Deep Breath

[THE PISTONS]

(09-12-2022, 01:28 PM)impactplaya Wrote: Tee Higgins absence can't be overstated.
That allowed them to roll coverage over
To Chase. The Steelers ok, make Michael Thomas
Beat us. On that 1st  and 10 deep throw
To Thomas, Higgins probably catches that.
Then Thomas drops a ball right in his
Hands in the end zone. Higgins catches that too.

That all said, if they challenge the Chase td. If they block Minkah on the extra point. A bunch of other things...we win.

[Soonerpeace]

(09-12-2022, 09:23 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I'm not down on Joe whatsoever. Everyone deserves an egg of a game.

I'm down on ZT and this staff. This team was unprepared and he continues to bobble in game situations. I still continue to doubt his play calling and scheme. This offense has had issues since the day he was hired. He's infatuated with "explosive plays" to the point where we can't move the ball with anything other than an "explosive play". His scheme and plays take WAY too long to develop at times.

Teams are going to limit the explosive plays this year. Last year was an anomaly and he needs to figure out a more sustainable offense.

Well hopefully you will come around as he just got 5 years @ 8 million. The Browns won’t let him go for several years

[THE PISTONS]

We ran 100 plays on offense. 100! I don't ever recall seeing that.

[Roland]

All good points. The Steelers were ready to play and the Bengals weren't. Period. There's no substitute for live snaps and when you start opening day against a division opponent who has had live snaps you had better have them yourself.

I wouldn't take the lack of offense by the Steelers to mean that all was well with the defense. They did a good job against the run but the Steelers are no offensive powerhouse and they gave up some big plays at key moments.

But by the second half the Bengals had sorted themselves out enough that they still win that game if it weren't for getting struck twice by lightening. My only beef was kicking on third down. As catastrophic as the failure was on the PAT they knew it wasn't just a minor glitch. They should have tried to make the first down on third and kicked only as a last resort.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-12-2022, 01:22 PM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: 100000000% this. It's astounding to me that we watch Joe Burrow get sacked a million times, and yet there seems to be zero adaptability to getting the ball out quicker. Said it at the Super Bowl, with their line destroying ours, why in the heck aren't we trying quicker-to-run plays. You won't stop everything, but it's obscene how many 5+ sack games we give up. 

His last snap that ended being yet another sack and another fumble was about the 20th time he held on to the ball too long.  Drove me crazy.  

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-12-2022, 01:29 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I watched that game on TV.

I was there...undoubtedly the weirdest ending of any game of all time.  

[Sled21]

It's really this simple, you guys either want Joe Burrow to be the QB here or you don't. Joe is going to be Joe and holding on to the ball too long is part of his game. He is going to try to make something out of nothing, and sometimes that is going to result in a sack. So, I suggest we get used to it or draft another QB.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-13-2022, 09:16 AM)Sled21 Wrote: It's really this simple, you guys either want Joe Burrow to be the QB here or you don't. Joe is going to be Joe and holding on to the ball too long is part of his game. He is going to try to make something out of nothing, and sometimes that is going to result in a sack. So, I suggest we get used to it or draft another QB.

Whoa, Sled.....we aren't trying to change who Joe is, but protect him a bit.  He held the ball way too long this game (much like the Titan game) because he hadn't adjusted to what he was seeing.  My argument is they should know the foe, their situation on the offensive line, and come out playing to their (the line) strength of running the ball.  71 pass attempts against the NFL leader in rushing every year is the definition of stupid. 

[Sled21]

(09-13-2022, 09:20 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Whoa, Sled.....we aren't trying to change who Joe is, but protect him a bit.  He held the ball way too long this game (much like the Titan game) because he hadn't adjusted to what he was seeing.  My argument is they should know the foe, their situation on the offensive line, and come out playing to their (the line) strength of running the ball.  71 pass attempts against the NFL leader in rushing every year is the definition of stupid. 

Was it that he wasn't seeing the field, or were they just coverage sacks, because the other team's DB's get paid to be pros too. Again, Joe is going to hold the ball to long, it is who he is. The offensive line cannot protect him that long all the time, just not going to happen. As for running the ball more, maybe they should have, but it seemed to me Mixon had the ball a lot. 

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-13-2022, 09:25 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Was it that he wasn't seeing the field, or were they just coverage sacks, because the other team's DB's get paid to be pros too. Again, Joe is going to hold the ball to long, it is who he is. The offensive line cannot protect him that long all the time, just not going to happen. As for running the ball more, maybe they should have, but it seemed to me Mixon had the ball a lot. 

Mixon did have 27 carries.  I would have liked to see some Chris Evans.  He may bounce things outside, but he has the speed to get outside and the steelers were all crowding the middle.  I know, hindsight is a douchey move, but you get what I am saying.

I don't mean to sound contradictory, but apparently on that pick six, there were 3 other targets that were wide open, and he threw in to an area with four steelers, one of which he apparently didn't see (baited him behind the receiver, a la Bates in the Tennessee game).  

[THE PISTONS]

(09-13-2022, 08:30 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I was there...undoubtedly the weirdest ending of any game of all time.  

The Bengals have a weird way of giving me despair, then hope, then just when I think we're winning...they lose.

Just like this past Sunday!

IIRC Roy Williams had a big hit on Stokely too and he bounced off.

[cincyfan429]

(09-12-2022, 09:25 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: I concur, Bengals fans should take a deep breath. Yesterday's loss was disappointing but it is just one game and one loss. Let's relax and let the season unfold.

Some positives:

- Chase had a good game
- Burrow lead potential winning drives despite his bad game
- A healthy long snapper likely = a Bengals win
- The OL, I contend, got better as the game went on
- Hurst looks legit and an upgrade over CJ at TE

If we start 0-3 or 0-4, I'll jump in on the doom & gloom train.

Not worried about the talent worried about Zac. To be so stupid to punt with time on the play clock in OT is just so stupid. When it happened my wife said why didn't they run down the clock or take a delay of game. So the old lady knows but Zac didn't, and that worries me.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-12-2022, 09:19 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: No one wants to hear this in a full-on venting session, but here are some truths that everyone needs to remember:

Last year, Buffalo got beat badly by pitt at home in week 1 and still was seconds away from the AFC Title game.

Also last year, week 1 showed Aaron Rogers threw for 133 yards and two INTs, but still went on to win the MVP.

With that fresh in mind, maybe we could cut Joe Burrow a little slack for being indecisive and off timing knowing that he went essentially a month without going all out in the key part off camp, due to the ruptured appendix.  I am not as worried about the offensive line.  They ran blocked pretty well, but Joe held on to the ball way too long in pass plays.

Losing Tee Higgins early (cheap shot assholes) doesn't help either Mike Thomas showed why we all wanted someone like Pryor or Lassiter.  As much as Perine proved his veteran worth (saved Burrow on one pass block big time), Thomas is just not very reliable as a route runner.  

Despite all this, they STILL should have won.  Three different times, they win easily if not for the injured snapper and poor blocking on an extra point.

They will rebound and they will be a contending team.  Everyone hates losing to the steelers, but the Bengals are much better poised to make a run moving forward and that is the truth.

All true. Playcalling is honestly my only concern. As I said before the game, we need to run it on Pitt. Instead we came out 
throwing and that played right into their hands. Mixon was averaging like 5 yards a carry and instead of sticking with the run
game while the new OL started to gain chemistry we went pass. Don't understand this, but like you said, it is only the first 
game and the new OL was good in run blocking.

Amazing we still could of won the game with having all those turnovers. The stealers had to work their ass off to get that 
win and they lost their best player for awhile in TJ Watt in the process. Hope Tee is okay and won't be out long cause as you
say, Mike Thomas isn't the answer and this just proves what we were all saying about Pryor or another WR just in case one 
of the top 3 go down. Need to add somebody like TY Hilton or DeDe Westbrook.

[ElkValleyBengal]

Not discouraged at all. I still believe this team is an 11+ win team, assuming injuries don't derail that. Going on the premise that a team has a quota of bad plays and mistakes per season, they shouldn't have all that many left after Sunday.

The o-line will gel and by mid-season be one of the better units in the conference, if not the league I feel- assuming they stay on the field.

Joe Burrow is still Joe Burrow, and he won't play that badly again this year.

Tee Higgins will be back, and Hayden Hurst presents a better receiving threat at TE than the Bengals have had since Eifert.

You figure they can't lose another starting long-snapper.

The defense is really solid I think. The Steelers were well under 200 yards for the game in regulation. As the offense begins to click, the sacks and hurries will come as teams are forced to play catch-up.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-13-2022, 01:28 PM)ElkValleyBengal Wrote: Not discouraged at all.  I still believe this team is an 11+ win team, assuming injuries don't derail that.   Going on the premise that a team has a quota of bad plays and mistakes per season, they shouldn't have all that many left after Sunday.  

The o-line will gel and by mid-season be one of the better units in the conference, if not the league I feel- assuming they stay on the field.

Joe Burrow is still Joe Burrow, and he won't play that badly again this year.

Tee Higgins will be back, and Hayden Hurst presents a better receiving threat at TE than the Bengals have had since Eifert.

You figure they can't lose another starting long-snapper.

The defense is really solid I think.  The Steelers were well under 200 yards for the game in regulation.  As the offense begins to click, the sacks and hurries will come as teams are forced to play catch-up.

Nice post ElkValleyBengal. Agree with everything you say here. Sucks losing to the stealers worse than any other team but 
maybe we needed to just get this one out of the way early. Really love what I saw of our Defense under Lou like you said.

[OUatown]

(09-13-2022, 11:15 AM)cincyfan429 Wrote: Not worried about the talent worried about Zac. To be so stupid to punt with time on the play clock in OT is just so stupid. When it happened my wife said why didn't they run down the clock or take a delay of game. So the old lady knows but Zac didn't, and that worries me.

It’s as simple as this for me!

[Tony]

(09-12-2022, 09:23 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I'm not down on Joe whatsoever. Everyone deserves an egg of a game.

I'm down on ZT and this staff. This team was unprepared and he continues to bobble in game situations. I still continue to doubt his play calling and scheme. This offense has had issues since the day he was hired. He's infatuated with "explosive plays" to the point where we can't move the ball with anything other than an "explosive play". His scheme and plays take WAY too long to develop at times.

Teams are going to limit the explosive plays this year. Last year was an anomaly and he needs to figure out a more sustainable offense.

Same here. I'm ready to run Zac outta town. Burrow can have more games like this and I still wouldn't trade him for anyone. Dudes handicapped by the coaches and shitty Oline..

[samhain]

I'm not overly concerned yet. They need to learn to take what the defense gives them this year. Those home run balls will be tough to come by, particularly when Tee is out. Defenses will go to shells to contain the receivers Take 8 yards when it's there instead of looking for a home run ball and taking a sack.

Some of the local beat guys mentioned that the team worked on this in preseason, but I think Burrow is the kind of quarterback that it's tough to get that message through to. All part of the maturation process.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-13-2022, 10:25 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: The Bengals have a weird way of giving me despair, then hope, then just when I think we're winning...they lose.

Just like this past Sunday!

IIRC Roy Williams had a big hit on Stokely too and he bounced off.

No, the ball just landed in Stokley's hands as he was running by and he was untouched.  Three Bengal defenders drilled the would be receiver, with Hall tipping the ball back IN to the field of play, where it just landed perfectly in Stokley's arms.  

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-13-2022, 09:30 PM)samhain Wrote: I'm not overly concerned yet.  They need to learn to take what the defense gives them this year.  Those home run balls will be tough to come by, particularly when Tee is out.  Defenses will go to shells to contain the receivers Take 8 yards when it's there instead of looking for a home run ball and taking a sack.

Some of the local beat guys mentioned that the team worked on this in preseason, but I think Burrow is the kind of quarterback that it's tough to get that message through to.  All part of the maturation process.

A game like that can help mature you fast lol