The Good, The Bad, and The Fugly; Preseason Game 2

[*Synric*]

(08-20-2025, 12:55 AM)Joelist Wrote: Which is why I think they need to drop the 4-2-5 and run a 4-3-4. I'm not the only one wondering about the scheme. Having an actual MIKE flanked by two other LB makes a lot of these explosive run plays stop by making the area each backer covers smaller. 

I'd prefer not to put a Linebacker in coverage vs Deebo Samuel. Which is exactly what you are suggesting. 

[*PhilHos*]

(08-20-2025, 12:20 AM)007BengalsFan Wrote: They have run a simple defense both preseason games and have looked horrible.  Have you not seen all the posts about Golden running a vanilla defense these first two preseason games?   Shouldnt these guys be smart enough to understand an NFL defensive scheme without needing to simplify it to basics?   Are we going to have fans use the same excuse this year that Golden's defense is too complicated and he needs to make it simple?   These 2nd, 3rd and 4th year guys shouldnt be expected to understand what is going on because it's too complicated?   That doesnt make any more sense than the people trying to use that same excuse last year.  Maybe a bunch of the guys are just mediocre to bad football players and thats why the defense struggled last year and is struggling again this year. 

You do realize that no one gameplans against specific opponents in the preseason, right? In the regular season, I would expect Golden to look at film and see what his opponent does offensively, looking for schemes and tendencies and then call plays specifically to stop those plays, schemes and tendencies. That doesn't happen in preseason and clearly Golden didn't do it this past week.

So, yes, the defense is "dumbed" down in the preseason but Golden is still not calling plays based on film. My assumption is he's calling plays to see how his players respond/react/etc. 

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(08-20-2025, 12:55 AM)Joelist Wrote: Which is why I think they need to drop the 4-2-5 and run a 4-3-4. I'm not the only one wondering about the scheme. Having an actual MIKE flanked by two other LB makes a lot of these explosive run plays stop by making the area each backer covers smaller. 

On the Samuel sweep, the first play, we did have 3 LBs on the field. Knight was on the line, right side of the D. They ran the sweep away from him.

Edit: FWIW, if we are gonna run with 3 LBs a lot, you probably need 6 on the roster instead of 5.

[*ochocincos*]

(08-19-2025, 09:12 AM)jj22 Wrote: The Good
Pass Blocking
Barret Carter
Rivers at Guard
Mitch Tinsley
Browning

The Bad
Starting LB's
Starting Dline
Burrow
TE's other than Tanner

The Fugly
Golden - He is looking way out of his league.

You missed a Bad/Fugly - Lucas Patrick
Dude was getting beat multiple reps.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(08-20-2025, 12:20 PM)ochocincos Wrote: You missed a Bad/Fugly - Lucas Patrick
Dude was getting beat multiple reps.

He was nowhere near bad. Thiugh he & Mims got split/beat on 1 rep. 

PFF graded him out at 70.2. Higher than Karras. He was lowest on pass blocking amongst the starters at 72.5 and did clearly get beat once (as did Brown). But no penalties and the 3rd best run block grade (66.8) amongst the starters, behind Fairchild (71.1) and Mims (69.6). 

He was not problematic at all, aside from 1 snap.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(08-20-2025, 12:20 PM)ochocincos Wrote: You missed a Bad/Fugly - Lucas Patrick
Dude was getting beat multiple reps.

He did not get beaten multiple reps, just the one that Ike mentioned below (where he and Mims were split).

(08-20-2025, 01:00 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: He was nowhere near bad. Thiugh he & Mims got split/beat on 1 rep. 

PFF graded him out at 70.2. Higher than Karras. He was lowest on pass blocking amongst the starters at 72.5 and did clearly get beat once (as did Brown). But no penalties and the 3rd best run block grade (66.8) amongst the starters, behind Fairchild (71.1) and Mims (69.6). 

He was not problematic at all, aside from 1 snap.

Exactly.

Dale (Bengals and Brews) did a nice cutup of Fairchild and you can clearly view the other interior guys as well in the cutups: all three were solid to great the entire time they were in, with Rivers struggling a bit when he came in and then doing well after that.

[*ochocincos*]

(08-20-2025, 01:16 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: He did not get beaten multiple reps, just the one that Ike mentioned below (where he and Mims were split).




Exactly.

Dale (Bengals and Brews) did a nice cutup of Fairchild and you can clearly view the other interior guys as well in the cutups: all three were solid to great the entire time they were in, with Rivers struggling a bit when he came in and then doing well after that.

Felt like he was getting pushed back quite a bit from what I can remember, but maybe they didn't consider that as a negative because he still stayed between the defender and the QB?
I don't have a way to go back and watch a replay of the game though to confirm what I think I remember.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(08-20-2025, 01:27 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Felt like he was getting pushed back quite a bit from what I can remember, but maybe they didn't consider that as a negative because he still stayed between the defender and the QB?
I don't have a way to go back and watch a replay of the game though to confirm what I think I remember.

https://x.com/BengalsBrews/status/1957847195115258045

[*ochocincos*]

(08-20-2025, 01:52 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: https://x.com/BengalsBrews/status/1957847195115258045

Thanks, hadn't seen this.

The rep at the one minute mark where the defender tries to split between Patrick and Mims, is that the rep being counted as the pressure? If not, I would consider it a pressure.
At the 1:15 mark, is clearly beaten inside by the defender but Burrow gets it away quickly enough that it's not considered a pressure, but it got out QUICK. Had it been another second, that defender would have been on Burrow.
At 1:25 mark, Patrick basically gets flung onto the ground, losing that rep. But no pressure on Burrow, so maybe it wasn't counted as a ding against him.
The play right after was when Burrow got flung down on the ground, and I was misremembering pressure coming in from the right side. I was thinking right side because the defender ended up coming around from the left but ended up on Burrow's right side when he took him down.
Wasn't there another sack or almost sack where Burrow was scrambling around for dear life before he finally got rid of the ball? I could have sworn there was more than 1 sack on Burrow.
Was it that Patrick was not out there during that rep?

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(08-20-2025, 02:40 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Thanks, hadn't seen this.

The rep at the one minute mark where the defender tries to split between Patrick and Mims, is that the rep being counted as the pressure? If not, I would consider it a pressure.
At the 1:15 mark, is clearly beaten inside by the defender but Burrow gets it away quickly enough that it's not considered a pressure, but it got out QUICK. Had it been another second, that defender would have been on Burrow.
At 1:25 mark, Patrick basically gets flung onto the ground, losing that rep. But no pressure on Burrow, so maybe it wasn't counted as a ding against him.
The play right after was when Burrow got flung down on the ground, and I was misremembering pressure coming in from the right side. I was thinking right side because the defender ended up coming around from the left but ended up on Burrow's right side when he took him down.
Wasn't there another sack or almost sack where Burrow was scrambling around for dear life before he finally got rid of the ball? I could have sworn there was more than 1 sack on Burrow.
Was it that Patrick was not out there during that rep?

That may have been the play he held his chest and got hurt on. It was his last and Burrow scampered away to the right and thre it away.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-20-2025, 11:15 AM)PhilHos Wrote: You do realize that no one gameplans against specific opponents in the preseason, right? In the regular season, I would expect Golden to look at film and see what his opponent does offensively, looking for schemes and tendencies and then call plays specifically to stop those plays, schemes and tendencies. That doesn't happen in preseason and clearly Golden didn't do it this past week.

So, yes, the defense is "dumbed" down in the preseason but Golden is still not calling plays based on film. My assumption is he's calling plays to see how his players respond/react/etc. 

This is all correct and why I still think the Defense will improve big time come the regular season. Sure as heck hope so.

[XenoMorph]

(08-19-2025, 09:19 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: I wouldn’t put Burrow in the bad category. He threw a couple TD’s - one of which was one of the nicest I’ve ever seen him throw.

Joe Burrow across five drives this preseason:

? 18/24
⚫ 185 passing yards
? 3 TDs | 0 INTs
⚫ 136.1 passer rating pic.twitter.com/ZoqXJHukL0

— PFF (@PFF) August 19, 2025

He ran around and took a coverage sack trying to play hero ball but other than that he looked good to me.

Burrow taking unneccesary hits in the preseason is BAD  he should have throw that ball away rather than run the 1..

[Nicomo Cosca]

(08-20-2025, 03:18 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Burrow taking unneccesary hits in the preseason is BAD  he should have throw that ball away rather than run the 1..

Eh, all’s well that ends well.

[Sled21]

(08-20-2025, 03:52 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Eh, all’s well that ends well.

And thankfully his pre-season play is over.....

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-20-2025, 03:55 PM)Sled21 Wrote: And thankfully his pre-season play is over.....

Yes sir. Glad Joe got that out of his system in the preseason like he said, the bad plays. Happy he ended the preseason on a great TD pass as well.

I doubt he comes in rusty with all those preseason snaps. I think he had like 28 this preseason or more and that was like 5 times as much as usual.

[Ell Prez]

Th defense was awful last year. Atrocious. Our QB had an MVP season and our WR wins the triple crown. And the defense was so bad, it was all for nothing.

We do nothing all off season, and 2 games in to the preseason our defense looks the same, and people here act surprised and say “I’m holding on to faith that when the season starts Golden’s scheme is going to work”.

We are going to make Joe Flacco look like pro bowler, and then 3 weeks later everyone will say he’s cooked. Hot take here, we have a worse record this year than we did last year. Our defense is possibly worse, and it’s possible opposing defenses can game plan against what we showed last year and we regress a little. That’s a more believable story than Al Golden, Knight and Slayton being the missing pieces to a super bowl team. I don’t even care if we’re a better team this year. We’re not a Super Bowl team and when you have 2 probable HOF players on your team, that’s a waste of an entire 12 months.

[*Synric*]

Jalen Rivers first half vs Washington. He got more chances to run block in the second half.

Here are the rest of the first half snaps for Jalen Rivers against Washington at Right Guard:

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