Team Defense :

Bengals - 6

Ravens - 11

Steelers - 26

The Steelers have been known for defense since.....well....couple days before dirt. Yes they're going to score points. But can that offense keep masking a poor defense all season ?

The Ravens - also known for defense are even worse than the Steelers really. The Raiders hung 37 points on them, the RAIDERS ! Suggs is out for long time and they've lost several key players. They might be in for a long season despite the pre-season predictions.

Are the Bengals with Geno's recovery from injury, MJ's return, and everything else poised to take the reins as defensive leader ? Adam Jones is balling, Gillberry good reps, Dennard, Dawson, Carter improving. And we may well get Burfict back before it's over.

Are we for real the best in the division and among the top in the NFL ? (At seasons end)

Ya I know the Browns, but they're still the Browns, and the train wreck will continue for them as a team despite how good their D may be.

(09-21-2015, 11:41 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Team Defense :

Bengals - 6

Ravens - 11

Steelers - 26

The Steelers have been known for defense since.....well....couple days before dirt. Yes they're going to score points. But can that offense keep masking a poor defense all season ?

The Ravens - also known for defense are even worse than the Steelers really. The Raiders hung 37 points on them, the RAIDERS ! Suggs is out for long time and they've lost several key players. They might be in for a long season despite the pre-season predictions.

Are the Bengals with Geno's recovery from injury, MJ's return, and everything else poised to take the reins as defensive leader ? Adam Jones is balling, Gillberry good reps, Dennard, Dawson, Carter improving. And we may well get Burfict back before it's over.

Are we for real the best in the division and among the top in the NFL ? (At seasons end)

Ya I know the Browns, but they're still the Browns, and the train wreck will continue for them as a team despite how good their D may be.

It may be too early to look at season stats after just 2 games....still 14 games to go, but I hope we do have the best D because that could mean Super Bowl. 

(09-21-2015, 11:41 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Team Defense :

Bengals - 6

Ravens - 11

Steelers - 26

The Steelers have been known for defense since.....well....couple days before dirt. Yes they're going to score points. But can that offense keep masking a poor defense all season ?

The Ravens - also known for defense are even worse than the Steelers really. The Raiders hung 37 points on them, the RAIDERS ! Suggs is out for long time and they've lost several key players. They might be in for a long season despite the pre-season predictions.

Are the Bengals with Geno's recovery from injury, MJ's return, and everything else poised to take the reins as defensive leader ? Adam Jones is balling, Gillberry good reps, Dennard, Dawson, Carter improving. And we may well get Burfict back before it's over.

Are we for real the best in the division and among the top in the NFL ? (At seasons end)

Ya I know the Browns, but they're still the Browns, and the train wreck will continue for them as a team despite how good their D may be.

Defense has been good , but I am seriously questioning the LB corp after last game. I believe they had a combined 11 tackles? And I saw way too many missed tackles, poor angles, and lack of covering the TE. D-line has been just studly.

I expect to see Dawson starting fairly soon.

Knock on wood............... If they Bengals stay pretty healthy the defense will be top 5 and best in the division I believe. The Bengals defense is really good, combine that with an offense that can keep them off the field and run the clock... The sky is the limit!

Our LB corp needs to improve against the run, our pass defense is definitely playing top 5 so far

The Ravens def will not be as good this year, yet the Steelers at 26 will not stay there. They held the Pats to 28, who put up 49 plus against the Bills and owned the Niners yesterday until late after a big lead, similar to our defense last week against Oakland.

(09-21-2015, 11:45 AM)kevin Wrote: It may be too early to look at season stats after just 2 games....still 14 games to go, but I hope we do have the best D because that could mean Super Bowl. 

Oh yes it's very early I know. But I'm thinking of being top what top 12 a couple times over last few seasons. Is PG finally getting it together after last seasons....well less than stellar results ?

Geno being back as the Geno of old changes everything for this D. He's not going to rack up huge stats. But if you watch closely he's very disruptive on many plays even ones where you don't hear his name. If Burfict makes it back and Carter, Dawson, Dennard and others can contribute we could become pretty damn good.

Leon Hall despite losing a step can still wreck havoc s few snaps a game. I'm thinking we may be in for a defensive show this season.

Lets hope, whats the old saying Defense Wins Championships???

Just wait to #55 comes back, with that being said whats the latest on Vontaze??

The D is looking good so far and hopefully it only gets better. Like others have stated, I'm worried about the LB corp though. Maybe they'll get better too.

(09-21-2015, 12:32 PM)PApinhead Wrote: The D is looking good so far and hopefully it only gets better.  Like others have stated, I'm worried about the LB corp though.  Maybe they'll get better too.

I don't think there's much doubt our LBrs are the weak link. I'm just hoping they can hold the fort until Burfict comes back healthy, smarter, and hungry. If he does we could have an awesome D down the stretch.

And I'm thinking Dunlap could well have his best season with Geno and MJ back !

Without rewatching the game or anything, it seemed like every big run was one of the Reys missing a tackle, taking a poor angle, or choosing a wrong lane. It's a freaking joke they can't find anyone better then freaking Rey Maualuga. For being such a "great run stopper" the dude picks more wrong lanes then anyone I've seen. His instincts are horrible. Without Burfict in there, I think it's only a matter o time before our LB core costs us a game.

Burfict being in there raises the level of everyone else on D. If he comes back healthy to his old self and everyone is still playing just as good, this could be one of the best all around defense the Bengals have had in a long time.

We have been pretty good at defense for a while now last year was outlier when it comes to our defensive performance.

The biggest thing is the line is getting pressure. With Geno back Dunlap, Gillberry and even Clark have shown the ability to get pressure. Pressure in QB's faces is what makes even the best QB's bad. Think about Andy so far this year, he has been good and he hasn't been hit really, there is a direct correlation there.

(09-21-2015, 12:37 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I don't think there's much doubt our LBrs are the weak link. I'm just hoping they can hold the fort until Burfict comes back healthy, smarter, and hungry. If he does we could have an awesome D down the stretch.

And I'm thinking Dunlap could well have his best season with Geno and MJ back !

Even top ten Defenses have a weak link.. I prefer it to be Linebackers.. they are less crucial to a defense than a solid Defense Backs or Lineman group.

(09-21-2015, 12:47 PM)Sweetness Wrote: Without rewatching the game or anything, it seemed like every big run was one of the Reys missing a tackle, taking a poor angle, or choosing a wrong lane. It's a freaking joke they can't find anyone better then freaking Rey Maualuga. For being such a "great run stopper" the dude picks more wrong lanes then anyone I've seen. His instincts are horrible. Without Burfict in there, I think it's only a matter o time before our LB core costs us a game.

Burfict being in there raises the level of everyone else on D. If he comes back healthy to his old self and everyone is still playing just as good, this could be one of the best  all around defense the Bengals have had in a long time.

AJ Hawk would've helped the run had he been in the game more.  Not sure how many snaps he played with the Chargers being a sort passing team.  Anyone know?

(09-21-2015, 12:37 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I don't think there's much doubt our LBrs are the weak link. I'm just hoping they can hold the fort until Burfict comes back healthy, smarter, and hungry. If he does we could have an awesome D down the stretch.

And I'm thinking Dunlap could well have his best season with Geno and MJ back !

Oh yeah, a healthy Burfict back will definitely help, but we need to do something different in the off season as he can't do everything.  lol

I think so too!  Can't wait to see how this season unfolds for him and Geno.

(09-21-2015, 04:09 PM)PApinhead Wrote: Oh yeah, a healthy Burfict back will definitely help, but we need to do something different in the off season as he can't do everything.  ll

I think so too!  Can't wait to see how this season unfolds for him and Geno.

We need to draft Jaylon Smith in the off season. I very much doubt that he's going to drop to the 32nd pick though.

(09-21-2015, 04:17 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: We need to draft Jaylon Smith in the off season. I very much doubt that he's going to drop to the 32nd pick though.

That would be nice, but I wouldn't count on it even if he was there at 32nd.

(09-21-2015, 04:36 PM)PApinhead Wrote: That would be nice, but I wouldn't count on it even if he was there at 32nd.

If he was there at 32 we would be stupid not to pick him up. He's one of the better players coming out of the draft right now.

I thought our d line actually got too deep into the backfield, which allowed deeper cutback lanes for a good running back like Gordon.

Defense looks pretty good. Our LB's do not. I think that's where most of the runs came from was just poor recognition, tackling and play. Really, really need Burfict back to stop those gashing runs.