Are you glad our opponent are the Rams and not the 49ers?

[Bengalbug]

Lol, silly poll question.

Obviously Rather face Jimmy G.

[Science Friction]

49'ers are better than the Rams. Beat them six straight before the NFC championship. Outscored the Rams 75-54 this season. Would have won their seventh straight over the Rams had it not been for dropping an easy pick in the fourth quarter.

[Science Friction]

(02-10-2022, 11:15 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: I wanted the 49ers. They aren't as good as the Rams.

They've dominated the Rams the last couple of seasons. Would have been seven straight wins had it not been for a dropped pick in the 4thQ. Outscored them by three TD's in their three meetings this season. 

[Science Friction]

(02-10-2022, 11:16 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: The 49ers would have been an objectively easier match up.

Worse cornerbacks, worse pass rush, worse QB, worse WRs (albeit close) and we've already played them. And Joe LOVES playing a team a second time. And in that game, we had one of the worst first half performances all year with 2 muffed punt returns and a bullshit taunting penalty that turned a field goal into a touchdown, and we still took it to overtime.

I have no doubt in my mind that we'd beat the 49ers in a rematch.

Plus, there's the whole revenge for 81 and 88 storyline that would have been very, very sweet.

The Rams, I honestly don't know if we'll win. They have an elite CB to shut down Chase, they have an elite pass rush from multiple positions (as opposed to just Bosa for the 49ers), they have a QB who, while he has choked in the past, is an objectively elite passer and has limited the chokes this year, making me think maybe it was the Lions who were the real chokers, and a wide receiver corp that includes the triple crown winner.

I'm going into this game thinking it's a 50/50 game, whereas the 49ers game would have been a 90/10 game, in my opinion.

Absurd.   49'ers would have been a pick'em game .

[KillerGoose]

(02-10-2022, 11:44 AM)Science Friction Wrote: They've dominated the Rams the last couple of seasons. Would have been seven straight wins had it not been for a dropped pick in the 4thQ. Outscored them by three TD's in their three meetings this season. 

Right, but that doesn't mean they are a better team in the overall scope of things, if that makes sense. The Browns absolutely walloped Cincinnati this season, in Cincinnati, and the Bengals have lost four straight against them. That doesn't mean they are a better team, though, at least not this season. It's a divisional match-up, weird things happen and football has a lot of variance. 

[BengalFanInNJ]

I wanted the Niners. I think the Rams are a better team and was hoping for an “easier” opponent.


That said, I am very happy for Big Whit.

[CJD]

(02-10-2022, 11:47 AM)Science Friction Wrote: Absurd.   49'ers would have been a pick'em game .

From a betting line, sure. I'm talking about from a confidence level. I think Sunday's game is a toss up, but I think we'd be very confident going into the game against the 49ers for the reasons I referenced.

[CJD]

(02-10-2022, 11:35 AM)Science Friction Wrote: 49'ers are better than the Rams.  Beat them six straight before the NFC championship. Outscored the Rams 75-54 this season. Would have won their seventh straight over the Rams had it not been for dropping an easy pick in the fourth quarter.

Using this logic, the Browns are better than the Bengals. They've beaten us 5 of the last 6 times.

Divisional games are weird. Worse teams win divisional match ups all the time.

Hell, we beat the 11-2 Steelers when Ryan Finley was our QB haha.

[3wt]

Wanted the 49ers. Wanted to get the monkey off our back.

[GAWhoDey]

It'll be cool to beat the true home team in their house to win the Super Bowl, but it also would've been great to get the SF monkey off our backs. I am equally happy beating either team, I suppose.

[CJD]

(02-10-2022, 11:29 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: Yeah. I'm all on the Bengals train, obviously. However, the Rams are an objectively bad match-up for Cincinnati. I've mentioned this in several threads, and it isn't an impossible task but the biggest defensive strength for LA is their DL. They have one of the greatest pass rushers of all time at DT, another potential Hall of Fame pass rusher in Von Miller and Leonard Floyd who can ALSO get after the passer. Jalen Ramsey is also a fantastic corner.

Cincinnati definitely has the skill players to beat LA, so if Joe is kept clean then they have a great shot. I'll believe in Joe and company against anyone. However, this is probably the worst matchup in the entire league for Cincinnati. I think the game will be close and a great game but LA is going to make things really tough for Joe. 

Yea, I don't know if they are the worst match up in the NFL for us, we kind of said the same thing about the Raiders and the Titans for what it's worth, but I do think it'll be an uphill climb for us to win this game.

But with Joe, anything is possible :)

[TecmoBengals]

I voted for the 49'ers, but only because I thought it would be cool to face them a third time in the Super Bowl and finally win. I think we'd still be focusing on many similar talking points about our weak OL. Instead of the media talking about Donald feasting on our OL, they'd be making the same point about Bosa.

Also, we'd probably be hearing a lot of talk about Deebo running all over us and catching passes. Winning a Super Bowl isn't meant to be easy and since our OL gives up many sacks, it would be discussed as problematic no matter who we were playing.

[WeezyBengal]

(02-10-2022, 11:35 AM)Science Friction Wrote: 49'ers are better than the Rams.  Beat them six straight before the NFC championship. Outscored the Rams 75-54 this season. Would have won their seventh straight over the Rams had it not been for dropping an easy pick in the fourth quarter.

The 49ers are not better than the Rams. Please stop. 

[*Awful Llama*]

There is a legitimate possibility we lose Sunday, so if we have to lose to either a team we've already lost two Super Bowls to and that I despise, or to another team, then the other team is an easy choice.

Conversely, there is a legitimate possibility we win on Sunday, and while part of me sees the revenge factor against the 49ers, beating either team will be absolutely off-the-scale euphoric and if that comes against the Rams, I won't love the win one bit less.

Bottom line, I hate the idea of losing to the 49ers more than I love the idea of beating them, so I'm glad they're not involved.

[Big Boss]

To be the best, you have to beat the best.

Beat the Rams and there's no doubt. Beat the Niners, and we're lucky we didn't get the Rams.

[XenoMorph]

(02-10-2022, 01:16 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: There is a legitimate possibility we lose Sunday, so if we have to lose to either a team we've already lost two Super Bowls to and that I despise, or to another team, then the other team is an easy choice.

Conversely, there is a legitimate possibility we win on Sunday, and while part of me sees the revenge factor against the 49ers, beating either team will be absolutely off-the-scale euphoric and if that comes against the Rams, I won't love the win one bit less.  

Bottom line, I hate the idea of losing to the 49ers more than I love the idea of beating them, so I'm glad they're not involved.

If we arent winning the superbowl i wont be pissed Stafford and Whitworth got one....

(okay ill be upset but there are worst people to lose too)


Still think them rings will have stripes when they come out

[leonardfan40]

I would have preferred playing the 49ers as we would have beat them handily if it weren’t for the 2 fumbled punts giving them 3 more possessions than us in that game. Even with three extra possessions and 2 short fields resulting in 10 cheap points they still barely won in OT. Plus we woulda got them back for one of the first two SB’s.

Think the Rams are going to be tougher for us to beat but ultimately think we win our first ever SB Sunday either way

[leonardfan40]

(02-10-2022, 01:56 PM)Big Boss Wrote: To be the best, you have to beat the best.

Beat the Rams and there's no doubt. Beat the Niners, and we're lucky we didn't get the Rams.

The 49ers did sweep them in the regular season and nearly won the 3rd matchup as well…

[Frank Booth]

(02-10-2022, 02:04 PM)leonardfan40 Wrote: The 49ers did sweep them in the regular season and nearly won the 3rd matchup as well…

The rams are better than the 9ers. I don’t care if Shannahan has Mcvay’s number. Top to bottom the rams have the better roster. Shannahan is the better coach

[higgy100]

(02-10-2022, 11:32 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: Lol, silly poll question.  

Obviously Rather face Jimmy G.

Yep and a team with a few less offensive weapons.