Raiders. He didn't turn the ball over and he spread the ball around to all the receivers leaving the Raiders completely outmatched. He did exactly what needs to be done every week for this team to be contenders for the Lombardi trophy. As usual though the question with Dalton and the rest of the team is consistency. We've seen Dalton play this well before even against better teams then the Raiders but can it be sustained over a long period of time?

I'm cautiously optimistic but I need to see this type of play continue.

(09-16-2015, 09:59 PM)djs7685 Wrote: Or the fans should just realize that what's said in a pregame speech does literal nothing to affect the outcome of a football game.

These are adult, professional athletes. I don't care if Ray Lewis is screaming as loud as he can about killing people or if Jay Cutler whispers in the huddle that he enjoys coloring books. These guys are going to be putting whatever effort they were originally going to be putting into that game regardless

Really good speeches can excite and motivate. 
But there's like 2 people in the league who pull it off.

99% of pre-game speeches mean nothing and are really just a formality from movies carried over into real life 

(09-17-2015, 04:13 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: Really good speeches can excite and motivate. 
But there's like 2 people in the league who pull it off.

99% of pre-game speeches mean nothing and are really just a formality from movies carried over into real life 

And the impact of even the best ones last what, a minute into the game?

(09-17-2015, 05:30 PM)McC Wrote: And the impact of even the best ones last what, a minute into the game?

If that. 
Just gets you fired up and focused on the game

(09-17-2015, 05:30 PM)McC Wrote: And the impact of even the best ones last what, a minute into the game?

Yes. If even that. They're a complete waste of time.

I agree that pregame speeches aren't a huge deal, but there's much more to leadership than just speeches.

Yep, seems like everyone was making a big deal about something that was absolutely pointless. He went out, and won the game. Who cares? He could be sitting around telling a campfire story for all I care.

(09-17-2015, 11:35 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I agree that pregame speeches aren't a huge deal, but there's much more to leadership than just speeches.

It can mean whatever people want it to mean.

One guy said that Andy isn't a leader because he wears a rubber wedding ring so no one respects him. Someone else said that he's obviously an inspiring leader because of his "huge hog". Now, those are 2 extremes, but very good examples of how you can pretty much define leadership any way you want in an attempt to fit your preconceived feelings.

Personally, I just take the players and coaches word for it when it comes to this sort of thing because it's really one of the things that only they truthfully know. We can speculate whether the players and coaches are being 100% truthful, but why would they lie about that?

Example. A.J. Green wasn't asked "is Andy a leader or not?" In a recent interview. If he was, I'd completely understand people saying that he only called him a leader because he "has" to and he couldn't throw his QB under the bus. What really happened was they asked him about Andy in general. His response was something like, "he's our quarterback, he's our leader, blah blah blah". It wasn't something A.J. was tricked into saying, he threw it out there on his own free will and other players and coaches have done the same in the past.

Until something shows me otherwise that crappy pregame speeches mean anything or that Andy can't handle a leadership role, I'll just trust what the other guys in the locker room have to say about it.

With all of that said, give me good players over good locker room "leaders" any day of the week. People really over value leadership around here just to defend their favorite guys that aren't very good. This part isn't about Andy btw because his leadership that we usually discuss is more about on the field than off, I just wanted to note my feelings on the "omg but we can't upgrade PlayerX, he's good for our locker room!!!!" crap that I hear on these boards. That's mostly regarding the old vets that are over the hill that we keep around and let onto the field for some reason.

He's playing well so far this season.

120.3 rating, 5 TDs, no picks, 68% completions.

(09-20-2015, 07:06 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: He's playing well so far this season.

120.3 rating, 5 TDs, no picks, 68% completions.

I said all offseason that he'd probably rebound. It's his 2nd season in the system and his weapons are healthy. He's probably going to come down to earth a bit eventually, but I'm definitely sticking with my prediction that he'll have a 90+ passer rating.

If that happens and they somehow manage to win in the playoffs, I wonder how his toughest critics will react? He's certainly not looking like the 24th best QB in the league.

(09-20-2015, 07:21 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I said all offseason that he'd probably rebound. It's his 2nd season in the system and his weapons are healthy. He's probably going to come down to earth a bit eventually, but I'm definitely sticking with my prediction that he'll have a 90+ passer rating.

If that happens and they somehow manage to win in the playoffs, I wonder how his toughest critics will react? He's certainly not looking like the 24th best QB in the league.

Andy is playing very well so far. Accurate, zip on his passes, making good decisions and looking confident. I became pretty indifferent about Andy last year, but love what I'm seeing thru the first 2 games.


What's funny...when Andy plays well, hardly anyone talks about him. But, wait until he throws that 1st pick! 

(09-20-2015, 08:29 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Andy is playing very well so far. Accurate, zip on his passes, making good decisions and looking confident. I became pretty indifferent about Andy last year, but love what I'm seeing thru the first 2 games.


What's funny...when Andy plays well, hardly anyone talks about him. But, wait until he throws that 1st pick! 

So many people were raving on Bradford over Dalton once Bradford got the weapons they have in Philly and if he stays healthy.. well after watching Bradford for two games .. it is not even close right now.. Dalton has so much more poise than Bradford.... hands down Dalton over Bradford so far.

(09-20-2015, 08:47 PM)Anderson HOF Wrote: So many people were raving on Bradford over Dalton once Bradford got the weapons they have in Philly and if he stays healthy.. was after watching Bradford for two games .. it is not even close right now.. Dalton has so much more poise than Bradford.... hands down Dalton over Bradford so far.

Dalton is playing better than most QBs in the league.

(09-20-2015, 08:48 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: Dalton is playing better than most QBs in the league.

Yes he is.

Today was a good showing by him. Even though Hill laid an egg and put the ball on the turf twice, Dalton kept his head in the game. Last year or even the year before, he would have folded and just gone in to desperation mode. So, so far, so good. Need to see this continue.

(09-20-2015, 09:14 PM)BengalChris Wrote: Yes he is.

Today was a good showing by him. Even though Hill laid an egg and put the ball on the turf twice, Dalton kept his head in the game. Last year or even the year before, he would have folded and just gone in to desperation mode. So, so far, so good. Need to see this continue.

More importantly, he kept his head in the game after the Teo shot to his arm and the almost turnover.  His passes were a little off afterwards, and I think it was hurting.  But he overcame it, and that is what is important.

(09-20-2015, 09:22 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: More importantly, he kept his head in the game after the Teo shot to his arm and the almost turnover.  His passes were a little off afterwards, and I think it was hurting.  But he overcame it, and that is what is important.

Yes, that too. It was good to see him step up like that.

(09-17-2015, 04:09 PM)ExtraRadiohead Wrote: I don't have a complaint about how Dalton played against the Raiders. He didn't turn the ball over and he spread the ball around to all the receivers leaving the Raiders completely outmatched. He did exactly what needs to be done every week for this team to be contenders for the Lombardi trophy. As usual though the question with Dalton and the rest of the team is consistency. We've seen Dalton play this well before even against better teams then the Raiders but can it be sustained over a long period of time?

I'm cautiously optimistic but I need to see this type of play continue.

Dalton did pretty much the same thing as last week. 8 different players caught the ball today so he spread it around and he protected the ball. The TD to Marvin Jones was a sight for sore eyes for Bengals fans. It's great to see that kind of throw from Andy and it was even better to see Marvin Jones look back to form since his injuries. Overall no complaints once again Dalton was great.

In contrast to a particular throw in week one that just didn't sit well with me, one pass that I did like in week two, was Andy's incompletion to TE2 on 3rd down in the 3rd qtr. It was a smart play, similar to the 2 or 3 plays where he simply threw it away instead of making a mistake.

I can live with his misses today. I thought he made sound decisions and had excellent placement on his passes, save the one where Teo almost picked it ( not the play that was overruled ), but even that pass was a good one where the QB just didnt see the defender. Andy's gotten off to a great start with both games. If he continues to perform at or around this level, the sky is the limit for this team.

With that said, one thing I didn't like was AJ giving up on that short inside pass, that was nearly picked. I'm pretty sure I saw in the chat where some were blaming Andy. No way! That was all AJ.

Btw, congrats to Andy for passing Jeff Blake today on the all-time Bengals passing list. Dalton now only sits behind Kenny, Boomer and Palmer in passing yardage.

Also, Gio passed Blake, Fenner and Ickey to move into 16th place in rush yards.

(09-20-2015, 10:23 PM)Devils Advocate Wrote: In contrast to a particular throw in week one that just didn't sit well with me, one pass that I did like in week two, was Andy's incompletion to TE2 on 3rd down in the 3rd qtr. It was a smart play, similar to the 2 or 3 plays where he simply threw it away instead of making a mistake.

I can live with his misses today. I thought he made sound decisions and had excellent placement on his passes, save the one where Teo almost picked it ( not the play that was overruled ), but even that pass was a good one where the QB just didnt see the defender. Andy's gotten off to a great start with both games. If he continues to perform at or around this level, the sky is the limit for this team.

With that said, one thing I didn't like was AJ giving up on that short inside pass, that was nearly picked. I'm pretty sure I saw in the chat where some were blaming Andy. No way! That was all AJ.

No, that was all the DE.  It was tipped at the line and redirected it to the DB.  AJ didn't quit on it, the path of the ball changed.