Good, Bad and Ugly from the game

[CanadianBengal]

Good - Andy hustling to make the tackle and save a TD. Sets a good example of what it takes to win. Mixon was great. Tackling was great. Punt coverage was great. Offensive play calling was good. Left side of O-Line played well. Bengals typically lose ugly--winning ugly is good enough. Second half was better than first half --haven't said that too often. Nice to see penalties called on WR for a change.

Bad - D-Line needed to get more consistent pressure (even if Luck got rid of it quickly). Crossing routes, slants and pretty much any pass over the middle was too easy. Hart was embarrassing (how bad is Ced and Jake that he beats them out?). A couple of third and longs on the last drive were completed (one ended in fumble fortunately) -- need to tighten up our 2 minute defense. Green needs to work on ball security although he ought to know that by now as he is a fumbler ( I think long skinny body and arms causes too much ball to be free but he needs to figure something out).

Ugly - Williams should have been ejected (He would have been a star in the 70s). He needs to learn the rules of todays game whether he likes them or not. Tough to see how Carlos could have done anything different on both sacks (other than not sack the QB). It will be hard to sack Big Ben if you have to go in gently. Call on WJIII was actually the worst although it did not matter. If the expectation is that he just needed to touch the WR because he was going down you would be missing the point of trying to stop him from getting in the endzone.

1-0 --feels nice.

[*bengalfan74*]

In the first half the D line got little pressure other than the Geno sack.....but they had MJ out there way to much at DE. 2nd half they got a lot better pressure.

We totally outplayed them in the 2nd half which is odd for ML. Would have even been worse had the zebras not kept it closer with the BS roughing calls on Dunlap.

[thompson19osu]

I’ll add a couple.

Good: Joe Mixon averaging 5.6 yards a carry. Dude was running HARD today. Looks lean and fast.

Bad: Bobby Hart. He is awful. Made Margus Hunt look like a world beater. Speaking of, the officiating was awful. Hunt’s second sack he went to the neck area of Dalton. Watch the highlight. Should be called 10/10 times. Not to mention they turned Dalton’s helmet 90 degrees on his head earlier in the game and also wasn’t called. Fact is ththat Bengals just never get the breaks from officiating.

Not-so-bad: Was down on our D today while watching. However in hindsight they made the Colts play small ball and only gave up 17. If our D gives up just 17 a game we will have a chance each and every game. The type of game Austin calls will have me worried that other teams will own the T.O.P.

All around ugly win but a good win on the road against AFC opponent.

[I_C_DeadPeople]

Bad - typical mostly lethargic performance, especially early on. Very typical of ML teams

[Goalpost]

Another good. We at least have a fullback option in Hubbard

[Pat5775]

The Good: Marv may have changed his mind on in-game adjustments we can only hope this keeps up

The Bad: Teryl Austin. It's early, but I believe his defensive scheme is going to cost us a lot of games this year. Think back to the 2006-2007 Chuck Bresnahan era. This is nothing like Zimmer, or even Guenther... I hope I'm wrong about this.

The ugly: Bobby Hart. Worthless fat sack of putrid pig s*it. Cut him immediately and replace him with someone on the street for all I care. The man has no business playing football at a professional level. How our coaching staff thinks it's a good idea to keep him around blows my mind.

[Nicomo Cosca]

Good- Eifert didn’t get injured!

[CanadianBengal]

(09-09-2018, 11:36 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Good- Eifert didn’t get injured!

I was going to add that but I didnt want to jinx him

[Sweetness]

The good:
Sacks given up by the Bengals the last 3 years
- 2016 - 6
- 2017 - 4 (we had 5 turnovers partly from pressure)
- 2018 - 2

Sacks given up by Dallas the last 3 years
- 2016 - 0
- 2017 - 1
- 2018 - wait for it..........6

I think you guys can see where I'm going with this one....

[Nicomo Cosca]

(09-10-2018, 12:07 AM)Sweetness Wrote: The good:
Sacks given up by the Bengals the last 3 years
- 2016 - 6
- 2017 - 4 (we had 5 turnovers partly from pressure)
- 2018 - 2

Sacks given up by Dallas the last 3 years
- 2016 - 0
- 2017 - 1
- 2018 - wait for it..........6

I think you guys can see where I'm going with this one....

Dallas gave up 6 today? Holy shit I didn’t think PA could ruin such a good line so quickly.

[Bengal Dude]

I know it's only week 1, but RT definitely needs to be addressed next offseason.

The tackle market looks very thin for next year so I'm thinking RT has to be one of our top 3 picks. 

[*SHRacerX*]

Ok, Canadian Bacon....I am more than a little threatened that you hijacked my normal Monday Morning thread, but you nailed most of the analysis so I will let it go :)

Good- Dalton. That first pass was tipped and he should have just tucked it and taken the sack, but he was nearly flawless outside of that. Green had a bad drop, and I think there were a few other drops. He was accurate, decisive, and didn't go in to a shell after the first INT. Before getting injured, Preston Brown was looking awesome. Hope he is OK. Mixon looked VERY determined. I was a little bummed after calling the first play (OK, Boling didn't pull) that they didn't go RIGHT back to it. He had huge rushing lanes and I want to see them wear down an opponent with the run.

Bad- I am going to say the defensive front 7. I hate the (&%)&%$# bleeping cushion, that as I said in a prior thread, if the Colts go max protection, we need to have an answer. We sent a LB late a couple times but he looked completely lost. They need to tighten up coverage and be tougher in pass rush. Our guys get hands on them from the offensive line and just stalemate. Watch the first half (I went to bed and missed a great comeback) of the Bears, Packers game and watch the persistent arm work and drive on their pass rushers. Not just Mack. It was insane.
This needs to change and change now. Not impressed with Austin at all. The talent is there, you have to stop giving such a GD cushion.

The Ugly- Shawn's hit on the Golden Boy could send the entire NFL Senior Management over the edge and the Bengals would never get a fair shake again. Burfict 2.0. On the upside, Fej played very well in relief and I loved that forced fumble and TD return to win the game. Good for you, Fej.

[BoomerFan]

Good - Secondary stepped up late in the game. Dunno if they switched from zone to man or just got faster and more aggressive somehow but they got it done. We all saw Fej ice the game but he was playing well before that. Also I was impressed with corner Tony McRae who made an excellent tackle on special teams. I was also very happy with how the linebacker corps played. Preston played well before he left with the injury. Vigil had the great game we've all been waiting for him to have! Hardy Nickerson looked good too (kinda sad we'll probably lose him when Burfict comes back). Offensively Mixon really did shine both running and catching passes. Gio struggled which is nothing to worry about -- he'll have good days again but it does show that what Mixon did was not just the line doing all the work (though there were some holes they opened). Dalton chasing down the INT was important- it gave the defense a chance which resulted in a different score than otherwise would've been. And all around he had a strong day with good throws and a 75% completion rate.

This Indy team looks like Wildcard material at least if Luck stays healthy and we fought through adversity and bad officiating to get the win.

Bad - I'm with everyone else wondering what we can do to improve the right side of the line right away. Maybe it will improve with time or maybe we need to have a weekly competition (other than this week where we have another game in 4 days) to see who gets the start.

Ugly - Can we please utilize Tyler Boyd more? It is like we forget he exists for long periods of time. I know we have other stars to get the ball to but Boyd really could be a legit Marvin Jones replacement if we give him the chance. I realize there is only one ball and some players may not have a chance in a close game (Malone, Tra Carson) and that is reasonable but he really is a game changing player. Also, I love AJ Green and what he can do but are there some drills we can have him do to help with the fumbling and the tipped balls? I know Jarvis Landry has a workout routine that incorporates some strange things that focus on grip strength and agility. AJ is elite but that doesn't mean it is impossible for him to get better.

[BengalChris]

(09-10-2018, 12:07 AM)Sweetness Wrote: The good:
Sacks given up by the Bengals the last 3 years
- 2016 - 6
- 2017 - 4 (we had 5 turnovers partly from pressure)
- 2018 - 2

Sacks given up by Dallas the last 3 years
- 2016 - 0
- 2017 - 1
- 2018 - wait for it..........6

I think you guys can see where I'm going with this one....

Yep, Prescott was under pressure all day. Can recognize Paul Alexander's work anywhere.

[GreenCornBengal]

It may have been ugly, but props to Andy for tackling the would be pick 6. I know a lot of people go "DON'T TACKLE ANDY, YOUR THUMB!!!"

But, without that tackle.. there is no win.

[Whatever]

(09-10-2018, 12:28 AM)Bengal Dude Wrote: I know it's only week 1, but RT definitely needs to be addressed next offseason.

The tackle market looks very thin for next year so I'm thinking RT has to be one of our top 3 picks. 

After rewatching the game, I have hope that the right side will improve some throughout the year.  Hunt guessed the snap count correctly and got a huge jump on his second sack.  On his first, Hart never got reset after his drop step and Hunt just ran him over.  There seemed to be a disconnect between Hart and Redmond as to how deep they're supposed to drop in pass pro. Hart was noticeably drop stepping a lot further back, especially in the second half, creating a lot of gap in between the two and inviting people to attack Hart's inside.  That should get better as they play together.  Hart does not anchor well after that deep drop set.  Since I primarily noticed it in the second half, I do wonder if that was something he was taught with the Giants that he reverted to as the game went on.

[BFritz21]

Biggest areas of concern for me:

The line seems like they still need work. It worries me because we can't do anything if they don't improve, even if they looked halfway decent. Andy had happy feet, so you know he has his doubts, too.