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We have the better QB. That's enough for me to believe. We probably also have the better WR, RB and Safety group.
One thing that is really going the Bengals way is pressure. Nobody expected the Bengals to be in the Superbowl. Much less have a winning record, win the division. Or make it to the divisional round or conference championship. The Bengals are playing with house money and have a very bright future.
The Rams were put together specifically for this. The proverbial axe is hanging over their entire organization right now. The Rams need to win this Superbowl. When the Rams win by three it is a relief to them. When the Bengals are win by three it's jubilation.
The Rams have great players, with All-Pros at a few positions. But are they better as a team than the Chiefs or Titans? The fact that the Bengals went into Arrowhead Stadium, were down by 18 and came out with the W should be enough to make believers out of anyone.
We win by protecting Burrow and forcing Stafford to make mistakes.
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The way i look at predictions is i look at matchups. First one is Mike Hilton VS Cooper Kupp. I like that matchup. Hilton is the best slot in the playoffs to me if you don’t count Jalen Ramsey as one. With how Kupp has played if we hold him to 1 TD 100 yards I’ll call it a Hilton win.
We can tackle any RB I’m not worried about their run game.
Next we have Jalen Ramsey. Chase is going to have trouble getting off the LOS period. Jalen Ramsey is not a little *****. Don’t expect him to be 12 yards off the LOS guarding Chase. He’s one of the only guys in the league that i believe will press Chase all game. Chase gets 5+ catches 50+ yards with a TD and I’ll say he won that matchup.
Next is Donald. He’s going to eat. Period. Our line is losing this matchup no matter what. We can’t let him get 3+ sacks by himself.
Lastly Stafford. From what Iv seen of him this year he’s a take what I’m given guy. Zone won’t work if we play it too much but the Rams can beat man with Kupp and OBJ. You don’t really wanna blitz Stafford either. I say rush 4 and cover behind it. Someone’s just gonna have to make a play
Honestly against the Chiefs i knew we needed some magic. I knew we’d need a BJ HILL INT type play or a Tyreke drop on Von Bell play.
This Rams team is amazing but i think we can win even if we don’t get a magic gift of a play. We play a normal solid game and i think we’ll be in it
-Housh
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The Rams are a good team. I actually watched a bunch of their games this year. We'll have to play a complete game to beat them. That being said, they went through a streaky phase in the middle of the season, just like we did. I don't think you can point at individual games and say "they only beat so-and-so by 3 points, or struggled with x." because you can do the exact same with us.
1. Stafford is majorly gifted. His personal story is a lot like the story of the Bengals' past 30 years. I'm glad he's having success after being vanquished to the Lions for most of his career. I'm not saying he's Andy Dalton, he's far superior, but there's definitely a "Good" Stafford, "Bad" Stafford thing going on with him. Hopefully we'll catch him on a "Bad" Stafford day.
2. Taylor and Callahan have their work cut out figuring out how to deal with the Rams' d-line. They'll be able to bring the heat just like the Titans did, but they have the best defensive player of the last decade doing it. That's a major mismatch in their favor. Hopefully the coaches can scheme around it, because if not, Aaron Donald may have 9 sacks himself.
3. The OT's and Center are pretty dang good. The guards are just guys. Can our D-Line take over like they did against the Chiefs? This is one of the huge keys of the game...forcing "Bad" Stafford to show up.
4. The back half of the Rams' defense seems kind of lame. If our o-line holds up (big if!), it seems like Burrow and our WR can carve them up. Of course Ramsey is the best in the business, but so is Chase. I'm not going to make a call who comes out on top in that matchup. But the good news is that our offense is varied and stacked at all of the skill positions. Even if Ramsey completely cancels out Chase, it doesn't seem like they have the horses to stop the rest of our weapons.
5. Cam Akers is a heck of a running back, but he's shown a habit of putting the ball on the ground in the playoffs. Hopefully we can make their offense one dimensional. Sony Michele doesn't bother me in the least.
6. We know who OBJ is. He's definitely had a revival of sorts in LA, but that doesn't change his strengths and weaknesses. What about Van Jefferson? They've got their own three headed monster at WR. All of our corners are going to have to be at the top of their game.
7. Cooper Kupp is just a stud. No way around it. All season, everyone has known that the Rams' offense runs through him, and yet he has consistently found ways to get open and make huge plays. He's got to be the #1 focus of the defense, but that's obviously easier said than done.
There are no easy outs at this point. Whoever is in this game deserves to be there. Just like the rest of the games, this is going to come down to keeping Burrow upright and winning the turnover battle. We do that, and we should win.
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If the coaching staff and offensive line find a way to keep the Rams defensive line at bay, we win this game.
In a direct comp, I'll take our offensive playmakers over theirs.
Everything in this post is my fault.
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Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the mouth.
Our QB got right back up after each shot and still performed like it never happened. Can your QB do that?
#WhoDey
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