10-25-2022, 02:23 PM
(10-25-2022, 02:20 PM)pally Wrote: Watching Joe's play now vs how he played against the Steelers is a big indicator of just how much the appendectomy and the infection took out of him. Even a 25 year old elite athlete can't escape the effects of the systemic infection stemming from a burst appendix. An injury is easy compared to 6 days in the hospital, inability to eat, fevers, exhaustion, body aches.
The challenges from the Steelers game weren't just a bad line or lack of practice. He didn't play with his usual energy. He didn't move away from the pressure. How many of us commented that his throws were "off"
He may never admit it but his play was affected the first couple of weeks and most especially for game 1.
Its good to see him look like the Joe we know again these last couple of weeks
While it's a convenient timing, the struggles were definitely football related. This was the exact same struggle Mahomes and the Chiefs went through last year. It also took then 3 or 4 games to figure out how they wanted to attack and also to stick to running to get folks out of it. The Bengals had no plan for the cover 2 shells they were getting early on. The concepts at times made little sense and there was 0 patience from play caller and QB to go on long drives. Now you watch this week and they are running scissor concepts, they are running trail routes, they are doing clear outs with replacements underneath, and they added the RPO more aggressively at times.
This is a case of growing as a young team and learning how to let your offense evolve.
