I think its pretty clear to see what the Ravens are going to try to do on Sunday. They are going to run the ball early and often.

There are a few reasons I see this as a sure deal

-There is an 80% chance of rain with heavy winds
-The Bengals haven't done the best job stopping big runs and closing up cutback lanes
-The Ravens have only run the ball on 37.8 of their offensive snaps, and they will be looking to change that, as they are 0-2 so far.

I think they will try to set up good runs and then PA passes to Gilmore and Smith. It will be key to stop the run, (as it usually is) but even moreso this week.

The only way we can lose this is if they slow the game down and keep it close. They are not the kind of offense to blow the top off of us, so we have to have gap discipline and tackle well at the point of attack (something we haven't done so great through the first 2 weeks).

I can't see a gameplan with the Ravens coming out throwing, so we better be ready to stuff the run. Force Flacco into 3rd and long and we should be in good shape.

Maualuga and Rey will be very important players this week.

(09-26-2015, 02:23 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: -There is an 80% chance of rain with heavy winds
-The Bengals haven't done the best job stopping big runs and closing up cutback lanes
-The Ravens have only run the ball on 37.8 of their offensive snaps, and they will be looking to change that, as they are 0-2 so far.

I think they will try to set up good runs and then PA passes to Gilmore and Smith. It will be key to stop the run, (as it usually is) but even moreso this week.


Maualuga and Rey will be very important players this week.

-Ja
-Si
-Da
-Vai
-Yes

They throw the ball because they have no feature back anymore. I am not scared one bit of Lorenzo Taliaferro. Too many people have left since the championship days for that team. Now with Suggs out they have no leadership. And the knock on Flacco was his leadership skills. I am not counting them out tomorrow because this is a division game in their house and you know how those can go. If Geno and the line is getting penetration I see the Ravens throwing all day.Them trying to catch up. Very similar to the Chargers game. Abandon the run early.

(09-26-2015, 03:04 PM)Thefinalcut813 Wrote: They throw the ball because they have no feature back anymore. I am not scared one bit of Lorenzo Taliaferro. Too many people have left since the championship days for that team. Now with Suggs out they have no leadership. And the knock on Flacco was his leadership skills. I am not counting them out tomorrow because this is a division game in their house and you know how those can go. If Geno and the line is getting penetration I see the Ravens throwing all day.Them trying to catch up. Very similar to the Chargers game. Abandon the run early.

Agreed, Forsett looked good thanks to Kubiak last year. If they do fall behind and rely on the pass, they will surely lose. I'm saying only way they stand a chance is if they run well.

(09-26-2015, 03:23 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Agreed, Forsett looked good thanks to Kubiak last year. If they do fall behind and rely on the pass, they will surely lose. I'm saying only way they stand a chance is if they run well.

I just don't see it with how Geno and company are getting in the back field.

The Raven's actual offensive (and defensive) scheme.

(09-26-2015, 02:23 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: I think its pretty clear to see what the Ravens are going to try to do on Sunday. They are going to run the ball early and often.

There are a few reasons I see this as a sure deal

-There is an 80% chance of rain with heavy winds
-The Bengals haven't done the best job stopping big runs and closing up cutback lanes
-The Ravens have only run the ball on 37.8 of their offensive snaps, and they will be looking to change that, as they are 0-2 so far.

I think they will try to set up good runs and then PA passes to Gilmore and Smith. It will be key to stop the run, (as it usually is) but even moreso this week.

The only way we can lose this is if they slow the game down and keep it close. They are not the kind of offense to blow the top off of us, so we have to have gap discipline and tackle well at the point of attack (something we haven't done so great through the first 2 weeks).

I can't see a gameplan with the Ravens coming out throwing, so we better be ready to stuff the run. Force Flacco into 3rd and long and we should be in good shape.

Maualuga and Rey will be very important players this week.

You know it GCB, too bad Sims is out cause we will need our run stoppers, hopefully Thompson can fill in accordingly.

If there has been one thing with this team that has been concerning so far, it is our inability to stop the run.

(09-26-2015, 04:02 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: You know it GCB, too bad Sims is out cause we will need our run stoppers, hopefully Thompson can fill in accordingly.

If there has been one thing with this team that has been concerning so far, it is our inability to stop the run.

Chargers ran for 131 with 2 damn good backs. I don't see the Ravens getting 100 on us.

(09-26-2015, 04:16 PM)Thefinalcut813 Wrote: Chargers ran for 131 with 2 damn good backs. I don't see the Ravens getting 100 on us.

Forsett makes his money on cut back runs, the one thing we have struggled with as of late. I can see it happening, but I assume the coaches made it a HUGE point of emphasis this week....

We have made guys like Taiferro and Trent Richardson look decent in the past, so I can't fully trust our run D yet. Full strength Geno gives us a definite advantage tho as someone already stated.

We make any back with cutting ability look good because our LBers are unfortunately not the brightest bulbs in the room, and constantly get snookered by misdirection. It's why we've always needed a savvy vet LB to "set" the front seven correctly. Note that when we do have the "savvy" LB this issue is not near as bad.

I expect to see a lot of Joe Look-for-the-Flaggo.

Bengals Gameplan: don't screw up, don't shoot ourselves in the foot, don't turn the ball over.

Ravens have looked awful so far. Sure they almost came back against Oakland but that was Oakland. The Ravens are not the team they used to be. Gameplan is just don't give them any breaks by screwing up. If somehow you could guarantee a positive turnover margin for us, then this becomes an easy game to predict.

(09-26-2015, 05:56 PM)BayouBengal Wrote: Bengals Gameplan: don't screw up, don't shoot ourselves in the foot, don't turn the ball over.

Ravens have looked awful so far. Sure they almost came back against Oakland but that was Oakland. The Ravens are not the team they used to be. Gameplan is just don't give them any breaks by screwing up. If somehow you could guarantee a positive turnover margin for us, then this becomes an easy game to predict.

This. Although, in all honesty, this has been our gameplan for a while with the amount of talent this team has.

We should have blown out the Chargers, to be quite frank. I think we left a lot of plays on the field and sure, I will always take the most important stat on the field. I just don't want it to be a habit of our defense bailing out our offensive woes and vise versa. 

Our LBs are a huge weakness and I worry that the Chargers initial gameplan of running it, doing their best to avoid our Dline might come back to bite us against the Ravens. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

(09-26-2015, 04:20 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Forsett makes his money on cut back runs, the one thing we have struggled with as of late. I can see it happening, but I assume the coaches made it a HUGE point of emphasis this week....

We have made guys like Taiferro and Trent Richardson look decent in the past, so I can't fully trust our run D yet. Full strength Geno gives us a definite advantage tho as someone already stated.

But, we still have Peko and Rey Mal playing DL.

Right. Mal failed to make plenty of tackles last week and misread quite a few plays. The same could be said for the rest of the backers, even the 'hero' of the game, Vinny Rey, who was plenty out of position. That being said, I might be 'ok' with our linebackers being the worst part of the team, especially when our best linebacker is injured. That's the true weakness of this team right now, in my honest opinion.

Ravens offensive game plan.

Run/Pass x3
Punt

Repeat until end of the 4th quarter.

(09-27-2015, 04:31 AM)Brownshoe Wrote: Ravens offensive game plan.

Run/Pass x3
Punt

Repeat until end of the 4th quarter.

Brat? Is that you? Haha!

(09-26-2015, 05:56 PM)BayouBengal Wrote: Bengals Gameplan: don't screw up, don't shoot ourselves in the foot, don't turn the ball over.

Ravens have looked awful so far. Sure they almost came back against Oakland but that was Oakland. The Ravens are not the team they used to be. Gameplan is just don't give them any breaks by screwing up. If somehow you could guarantee a positive turnover margin for us, then this becomes an easy game to predict.

Usually when a team plays not to lose, that is exactly what happens.  I hope the weather cooperates and Dalton is able to spread the ball around. 

Maybe this takes away some of the deep balls, but that is more the Ravens philosophy than the Bengals.  I want to see Dalton loosen up the defense with a lot of quick passes that are designed to generate YAC.  If the weather is poor, there could be a slip here or there and a big play out of a ten yard pass. 

I have a feeling that AJ goes off in this game.  I don't mean he will be targeted 15 times, but he may turn a few passes in to big plays. 

Baltimore will likely be dead set against the run of Hill and Gio with the weather.  Don't play in to their hands.  Attack them with AJ, MLJ, Eifert, and a Burkhead/Sanu here or there.  Then mix in the run. 

(09-27-2015, 07:43 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Maybe this takes away some of the deep balls, but that is more the Ravens philosophy than the Bengals.

After seeing what the Raider  did to the Ravens I think we have to take a lot of shots down the field.  Our Receivers against their DBs is the biggest advantage we have.