The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

[3wt]

(6 hours ago)Sled21 Wrote: Unlike the wrist slitters, I don't see us being anywhere near done. The defense has been playing good enough up until last night when we were missing both starting DT's and one of the backups was playing with a clubbed hand. They laid an egg, it happens. The offense has been looking pretty good, and both Yoshi and Chase had good games last night. Washington has shown it's better than people thought, and not just against us, as they haven't punted in two straight games.
The AFCN is still up for grabs.
Stealers- they are 3-0, but they are doing it with defense. They've played the Falcons, Broncos and Chargers, and managed to put 18, 13, and 20 points on the board respectively. That's not going to get it done with their schedule as the season progresses.
Ravens 1-2. Tucker is struggling this year. They are 1 game ahead of us.
Browns 1-2 They lost Chubb, and now it looks like Garrett may be having nerve problems in his feet and legs and is out. Teller will be out for multiple weeks and it's unclear when Njoku will be back.
The Bengals need Hill and Rankins back, and for the new guy to get back in shape, but point is, the Bengals are still as much in it as the rest of the North. Win the north, you're in the playoffs. Get hot going into the playoffs, as Taylor's teams seem to do, and anything can happen.

I was there.  The defense was hard to look at.  But I agree we're not done.

There are a lot of holes in the defense, but it really is all contingent on the defensive line.   Daniels had way too much time back there and we were unable to stop the run.  That is a recipe for catastrophe.

I would like to have seen more from Jenkins and Guy, but I understand the need to be judicious about the number of snaps
Losing first Reader, then all our starters was killer.  Then both our DT draft picks exited before the season starts.  And who knew there was even a potential to lose Rankins and Hill the same day to hamstring injuries.  That's five defensive tackles!

Then we lose our first round DE from last year.  And it appears Hubbard is just aging out.   Just a truly unfortunate situation.

If we can limp our way past the Panthers, maybe we have a chance against Baltimore.  But honestly till we get that position group hitting on all cylinders we are just going to struggle.  

But I'm encouraged by performance of the offensive line, Ioshi, Tee, Chase and the new and improved TE group.  

It's a long shot but I feel we still have a chance for the post season.   And if our new defensive linemen show up we could still make a mark.