A Different Kind of Win

[hitchopottimus]

(10-19-2015, 10:53 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: How is a 115 QBR just okay?

AD did it when the other team took away AJ making his day more impressive.

Also, his deep pass to Jones was a thing of beauty and one heck of a play by Jones. The Bengals entire team is stepping up and helping make AD look great at times, but that does not take away what AD is accomplishing. He has been brilliant and add in yet another audible into a Gio run for his TD. AD is proving he may be Peyton Manning smart managing a game and that is impressive company to be even in this discussion.

I've always thought QBs were a whole lot like pitchers in baseball. Some pitchers have overwhelming "stuff." An unhittable sinker, a crazy fastball, etc. Some are just clever with their pitch selection and placement. Some have both. QBs are similar. Some have pinpoint accuracy and an arm like a cannon. Others make really good decisions. The greats have both. Just like really good pitchers, some days QBs have days where their "stuff" isn't quite what it usually is. The fastball is a few MPH off, the sinker isn't diving like it should.

At the beginning of this game, Dalton's "stuff" didn't look great. Watch the replay. On the eyeball test, he was floating throws, even some he was completing. He worked through it, and made smarter throws the rest of the game, with the exception of the beauty to Jones, his throws weren't as precise. He mostly knew it, so he made throws where he had a larger window to work with. Due to his smarts and our receivers ability, he still had a really good game, but watching it, he was being a little safer with the ball, not forcing it into some of the tighter windows that he's hit this year, and overall made a great adjustment. In the past, on days where he didn't have his best stuff, Dalton would often spiral into misery. This year's Andy just makes smarter throws and still manages to have a good day, just like a great pitcher does.

[Joelist]

(10-19-2015, 10:52 AM)yellowxdiscipline Wrote: The Bills took away AJ, and we didn't sputter on offense. That's the difference between this years and last years team. Without AJ we looked lost, and relied heavily on Hill.

Lest we forget, last year there was no Eifert, no Marvin Jones and Green was playing hobbled most of the season.

[McC]

(10-19-2015, 12:08 PM)Savagehenry54 Wrote: I'm not so sure about that.  We are seeing very quickly how much we missed Jones and eifert last year.  with the backfield we have and all the top receiving targets healthy, I'm not sure theres a defense that can keep up.  Its a numbers game, too many playmakers for one defense to account for.

Stack the line to take away the run--no problem.  Sell out to take away Eifert and AJ--no problem.  Make Andy beat you--big mistake. 

You can't beat Andy with excessive blitzing, you can't scheme away all the weapons.  You can't seem to confuse or rattle him.  What's a defense to do?

[Joelist]

NFL Network actually did numbers on some of this, specifically how specific QBs fare against the blitz. And Andy was third in the NFL in terms of passer rating against the blitz behind Rodgers and Brady. And yes I am hunting for the link.

[*bengalfan74*]

There's just a different "feel" to this team than teams past. And I think many things come into play to get that. Andy's confidence is for sure one of the bigger reasons.

Hue has a year under his belt, him and Andy trust each other and are on the same page. Eifert. MLJ, Gio, A.J. all healthy and contributing.

But it's even deeper than all that I think. I can't quite put my finger on any one thing but this team believes in itself like no other Bengals team I've seen since the 80's.

I have full confidence we can and will go far.

[WhoDeyWho]

(10-19-2015, 11:26 AM)Sweetness Wrote: I think a major difference between this team and most teams is that even the stars realize how talented this team is. They understand they aren't all going to get 10 targets and 100 yards a game and they're okay with that. They genuinely seem happy when the team scores, even if it wasn't them who did it. (Except AJ, he HATES Dalton... ) You don't see Green, Jones, Hill, Eifert, Gio, etc complainin they aren't getting enough touches. They all put in good blocks and get excited when someone else scores. I'm sure AJ and anyone else on the team would take less targets/yards if it meant the team winning. 

Perhaps the difference is all these guys have played on winning teams their entire time here.  When you are playing on losing teams perhaps the only thing left to do is pad your stats and think about another contract?  Seems to me these guys are hungry for that elusive playoff victory and are willing to sacrifice in order to get it and then some.  

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(10-19-2015, 10:17 AM)hitchopottimus Wrote: It felt like the Buffalo game was a different sort of win for this year's team, which is kind of encouraging to see. Three major things stood out.

1) A slower start. First game this season they didn't score first, I believe. I liked seeing them overcome some early adversity. They've overcome adversity this season, but never early, and to me, it's psychologically a different thing. With late game issues, you can remind yourself how you played well early to help get your mind back on track. Early game issues you only have your general sense of confidence to fall back on against the feeling that the other team might just have your number today.

2. Dalton proved his "just okay" game this year is still pretty freaking good. Andy didn't have the dead-eye, perfect game he's had in some games this year. He floated some throws, hung Sanu out to dry on one screen, this is a game that in years past was easily looking to turn into a Bad Andy game. It never sppiralled, though. He pulled himself together, made solid throws and good decisions despite not having his best stuff in terms of pure accuracy.

3. AJ Green - The Bill's focused on him, and he didn't get much in the way of yardage and catches. Like a star, though, he found other days to impact the game, taking pressure off of Eifert and MLJ, and throwing a great block on Jones' TD catch and run.

Very true, but last week i would consider a slow start even if we scored on the first drive we still got
down 24-7. That is a slow start IMO. But still, another very nice win and just awesome going into the
bye week 6-0. We just need to stay healthy. That has been the main reason why we are one of the
best teams in the league.

I just hope MJ and Vinny are alright.

[Slappy from New Haven]

(10-19-2015, 01:45 PM)OrlandoBengal Wrote: I have always been a doubter of Dalton, but really like the way he is playing this year.  To me, he looks like a different guy out there.  The play with the bad snap yesterday really highlighted this for me.  Not only did he chuck the ball at the referee in disgust, but he turned and looked like he really let Bodine hear about it.  I don't know that he would have done that in previous years.  I am really hoping that we get to see at least a few more years of what he and Hue can do together.

I will disagree when they were coming off the field Andy pointed to himself and you could tell he told Bodine it was his issue. The snap hit him in the chest. The issue was the snap count I believe nothing wrong with the snap

[Utts]

What would this offense do if Gio got all the carries? Not hating on JH, just thinking out loud since Gio is doubling up JH in terms of YPC.

[Ned Ludd]

(10-19-2015, 12:09 PM)tigershrimp Wrote: It's different because it looked like the Flying Wallendas out there! Sheesh! JHill and MJones might as well be wearing these:

Still better than the Browns' uniforms...

[Ned Ludd]

(10-20-2015, 01:10 AM)Utts Wrote: What would this offense do if Gio got all the carries? Not hating on JH, just thinking out loud since Gio is doubling up JH in terms of YPC.

On production alone you've got to think that the balance of carries will shift towards Gio but opposition Ds still need to see Hill out there because he has the potential to hurt them and they've got to adjust accordingly.

[EatonFan]

(10-19-2015, 01:45 PM)OrlandoBengal Wrote: I have always been a doubter of Dalton, but really like the way he is playing this year.  To me, he looks like a different guy out there.  The play with the bad snap yesterday really highlighted this for me.  Not only did he chuck the ball at the referee in disgust, but he turned and looked like he really let Bodine hear about it.  I don't know that he would have done that in previous years.  I am really hoping that we get to see at least a few more years of what he and Hue can do together.

Better watch that play again.  That was a good snap and Andy simply missed the ball.  It goes right through his hands.  He turned to Bodine shaking his head to say it was his own fault ("that was on me") and that it wasn't a bad snap.

35 minutes into the game on the full replay thread.

[OrlandoBengal]

(10-20-2015, 05:45 AM)EatonFan Wrote: Better watch that play again.  That was a good snap and Andy simply missed the ball.  It goes right through his hands.  He turned to Bodine shaking his head to say it was his own fault ("that was on me") and that it wasn't a bad snap.

35 minutes into the game on the full replay thread.

My bad.  I thought he was saying that he wasn't expecting the ball.