Do we tank this game vs New Orleans?

[J24]

We have a chance against New Orleans. We're not the favorite clearly but it's not a slam dunk that we will lose either.

[Big Boss]

This rhetoric doesn't make sense when you consider that we are still in play to win the division. But even if the Steelers were running away with it, we still have to fight for a wildcard, and that requires winning as many games as possible.

If we find ourselves down by 3 touchdowns at the start of the second half this Sunday, then sure, cut your losses and start pulling guys. But to lay down before opening kickoff? No way.

[motoarch]

We tanked against the Jets once so we could keep people healthy and not give away our game plan to face them the next week in the wildcard round.


It didn’t. Like at all.

[Bengalholic]

I don't see why you would ever consider 'tanking a game' when you're 5-3 and competing for a potential playoff berth. I'll admit that this game against the Saints is a major uphill battle, especially with all the injuries, but crazy things can happen on game day.

[Tiger Teeth]

A 5-3 team fighting for the division and a playoff berth, tanking? I don't think so.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(11-06-2018, 11:30 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I was listening to Mo Egger yesterday and he was talking about just tanking vs New Orleans. Basically, we have no shot of winning, and with Baltimore coming up the following week, we should not risk Dalton, Mixon or any of our other major players getting injured for a lost cause of a game.

He went through the AFC wild card contenders as such:

Miami is 5-4 with the Packers, Patriots and Vikings remaining on their schedule, so their best case scenario is probably 9-7 (and we own the tie breaker).
No other contenders in the East.

The Titans and Jags are a hot mess and he doesn't believe the Titans will go 5-3 to end their season to end on 9-7.
The Jags would need to end 6-2 to even have a shot at the wild card at 9-7.

The Chargers have probably already secured a playoff spot at 6-2. And there is no other competition in the AFC West for a playoff seed.

So that leaves Baltimore, sitting at 4-5. They'd need to go 5-2 in the remainder of their season to even get to 9-7.

So he's saying, if we can ignore New Orleans, count it as a loss, rest all of your starters and go into Baltimore healthy and rested (who are coming off of a bye anyway) we have hand them their 6th loss, putting them at 4-6 and then they'd need to finish 5-1 to even make 9-7. And, in the case that they did, we would only need to go 3-3 (6-4 after losing to NO and winning vs Baltimore) in our final 6 games to guarantee a playoff spot, since beating Baltimore would give us the head to head tie breaker.

The odds of going 3-3 against the Browns, Broncos, Raiders, Chargers, Browns and Steelers is, in his opinion, a pretty good bet. And that'd only be necessary if one of those teams did end at 9-7, as we'd win any tiebreaker at 8-8 if none made it to 9-7.

What are your guys' thoughts on his opinion of the playoff outlook and whether or not to tank the New Orleans game?

I don't know if we tank but we are coming off a bye where we usually lose, that is the main reason for us tanking
that and this pathetic Defense going against the great Drew Brees. But their Defense is not the best in the world
either and Dalton, Boyd and Mixon have all been very good to great this year.

The Saints are coming off two big wins and just knocked off the best team in the league. They could have a let
down game yah never know. But without AJ i don't see us winning this game.

I just hope to see a better Defense out on the field in this one and no more injuries. Then we can make a run.

Like you said, lots of ways for us to still make the Playoffs as long as we win the games we should.

[*ochocincos*]

Tanking while at 5-3, especially while in front of your home crowd, will send a terrible message to the fan base and have a big impact on attendance the rest of the season. Try to win the game, but if the lead grows to 21+ points sometime in the second half, consider putting in your backups at that point.

[XenoMorph]

well we wont tank it on purpose... It could be another blow out but who knows we tend to fair well vs the NFC

[Bengalholic]

(11-06-2018, 02:31 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I don't know if we tank but we are coming off a bye where we usually lose, that is the main reason for us tanking
that and this pathetic Defense going against the great Drew Brees. But their Defense is not the best in the world
either and Dalton, Boyd and Mixon have all been very good to great this year.

The Saints are coming off two big wins and just knocked off the best team in the league. They could have a let
down game yah never know. But without AJ i don't see us winning this game.

I just hope to see a better Defense out on the field in this one and no more injuries. Then we can make a run.

Like you said, lots of ways for us to still make the Playoffs as long as we win the games we should.

No doubt, the defense is going to have their hands full. Hopefully, they can find a way to get some pressure on Brees and maybe create a couple of turnovers. If not, it could be a very long day.

One ray of hope offensively is that Andy has completed 69% of his passes and has around a 120 QB rating against the Saints the previous 3 times he's played them. Not having AJ is a big problem though. Need others step up to their game.

[Nati#1]

Our Defense is gonna get smoked. Can only pray Lazor has a good gameplan to put up at least 40 points to stay in the game. Then if we win Teryl will take the credit for the W again.

[thompson19osu]

(11-06-2018, 11:40 AM)fredtoast Wrote: If we admit we can't beat good teams then there is no need to try and make the playoffs.

There are big upsets pretty much every week in the NFL. Anything can happen. The Lions manhandled the Patriots 26-10 earlier this year.

Agree with this 100%.

Also the players SHOULD have too much pride to just go in there and lay down. Granted I do think the Bengals will get killed but as he said the NFL is fickle week to week and anything can happen.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(11-06-2018, 03:00 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: No doubt, the defense is going to have their hands full. Hopefully, they can find a way to get some pressure on Brees and maybe create a couple of turnovers. If not, it could be a very long day.

One ray of hope offensively is that Andy has completed 69% of his passes and has around a 120 QB rating against the Saints the previous 3 times he's played them. Not having AJ is a big problem though. Need others step up  to their game.

All true Holic.

We always seem to play Brees and the Saints tough. I mean i don't see us winning this game but it could happen.

In the end our Defense does need to play a great game and AJ being out is a big deal. The bye week came at the right
time for us but man it is hard to ignore Marv's record after the bye. Dalton IS playing his best ever right now and Boyd
could give that Saints D trouble along with Mixon. Fun matchup, Mixon vs. Kamara.

Should be a fun game to watch. I just think they have the edge cause we have no AJ Green.

But we have won games without him before...

And it could be a let down game in our house after those last two huge wins for the Saints. :andy:

[Catmandude123]

If Fluncco plays the way he did against the Steelers we have a good chance even without AJ. I will agree if the Saints game gets out of hand play the 2nd teamers and give them playing time. Their experience may come to be valuable later in the season. If we win one of the two games we are 6-4 with two games against the Browns and one each against the Raiders and Broncos. If we can't win those games we don't belong in the playoffs anyway. We usually are beat up at the end of the season. Maybe we get back healthy at the seasons end

[Shake n Blake]

This is the dumbest idea I've heard in awhile.

1. The last time we played New Orleans, we smoked them 27-10. Sure, a lots changed since then, but the core of both teams is still much the same. We're also playing them at home. We smacked them in their dome last time.

2. The Saints have played the Browns and Ravens so far, and managed to beat them by a combined 4 points. Their amazing offense has only scored 21 and 24 points in those games.

You'd have to be a complete homer to predict a win for the Bengals, but to act like we have zero shot and should just concede the game is just as silly. It wouldn't shock me much if we did win on Sunday.

[bengalhoel]

(11-06-2018, 11:30 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I was listening to Mo Egger yesterday and he was talking about just tanking vs New Orleans. Basically, we have no shot of winning, and with Baltimore coming up the following week, we should not risk Dalton, Mixon or any of our other major players getting injured for a lost cause of a game.

He went through the AFC wild card contenders as such:

Miami is 5-4 with the Packers, Patriots and Vikings remaining on their schedule, so their best case scenario is probably 9-7 (and we own the tie breaker).
No other contenders in the East.

The Titans and Jags are a hot mess and he doesn't believe the Titans will go 5-3 to end their season to end on 9-7.
The Jags would need to end 6-2 to even have a shot at the wild card at 9-7.

The Chargers have probably already secured a playoff spot at 6-2. And there is no other competition in the AFC West for a playoff seed.

So that leaves Baltimore, sitting at 4-5. They'd need to go 5-2 in the remainder of their season to even get to 9-7.

So he's saying, if we can ignore New Orleans, count it as a loss, rest all of your starters and go into Baltimore healthy and rested (who are coming off of a bye anyway) we have hand them their 6th loss, putting them at 4-6 and then they'd need to finish 5-1 to even make 9-7. And, in the case that they did, we would only need to go 3-3 (6-4 after losing to NO and winning vs Baltimore) in our final 6 games to guarantee a playoff spot, since beating Baltimore would give us the head to head tie breaker.

The odds of going 3-3 against the Browns, Broncos, Raiders, Chargers, Browns and Steelers is, in his opinion, a pretty good bet. And that'd only be necessary if one of those teams did end at 9-7, as we'd win any tiebreaker at 8-8 if none made it to 9-7.

What are your guys' thoughts on his opinion of the playoff outlook and whether or not to tank the New Orleans game?

Tell me this isnt really a thing. Why in the bloody hell would you tank a game when we are 5-3 and in position for the AFC north title and a Wild Card spot?  New Orleans is good but they lost to Tampa Bay, remember? 

Its tough with so many injuries but someone else just has to step up and play the damn game, My God!!!

[Millhouse]

I like the Mo & Tony show myself, only when it concerns the Bengals tho. But this is one of those things that I don't get why he says. Because at the end of the day there is a 0.0 percent chance of them tanking the game on purpose. It isn't even a possibility for it to happen, so I don't get why he would even think out loud on the radio about it.

But no, tanking this game, I mean cmon man. Tanking any game is bad enough, but this is mindbogglingly bad at ludicrous speed.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-06-2018, 11:33 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I don't think it's as easy as that. If you rest your starters it signals to the team that it's ok to give up if you play a team you can't beat.

I think you have to try to win every game you play.

Tanking games here and there to try to get a 6 seed shouldn't be the goal.

That would be my take on it......unless you're toast, a la the Raiders, and you're looking to lock down the number 1 pick.....you never tank.

[Millhouse]

(11-06-2018, 04:26 PM)Wyche Wrote: That would be my take on it......unless you're toast, a la the Raiders, and you're looking to lock down the number 1 pick.....you never tank.

I don't even agree with tanking to get the number 1 pick.

The only time it is acceptable, imo, to tank a game, or at least sit the starters on purpose, is the last game of the season after making the playoffs, and that game won't have any bearing on the playoff spot. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-06-2018, 04:31 PM)Millhouse Wrote: I don't even agree with tanking to get the number 1 pick.

The only time it is acceptable, imo, to tank a game, or at least sit the starters on purpose, is the last game of the season after making the playoffs, and that game won't have any bearing on the playoff spot. 

I guess it would depend on how desperate your team is, and if number 1 is a slam dunk pick......I wouldn't like it, but I could see it.

[*bengalfan74*]

Beating the Saints at home in 45 degree weather is by no means out of the question. We're just gonna need a couple breaks and be able to have some productive running game.

Who knows ? Perhaps Carlos will get one of his swat int. pic 6's ?

There's no way you try and tank this game.