09-22-2015, 11:13 AM
(09-21-2015, 07:35 PM)Nizoj Wrote: Yes, the Bengals were mentioned in MMQB both this week and last week:
Last week - something about maybe we shouldn't have counted them as dead and buried so soon
This week - something about Andy Dalton getting booed at the all star softball game
I take the bias with a grain of salt but it oozes out of Peter Kings writing. I don't know what happened to him here in Cincy but he's grumpy about something.
Are you even serious? This is what King wrote about the Bengals. It is A LOT more than Dalton getting booed at the All Star game...
6. The Bengals are Old Man River. Since Andy Dalton was drafted in the second round in 2011, he has started every one of Cincinnati’s 70 games. The Bengals have won nine, 10, 11 and 10 games in his four regular seasons. For the first time in franchise history they’ve made the playoffs four straight years. And as you know if you follow football even slightly, it’s not enough. Dalton and the Bengals are 0-4 in those playoff games, and the local populace is getting quite restless. Reportedly, Dalton was booed by some fans during this year’s baseball All-Star Game festivities in Cincinnati.
So what are we to make of the Bengals’ 2-0 start, and Dalton’s terrific performance so far? He has completed 68.3% of his throws in wins over Oakland and San Diego, with five touchdowns and no interceptions. The difference this year could be a tight end the offense trusts instead of the inconsistent Jermaine Gresham. Tyler Eifert leads the team with 13 catches on 17 targets, 153 yards and three touchdowns—more, in each count, than star wideout A.J. Green. That’s because offensive coordinator Hue Jackson has been eager to feature a strong receiving tight end, and now he has one. With Green, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, and a very good receiving back in Gio Bernard, Dalton has five legitimate threats. If they stay upright, Dalton might finally break his January schneid this year.
“We understand that we have a lot of good players on the offensive side of the ball,” said Eifert, the 2013 first-round pick out of Notre Dame. “But you never know who is going to break out or have a good game. It’s good to have a lot of good players to give the defenses a lot of things to worry about.”
While it’s true the Bengals have to get the playoff monkey off their backs, what they’ve done in the first two games shows it’s not something that beats them down. The next three weeks—at Baltimore, then Kansas City and Seattle at home, all defenses that can pressure the quarterback well—will give a good indication whether Dalton has enough weapons and can rise to the pressure he has to be feeling.
From his "Ten Things I Think I Think "
e. The great catch by A.J. Green, and very good throw by Andy Dalton, on the Bengals’ touchdown two minutes into the game against San Diego. Green’s such a great fingertip catcher.
In the "Fine Fifteen" today, he has them ranked #6 and has a video posted where he says they will "be a factor way into the playoffs".
I get that some of the fans like to have this "woe is me, no one has any respect at all for the Bengals" attitude, but it is just not true. Was it true in the past? Yes, it definitely was, but it was also deserved.
And for everyone talking about how much press the Cowboys have gotten in the last 48 hours, keep in mind they lost Romo and found out Dez will miss probably 10-12 weeks. It is big news in the NFL... let's how the Bengals don't get this same type of press coverage any time soon...
