Do we play the starters next week?

[Mike M (the other one)]

only problem is... if titans/chiefs both lose, we win and get top seed. means week off.
Chief lose, we are no 2 seed if we win. they play on Saturday, so we will know their results, but Titans play same time as us on Sunday

[kevin]

(01-04-2022, 03:45 AM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: only problem is... if titans/chiefs both lose, we win and get top seed. means week off.
Chief lose, we are no 2 seed if we win. they play on Saturday, so we will know their results, but Titans play same time as us on Sunday

The Titans and Chiefs are not both going to lose.  However Bengals will go One and Done if Burrow or Mixon are too injured to play in Play-Offs.  The only way to get a week off is to kind of take Browns Week off. Treat it like a preseason game.

Injuries to the O Line, Burrow, Mixon should not be rocket science to not play them in the Wintery Weather off Lake Erie against Browns. The WIN over the Chiefs makes this a meaningless game. The more important game is what they beat Chiefs for, Play-Offs in Cincy the next week.

Our back up QB just might beat Browns. Don't play our Joe Namath type Joe Burrow in this game, let Burrow get Healthy for Play-Offs. That will be a Hard Game no matter who Bengals play.

[cinci4life]

(01-04-2022, 03:52 AM)kevin Wrote: The Titans and Chiefs are not both going to lose.  However Bengals will go One and Done if Burrow or Mixon are too injured to play in Play-Offs. 

Chiefs play saturday night so we'll know by then if the #1 seed is still possible.

[kevin]

(01-04-2022, 03:57 AM)cinci4life Wrote: Chiefs play saturday night so we'll know by then if the #1 seed is still possible.

What if Chiefs win.  What if Titans win.  What if Burrow if still limping around early this week in practice.  

I think what people are really saying is they want to beat The Browns, no matter what.  The Battle For Ohio thing.  Normally I would want that also.  With Bengals already winning AFC North and 1st seed a real long shot, I'm all for treating this like the last preseason game.  No Major Injuries before the Big Game coming next, Play-Offs in The Jungle. 

Bengals aren't beating anybody in Play-Offs if Burrow or Mixon aren't Healthy.

The odds are it won't be Patriots or Bills. More like Colts, Chargers or Raiders. Bengals will need a Healthy Burrow and Mixon for any of these teams. Going into the Play-Offs as Healthy As Possible should become The Main Priority.

In 2014 the Bengals made the Play-Offs, but had so many Key Players Injured that it was an easy Play-off win for The Colts. The Bengals never had a chance. I would hate to see a repeat of that in this seasons Play-Offs. At least be Healthy enough to have a chance to WIN.

[Storer50]

I'm not even sure Cleveland plays their starters next week.

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

[HarleyDog]

I’m not sure why so many feel that Baker will sit Sunday just because they’re out of playoff contention? That sends a negative msg that you’ve given up and I don’t think I can recall a team ever doing that once ruled out. I could be wrong.

Edit: Well, then there's this: https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/01/baker-mayfield-confirms-he-will-have-surgery-to-repair-torn-labrum-doesnt-rule-out-sitting-against-bengals.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=clevelandbrowns_sf&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0t7l3WMnvW5mh9KomtR37FaMorSSh1cVMzx0exg_OxEUzDb8b_yVWoYSc

[TecmoBengals]

I don't have a unique opinion to offer, but I've decided I'm not going to have a definitive take on this subject of yes, play them or no, don't play them. I will trust the coaching staff to do what they think is best. If Zac plays Burrow and the starters or rests them, I'll be supportive of his decision regardless of the outcome. This includes an outcome of any player getting hurt if they play. I won't rage on this forum that Zac messed up.

[Housh]

If one seed is in play you have to go for it. Being able to play a Colts or a Raiders over a Chiefs or Titans would help us. I also don’t really like the idea of sitting guys the whole game. I feel like we did that at some point and came out in the wildcard looking like shit

[muskiesfan]

I think we have to put the starters out there to begin the game at least. We want the best possible seed we can get. If KC or Ten lose we could be the 2 seed. If both lose, we could be the 1 seed. We will know going into Sunday how KC does. If nothing else, it can be treated like a preseason game. If things aren't going well the starters can be pulled quickly. Burrow is just as likely to get hurt against Cleveland as he is against our playoff opponent. I feel he is going to want to play and I say let him play if he wants to.

I was reading on twitter this morning that Mayfield may not play Sunday. If some of the Browns starters decide to shut it down, that would be perfect. Let the starters have the first quarter or first half at most just to keep things in sync and then turn it over to the back ups.

[TecmoBengals]

(01-04-2022, 11:16 AM)Housh Wrote: If one seed is in play you have to go for it. Being able to play a Colts or a Raiders over a Chiefs or Titans would help us. I also don’t really like the idea of sitting guys the whole game. I feel like we did that at some point and came out in the wildcard looking like shit

and if they go for the one seed, but starting getting their asses kicked then Zac can always give the players a rest for the 3rd or 4th quarter, right?

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(01-04-2022, 07:56 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: I’m not sure why so many feel that Baker will sit Sunday just because they’re out of playoff contention? That sends a negative msg that you’ve given up and I don’t think I can recall a team ever doing that once ruled out. I could be wrong.

Edit: Well, then there's this: https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/01/baker-mayfield-confirms-he-will-have-surgery-to-repair-torn-labrum-doesnt-rule-out-sitting-against-bengals.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=clevelandbrowns_sf&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0t7l3WMnvW5mh9KomtR37FaMorSSh1cVMzx0exg_OxEUzDb8b_yVWoYSc

You're wrong. Teams do it all the time, especially if a guy is banged up or they want to evaluate another guy on the roster.  Or they are just plain tanking. Heck, don't you remember us sitting Dalton Zach's first year? Obvious tank. Which worked, by the way, and got us Burrow.  Despite sending the wrong message.

As for the Browns, this isn't definitive, but..  

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32989903/cleveland-browns-qb-baker-mayfield-confirms-shoulder-surgery-says-discussion-had-status-week-18 

I mean, what is the point of him playing? He has to have surgery anyway. The sooner he gets it the sooner he can be healthy for next year. Which is make or break for him. Winning the game only gets them a worse pick. And he is clearly hampered anyway.  They might be better off with him sitting. 

[kevin]

I humbly request Board Managers to dump this into the thread, " Do We Play Our Starters Next Week ", by Harley Dog. It is just more of the same thing, and the 100 some views and responses are better off in the bigger pool of response to Harleys post on same subject.

With that, GO BENGALS, one of the best Bengals teams ever, and I've seen them all. The advantage is you can't double down on Chase as with Chad or Green years. Too many receivers like 81 Bengals of Collinsworth and Curtis and Ross and Verser and Pete Johnson, only more so. Doubling down on Chase would leave Higgins, Boyd, Uzomah, Mixon wide open for Easy Scores. There in lies the difference. Teams can't double team like they did Chad or Green years. This is more like 81 Bengals of Anderson or Burrow and too many to Double Team as in Chad or Green years.

[PlayadLc]

(01-04-2022, 04:13 AM)kevin Wrote: What if Chiefs win.  What if Titans win.  What if Burrow if still limping around early this week in practice.  

I think what people are really saying is they want to beat The Browns, no matter what.  The Battle For Ohio thing.  Normally I would want that also.  With Bengals already winning AFC North and 1st seed a real long shot, I'm all for treating this like the last preseason game.  No Major Injuries before the Big Game coming next, Play-Offs in The Jungle. 

Bengals aren't beating anybody in Play-Offs if Burrow or Mixon aren't Healthy.

The odds are it won't be Patriots or Bills. More like Colts, Chargers or Raiders. Bengals will need a Healthy Burrow and Mixon for any of these teams. Going into the Play-Offs as Healthy As Possible should become The Main Priority.

In 2014 the Bengals made the Play-Offs, but had so many Key Players Injured that it was an easy Play-off win for The Colts. The Bengals never had a chance. I would hate to see a repeat of that in this seasons Play-Offs. At least be Healthy enough to have a chance to WIN.

I get this, but people are just focusing on the 1st round game. We could easily play a lower seed in the 2nd round, getting another home playoff game.

The more I think about this the more I believe the Bengals need to play the starters and pound Cleveland.

[cinci4life]

(01-04-2022, 04:13 AM)kevin Wrote: What if Chiefs win.  What if Titans win.  What if Burrow if still limping around early this week in practice.  

I think what people are really saying is they want to beat The Browns, no matter what.  The Battle For Ohio thing.  Normally I would want that also.  With Bengals already winning AFC North and 1st seed a real long shot, I'm all for treating this like the last preseason game.  No Major Injuries before the Big Game coming next, Play-Offs in The Jungle. 

Bengals aren't beating anybody in Play-Offs if Burrow or Mixon aren't Healthy.

The odds are it won't be Patriots or Bills.  More like Colts, Chargers or Raiders.  Bengals will need a Healthy Burrow and Mixon for any of these teams. Going into the Play-Offs as Healthy As Possible should become The Main Priority.

In 2014 the Bengals made the Play-Offs, but had so many Key Players Injured that it was an easy Play-off win for The Colts.  The Bengals never had a chance.  I would hate to see a repeat of that in this seasons Play-Offs.  At least be Healthy enough to have a chance to WIN.

My point is if Chiefs win Saturday night the #1 seed is no longer possible and they can rest the starters. However if Chiefs lose #1 seed would still be possible and the starters would likely play. You see it all the time when #1 seed is still in question.

[Bengalfan4life27c]

I want the 1 the 4 seed is the most valuable seed in AFC after 1. We get Titans and stay away from Chiefs Chargers until conference championship with the 4 As long as we lose to Browns we the 4.

[Sled21]

It's a no win decision for the coaches.

[*bengalfan74*]

Baker may not be playing anyways.

https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2022/01/04/Cleveland-Browns-quarterback-Baker-Mayfield-undergo-shoulder-surgery-Week18-doubt-NFL/1611641303286/

[Sled21]

(01-04-2022, 02:06 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Baker may not be playing anyways.

https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2022/01/04/Cleveland-Browns-quarterback-Baker-Mayfield-undergo-shoulder-surgery-Week18-doubt-NFL/1611641303286/

Then let Allen play. Get him some game time in case we need him down the road.

[Big Boss]

Play Allen. The COVID situation can't be ignored and if we need to call upon him in the post-season it would be nice to know he had started at least one full game this season.

[*bengalfan74*]

(01-04-2022, 02:10 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Then let Allen play. Get him some game time in case we need him down the road.

Agree