from The Athletic

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-14-2022, 04:25 PM)Au165 Wrote: This is where I got frustrated because there were times Burrow checked IN to a run with a loaded box. Often times it was that mis direction pitch thing they were running that didn't work. That seems to have been something they thought they could get from film study but it was not working well at all. It seems like he was pass happy early so he was more likely to check into bad run looks later to create balance rather than take what was there. 

In the 2nd half he checked into a run AFTER they showed blitz and Mixon got smacked taking a handoff for a 2 yard loss. I am not saying the run blocking was great but this is what I mean when Joe was creating stress versus alleviating it for the O line.

I also thought Burrow checked into run plays going to the left far too much. Cap and Collins are fantastic run blockers
on that right side, nothing against Volson and Jonah who are okay run blockers, but our strength should be running to 
the right against anybody and that would of slowed down TJ Watt a lot, I am sure.

(09-14-2022, 05:12 PM)Cosmokramer Wrote: Look,  the Steelers D is not bad, you had a rookie going against Heyward, that’s a tall tall order.  Collins can’t shut down watt every single play.  Nobody can, that’s why he does what he does and is one of the best DE In the NFL. Now, if our oline gave up 7sacks to a mediocre defense with no all pro DE and DL then we should be worried.  But I though aside from Volson being handled by Heyward, they did pretty good.  And I think they’ll only get better as the season goes and everyone becomes fluid!

Yeah, nice post Cosmo. That is a very good Defense when Watt and Heyward are out there no question. One of the best.

Our OL needs time to gel. Doesn't change my concern about the plays being called and the timing in which they are called
and the way we are so predictable running when Burrow is under Center and throwing when Hurst is playing.

(09-14-2022, 05:39 PM)ezekiel23 Wrote: I’d have to disagree with the part about the defense.When you hold a team to 16 points in 5 quarters of play,that’s not to shabby.The Bengals Offense,since it was struggling,and committed 5 turnovers,put the defense in some awkward situations.

This Bengals defense was the bright spot of the entire game.I thought they appeared to pick up where they left off last season.

True that Zeke, love the D.

[*psychdoctor*]

(09-14-2022, 05:39 PM)ezekiel23 Wrote: I’d have to disagree with the part about the defense.When you hold a team to 16 points in 5 quarters of play,that’s not to shabby.The Bengals Offense,since it was struggling,and committed 5 turnovers,put the defense in some awkward situations.

This Bengals defense was the bright spot of the entire game.I thought they appeared to pick up where they left off last season.

They did quite well the defense but I wish they would have had more sacks

[tms]

I keep forgetting that Burrow is sack-friendly. Even in 2019, on one of the most potent offenses in history and behind a Joe Moore trophy-winning line (Most Outstanding Line in College, for those who don't know) he still got sacked 34 times. Not to say we couldn't use better pass pro, but he'll take his share no matter what.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-14-2022, 09:26 PM)tms Wrote: I keep forgetting that Burrow is sack-friendly. Even in 2019, on one of the most potent offenses in history and behind a Joe Moore trophy-winning line (Most Outstanding Line in College, for those who don't know) he still got sacked 34 times. Not to say we couldn't use better pass pro, but he'll take his share no matter what.

I still think Burrow even won that award just because of his play overall.

Burrow is the strangest QB I have ever witnessed play the game.

He can make his O-line look better than it is and way worse than it is with his wild style.

I like the dude.

[Rubekahn29]

We played a healthy, motivated Pit Defense, we moved the ball on them all game. We need to absolutely be better, but I don’t know if we will play a better defense top to bottom all year.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(09-14-2022, 09:26 PM)tms Wrote: I keep forgetting that Burrow is sack-friendly. Even in 2019, on one of the most potent offenses in history and behind a Joe Moore trophy-winning line (Most Outstanding Line in College, for those who don't know) he still got sacked 34 times. Not to say we couldn't use better pass pro, but he'll take his share no matter what.

Yep, I've noted that stat before....and that was twelve games.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-15-2022, 06:49 AM)Rubekahn29 Wrote: We played a healthy, motivated Pit Defense, we moved the ball on them all game. We need to absolutely be better, but I don’t know if we will play a better defense top to bottom all year.

Could be correct Rubekahn. And they were somewhat healthy before Watt tore his pec.

There isn't a better pass rusher in the NFL than TJ Watt even though we could argue for a few including Hendrickson.

(09-15-2022, 09:37 AM)Wyche Wrote: Yep, I've noted that stat before....and that was twelve games.

True, Burrow will get sacked more than most QB's no matter how good the OL is pretty much.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(09-15-2022, 01:35 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Could be correct Rubekahn. And they were somewhat healthy before Watt tore his pec.

There isn't a better pass rusher in the NFL than TJ Watt even though we could argue for a few including Hendrickson.


True, Burrow will get sacked more than most QB's no matter how good the OL is pretty much.

Yessir, and you gotta take into account that some of those games were blowouts and he didn't play the whole game. Dude is a gambler.

[XenoMorph]

(09-14-2022, 12:47 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Indeed

They just never looked comfortable. It seemed to me Volson struggled a lot early but settled down some as the game wore on. But overall you could tell they hadn't played together much.

Believe he had the highest score of the 2nd half

[RunKijanaRun]

The line was bad, but Burrow brings a lot of it on himself. Holds the ball way too long. And he checks into bad protections. The group wasn’t much better than last year’s but Burrow is to blame for a lot of it.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(09-16-2022, 10:39 AM)Wyche Wrote: Yessir, and you gotta take into account that some of those games were blowouts and he didn't play the whole game. Dude is a gambler.

Sure is. He will win some and he will lose some but he just needs to stay aggressive, same as the best poker players.

(09-16-2022, 11:28 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: Believe he had the highest score of the 2nd half

Just what you want to see from a rookie.

(09-16-2022, 12:41 PM)RunKijanaRun Wrote: The line was bad, but Burrow brings a lot of it on himself. Holds the ball way too long. And he checks into bad protections. The group wasn’t much better than last year’s but Burrow is to blame for a lot of it.

For sure and he knows it.

[Sled21]

(09-16-2022, 11:28 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: Believe he had the highest score of the 2nd half

Against Cam Heyward at that....

[kronadon]

(09-14-2022, 08:32 PM)psychdoctor Wrote: They did quite well the defense but I wish they would have had more sacks

To my eye Pitt was on a 3 step max drop. they got the ball out of Trubisky's hands really quickly all day.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Meh.

It's week one against a top defense after most of the starters didn't play a snap in the pre-season. Not a lot of the September Champions are around in late January(2021 Cardinals, 2020 Steelers 11-0). Just show me progress this week against the Cowboys and have an uptrend until around Thanksgiving when the league starts settling itself. Then is when they'll flick the switch and be the best team in football for the rest of the season. Again.

[XenoMorph]

(09-16-2022, 03:05 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Meh.

It's week one against a top defense after most of the starters didn't play a snap in the pre-season. Not a lot of the September Champions are around in late January(2021 Cardinals, 2020 Steelers 11-0). Just show me progress this week against the Cowboys and have an uptrend until around Thanksgiving when the league starts settling itself. Then is when they'll flick the switch and be the best team in football for the rest of the season. Again.

That isnt much of an excuse when most of them could have played.

[KillerGoose]

(09-16-2022, 03:05 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Meh.

It's week one against a top defense after most of the starters didn't play a snap in the pre-season. Not a lot of the September Champions are around in late January(2021 Cardinals, 2020 Steelers 11-0). Just show me progress this week against the Cowboys and have an uptrend until around Thanksgiving when the league starts settling itself. Then is when they'll flick the switch and be the best team in football for the rest of the season. Again.

We'll have a pretty good idea of where Cincinnati is headed by mid-October. Once you hit week six, you have sufficient data to start accurately predicting a teams final record. By week four last season, I had Cincinnati at 11 wins and by week five, I had Cincinnati at 10 wins. It stayed pretty constant at 10 wins for the rest of the season. It only gets more solid from there. 

[BoomerFan]

(09-14-2022, 01:43 PM)casear2727 Wrote: Once these guys get a few games together I can see them being a top 10-12 oline. 

Then they should have been playing in pre-season. Protecting players from injury only makes sense if you win. 

Though the others are correct that Joe is holding the ball to long and audibled out of plays he should not have. 

[casear2727]

(09-16-2022, 05:28 PM)BoomerFan Wrote: Then they should have been playing in pre-season. Protecting players from injury only makes sense if you win. 

Though the others are correct that Joe is holding the ball to long and audibled out of plays he should not have. 

"Protecting players from injury only makes sense if you win."  Lol, what an odd comment.

Collins wasnt ready to play in any preseason games, nor was Burrow.

The oline and Joe did much better in the 2nd half.

[Joelist]

Meanwhile they have painted themselves into a bit of a spot. Dallas is now a must win because of the low probability of 0-2 teams reaching postseason.

[tms]

(09-16-2022, 06:12 PM)Joelist Wrote: Meanwhile they have painted themselves into a bit of a spot. Dallas is now a must win because of the low probability of 0-2 teams reaching postseason.

I see what you're saying but there are no must-wins in Week 2. You can't get to the playoffs without winning games, that much is true. But there's a long way to go.