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(08-26-2024, 12:31 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: To your 2nd point, seemed a bit muted.. last three years in time of possession ranking 2021- 12th, 2022- 3rd 2023- 12th...so we still above half the teams and on edge of top 10 in 21 and last year. I think it is lack of stopping the run and 3rd down conversions by our defense that hurt us.. now will have to fact check myself..lol
Third down stops have been a problem the last 3 years, ranking 23rd, 19th and 20th. Run D has been 26th, 5th and 7th.
"The measure of a man's intelligence can be seen in the length of his argument."
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(08-26-2024, 09:50 AM)PhilHos Wrote: I expect our defense to be MUCH better this year for 2 major reasons:
1) Better safety play
2) Our offense will be better leading to more rest for the defense as well as having more leads
There are obviously more reasons (Rankins providing more of a pass rush from the defensive interior than we've had, for example) but I think these are the 2 that'll see our defense look leagues better than it did last year.
Communication and poor tackling was the reason our Defense was so bad last year. These 2 reasons for us sucking last year seemed to
be muchly improved. Bringing back Vonn Bell will help our communication and Geno Stone should help in coverage and sounds like him
and Vonn are completely on the same page and we can bring in Battle on run downs to really help out.
Both Hubbard and Logan Wilson should be back and healthy and they are essential to slowing down the Offense's run game.
The Commanders looked like a better team than the Patriots to me last night even if Maye looked good.
We should beat the Patriots by a good margin if Burrow and our Offense plays well. Cannot wait to see if our running game is improved.
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Some rankings are putting Zack moss 30th in the league, I hope he shows something better this year. If not, let's see what Chase Brown can do with more than half the carries.
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(08-26-2024, 12:31 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: To your 2nd point, seemed a bit muted.. last three years in time of possession ranking 2021- 12th, 2022- 3rd 2023- 12th...so we still above half the teams and on edge of top 10 in 21 and last year. I think it is lack of stopping the run and 3rd down conversions by our defense that hurt us.. now will have to fact check myself..lol
Time of possession really doesnt mean much when your defense leads the league in explosive plays....
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We got rocked last year, I think we were averaging giving up 6 explosive plays a game, but it felt more like 10. It was definitely more than 6 sometimes. Can you imagine giving up ten 20+ yard plays on defense in a game? Ain't nobody winning a superbowl with that. Game day thread starting counting them as they were happening, that can't be a thing. If Lou does anything that is what we must stop.
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(08-26-2024, 07:29 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: We got rocked last year, I think we were averaging giving up 6 explosive plays a game, but it felt more like 10. It was definitely more than 6 sometimes. Can you imagine giving up ten 20+ yard plays on defense in a game? Ain't nobody winning a superbowl with that. Game day thread starting counting them as they were happening, that can't be a thing. If Lou does anything that is what we must stop.
Hoping the veteran safeties clean this up. Really excited to see what Geno Stone looks like as safety for us. Also excited to Dax at corner. Really don't need a shutdown defense if our offense is doing what it's supposed.
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The whole reason the defensive first and second strings looked better in preseason is the huge IQ injection in the safety room. It was rock dumb safeties that caused most of the explosive plays because in Lou's defense the alignments are set by a safety. It even affected the linebackers - remember the interview where it was flat out stated Wilson and Pratt were playing on swivels because they could not trust the backend to be in the proper places?
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(08-26-2024, 06:01 PM)casear2727 Wrote: Time of possession really doesnt mean much when your defense leads the league in explosive plays....
Stats over past 3 yrs. ? Regardless the point I made is valid we are not as bad some said.
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(08-26-2024, 09:09 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Stats over past 3 yrs. ? Regardless the point I made is valid we are not as bad some said.
Not really, winning time of possession last season meant squat as we were last, or close, in almost every other category. Giving up scores quickly isnt a good thing. But you can think you made a great point if you want to....
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Chew this one over Labor Day.
Patriots have new coach and this isn't the dynasty Patriots anymore. Bengals may have finished last place in AFC North, but they had a winning record.
Bengals will beat the Patriots new coach in THE JUNGLE. I'll leave point spreads to those that gamble. With at Kansas City the next week, Bengals will know the importance of Winning to make darn sure they don't start 0-2 on the season. That's a hole they don't want to dig. Bengals will WIN in THE JUNGLE over this new version of Patriots.
GO BENGALS
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Matthew Judon being traded to Atlanta makes this MU much easier to swallow.
There's absolutely no reason for the Bengals to lose this game. If they find a way to lose, it's a bad omen for things to come. We go to KC the week after. Bengals get it done, despite our horrible history against backup and scrub QBs.
Bengals-28
Patriots-24
***Subject to change if the Patriots sign Noah Brown prior to kickoff. That move by itself turns our home opener into a trap game***
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I can see us losing and winning against KC so the NFL has their story, and we have our heart attacks.
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Trap game.
We need to jump out to an early lead and put the pressure on the rookie QB.
Can’t let them keep it close.
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I predict they look bad ass.
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Hopefully it doesn't come down to punting. Not that I'm overly nervous about that but if the offense takes awhile to get going I could see it being a field position battle at first.
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Bengals should win easily but week one games are always a toss up
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35-21. Pats will have some success on the ground.
Romo “ so impressed with Zac ...1 of the best in the NFL… they are just fundamentally sound. Taylor the best winning % in the Playoffs of current coaches. Joe Burrow” Zac is the best head coach in the NFL & that gives me a lot of confidence." Taylor led the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990, ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, en and appeared in Super Bowl LVI, the first since 1988.
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2nd string in, 2 minutes into the 4th.
Good guys by 27.
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Bengals should win the game easily but first week games can get weird. (Remember when we nearly beat the Seahawks in week 1 of 2019?)
Key to the games
Bengals offense- Attack early an often. Especially on early down situations and short yardage situations.
Move Chase around and take advantage when he isn't matched up against Christian Gonzalez.
Defense-
Win on first, and second down, and force Patriots into known passing situations.
Stay in pass rushing lanes and plaster Wrs when QBs are scrambling.
Prediction- Bengals 24- Patriots 10
Game Ball- Goes to Sheldon Rankins who gets 1 sack, 3 Qb Hits, and 2 TFLs.
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