Merril Hodge says Bengals can compete with the Patriots

[Trademark]

He said on ESPN that the Bengals can compete with the Patriots and he called Eifert a mini Gronk he said there isn't any doubt that the Bengals can play with them defensively and offensively and he said that we are probably more explosive than the Patriots and showed our defense and said it would be an interesting matchup f they cross paths in the playoffs. Thought that was pretty good insight, thoughts ?

[Luvnit2]

my thought is there is a long way to go, but I love what I have seen sko far

Also, teams in week 16 look very different than in week 3 due to injury and player development

Let's hope we progress in the weeks ahead versus digress

If we do, it could be one great year for this group

[jj22]

He forgot coaching :/

BB will have us looking like we don't belong.

Maybe if we play them home at the 1:00 slot.

[J24]

Gronk scares the crap out of me against this defense.

[jj22]

Eifert has to consistently produce like Gronk for the comparison. Not just the elbow brace.

No going full games with no catches.

[djs7685]

(09-29-2015, 02:38 PM)Trademark Wrote: He said on ESPN that the Bengals can compete with the Patriots and he called Eifert a mini Gronk he said there isn't any doubt that the Bengals can play with them defensively and offensively and he said that we are probably more explosive than the Patriots and showed our defense and said it would be an interesting matchup f they cross paths in the playoffs. Thought that was pretty good insight, thoughts ?

Nobody cares about the Bengals! No one gives us love! No respect from anyone!

Oh, wait.

Last year after week 3, the Patriots were supposed to be done and a shell of their former selves, the Bengals were hot and on the rise and high in the rankings. This team looks different than last year, but I'm not going to count anyone in or out of the playoffs quite yet. IMO, it's silly to sit around dissecting a hypothetical matchup that may not even happen in a few more months. Currently, I don't think we're quite on the Pats level yet. They're playing great football from top to bottom. I think this kind of thing will be more interesting to look at toward the end of the year opposed to the beginning.

(09-29-2015, 02:49 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Let's hope we progress in the weeks ahead versus digress regress

FIFY

[fredtoast]

(09-29-2015, 02:54 PM)jj22 Wrote: He forgot coaching :/

BB will have us looking like we don't belong.

Who was coaching the Pats in '13?

Brady isplaying exactly like he did the year after spygate, and that may mean the Pats are not going to get beaten.  But when you just look at how the teams are playing the Bengals would match up with the Patriots just fine.  the Pats defense this year is not elite.

[jj22]

(09-29-2015, 03:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Who was coaching the Pats in '13?

Brady isplaying exactly like he did the year after spygate, and that may mean the Pats are not going to get beaten.  But when you just look at how the teams are playing the Bengals would match up with the Patriots just fine.  the Pats defense this year is not elite.

I feel like it's never been about personnel when it comes to facing the Pats. It's the coaching that seems to get us. BB just seems to make the most out of who he has playing (outside of 2013).

[BigPapaKain]

Street ball with no coaches? Absolutely.

NFL ball with coaches? No chance.

[yellowxdiscipline]

Hoodie > Giggles

always.

Bill will find a way to outcoach Marvin. That's our one glaring weakness in a matchup with the Patriots.

[McC]

(09-29-2015, 02:54 PM)jj22 Wrote: He forgot coaching :/

BB will have us looking like we don't belong.

Maybe if we play them home at the 1:00 slot.

I don't expect Bengal coaches to outcoach him.  Not many can do that.  But they can't get so badly outcoached that you have no chance to outplay them. 

He's not gonna let the pass rush get to Brady, so you'd better have an answer for how quickly the ball will be out of Brady's hands.  And you had better tackle well.

His defense will try to take away what you do best, so you'd better have more than one way to beat them.

You cannot let them run on you.  If they do, you have little to no chance.

You had better be able to adjust on the fly.  Because they do.  Seems like BB doesn't have a game plan, he has about six.  If you're waiting till halftime to adjust, it might already be too late.

You have to be incredibly well prepared because you know they will be.

[tigershrimp]

There are a few buzzsaws out there I wouldn't want this team walking into.... New England is one.

Then again, that same thing can be said about the Bengals. No one should want to play this team this year.

[CJD]

That's what people said last year.

Look how that turned out.

I think the Patriots are in a league all their own.

We are a good team, but we'd lose to New England if we played tomorrow.

In the playoffs, in New England most likely, I'd also have a hard time believing we'd beat them.

Tom Brady is, quite simply, the best there is. At least in the NFL today, perhaps ever.

We just have to wait for his ass to retire.

[Au165]

Everyone will say "They said the same thing last year", but that doesn't make it wrong this year. Remember at this point last year Jones was gone, Eiffert was gone, Injuries on defense and the line were around the corner. Geno still had not recovered leaving our pass rush toothless. Dalton last year struggled to punch it in the red zone, versus his ability to convert touchdowns this year. I really thing we are seeing what could have been last year with a healthy team. That in itself is the magic answer, if this team stays healthy it could be special, and if Burffict comes back, they could be dominate. It all comes down to if this team can stay intact and healthy.

[Butchie Tiger]

I think we have better weapons at WR and RB than NE(but they have Brady), but the D still scares me if we can't get any sustained pressure on Brady and oh boy how are our guys going to tackle Gronk.

[fredtoast]

(09-29-2015, 04:04 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Tom Brady is, quite simply, the best there is. At least in the NFL today, perhaps ever.

We just have to wait for his ass to retire.

Because the Bengals could never ever beat the Patriots with Tom Brady starting.....



Oh, wait, nevermind........

[XenoMorph]

(09-29-2015, 04:17 PM)Au165 Wrote: Everyone will say "They said the same thing last year", but that doesn't make it wrong this year. Remember at this point last year Jones was gone, Eiffert was gone, Injuries on defense and the line were around the corner. Geno still had not recovered leaving our pass rush toothless. Dalton last year struggled to punch it in the red zone, versus his ability to convert touchdowns this year. I really thing we are seeing what could have been last year with a healthy team. That in itself is the magic answer, if this team stays healthy it could be special, and if Burffict comes back, they could be dominate. It all comes down to if this team can stay intact and healthy.

we just beat them the year before i think keeping brady out of the endzone (or if not only 1 TD)

Last year our problem was besides playing at their house...
Defense we had 3 backup linebackers playing and the d couldnt get set with lumar running the show.

Offense... Our WRs couldnt hold on to the ball once they caught it... And our TE had trouble catching it.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-29-2015, 04:17 PM)Au165 Wrote: Everyone will say "They said the same thing last year", but that doesn't make it wrong this year. Remember at this point last year Jones was gone, Eiffert was gone, Injuries on defense and the line were around the corner. Geno still had not recovered leaving our pass rush toothless. Dalton last year struggled to punch it in the red zone, versus his ability to convert touchdowns this year. I really thing we are seeing what could have been last year with a healthy team. That in itself is the magic answer, if this team stays healthy it could be special, and if Burffict comes back, they could be dominate. It all comes down to if this team can stay intact and healthy.

I think this sums it up to me. If we are healthy i think we can definately play with the Pats. Our weapons are
better and i love how Dalton is playing right now and our D-line rotation i think would give Brady lots of problems.

In the end i think we could beat them as long as Marv can just coach us decent cause Belicheat is the much better
coach. That is what hurts us in a matchup with the Pats, the coaching. But i think our players can even it up a bit.

[Anderson HOF]

(09-29-2015, 06:06 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I think this sums it up to me. If we are healthy i think we can definately play with the Pats. Our weapons are
better and i love how Dalton is playing right now and our D-line rotation i think would give Brady lots of problems.

In the end i think we could beat them as long as Marv can just coach us decent cause Belicheat is the much better
coach. That is what hurts us in a matchup with the Pats, the coaching. But i think our players can even it up a bit.

I agree with your post totally, the only thing i will add is who can coach against Belicheat.

Funny though.. I thought it was a terrible decision not to call timeout in the Super Bowl on the last drive.. he was not a great coaching decision that won that game.. it was a bad coaching decision by Seattle that did it.  If New England would have lost , many people would have critical of his coaching at end of game.. funny how things turned out 

[*bengalfan74*]

(09-29-2015, 03:43 PM)McC Wrote: I don't expect Bengal coaches to outcoach him.  Not many can do that.  But they can't get so badly outcoached that you have no chance to outplay them. 

He's not gonna let the pass rush get to Brady, so you'd better have an answer for how quickly the ball will be out of Brady's hands.  And you had better tackle well.

His defense will try to take away what you do best, so you'd better have more than one way to beat them.

You cannot let them run on you.  If they do, you have little to no chance.

You had better be able to adjust on the fly.  Because they do.  Seems like BB doesn't have a game plan, he has about six.  If you're waiting till halftime to adjust, it might already be too late.

You have to be incredibly well prepared because you know they will be.

^This^

I fully believe Hodge is right if we can do this stuff like McC says here. We can compete with them if we stay in the game. Their defense isn't all that. Catch a couple breaks and we stay clean as possible, anything can happen.