2015 Review - Wk 1 @Oakland

[bengal kitten uk]

With 18 weeks to go until the start of the 2016/17 season, I thought it might be fun to review the last season.  Each week I am going to fire up GamePass and watch one game from last season, from the start all the way through to the bitter end.

Join me to discuss the game of the week with the benefit of hindsight.

Week 1 - @ Oakland

Bengals 33-13 Raiders

• We won on the road against an up and coming team in the AFC in a place where we hadn't won before and the team looked GRRRREAT.  
• Dalton threw the ball all over the place, with Tyler Eifert and Gio Bernard showing up in the passing game as well as good performances from Green, Jones and Sanu
• Eifert with two red zone touchdowns.  He's going to be a great weapon for us throughout the year
• Jeremy Hill is looking great.  I can't wait for him to continue where he left off after his rookie season. [Hindsight: where did it all go wrong?  In this game, at least, he looks like he did last year]
• Our discipline was something to worry about, though.  Kirkpatrick and Iloka were both called for taunting and Adam Jones lost it with Amari Cooper (and should have been ejected). [Hindsight: we should have seen the meltdowns vs pittsburgh coming]
• Dalton was still in the game when we were 33-0 up in the 4th quarter.  Surely we should be giving McCarron game time in case we need him later in the season? [Hindsight: we did need him.  Maybe these extra snaps would have won the game against Denver?]
• Hey, this team looks good.  Will this be THE year?
  

[Shake n Blake]

The thing I remember about that game is that so many people were sweating the Raiders. Don't get me wrong, I liked some of the moves the Raiders made, but I think we've reached a point where it's ok to show some confidence in the Bengals against mediocre opponents.

Honestly, the Bengals are probably the best team in the NFL in regular season 1 pm games. It wasn't surprising at all that we dominated the Raiders.

[fredtoast]

Our first td came when Marvin went for it on fourth down at the goal line.

[fredtoast]

At this time last year we were all still wondering if Burfict and Geno would be any good.  Geno had looked good in the preseason, but I was still wanting to see how he woud perform in the regular season.  And some were still predicting that burfict would never return to his old form.

[grampahol]

Hopefully you changed the oil in that game pass thing you're going to fire up. Check the air in the tires and make sure to have plenty of emergency equipment on hand just in case..
I hate to be the spoiler, but we won, they lost.

I'm kind of excited to see if olines can handle Geno and Billings at the same time.. This defense is gonna give some QBs the willies..

[*Nately120*]

(05-07-2016, 04:15 PM)fredtoast Wrote: At this time last year we were all still wondering if Burfict and Geno would be any good.  Geno had looked good in the preseason, but I was still wanting to see how he woud perform in the regular season.  And some were still predicting that burfict would never return to his old form.

Some were also predicting Hill would get 35 touches and 200 yards per game.

[Bengal Dude]

I just remember looking over to my wife and telling her that Tyler Eifert is going to be a household name by season's end.

[Camdaddy08]

(05-07-2016, 02:52 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: The thing I remember about that game is that so many people were sweating the Raiders. Don't get me wrong, I liked some of the moves the Raiders made, but I think we've reached a point where it's ok to show some confidence in the Bengals against mediocre opponents.

Honestly, the Bengals are probably the best team in the NFL in regular season 1 pm games. It wasn't surprising at all that we dominated the Raiders.

I think a lot had to do with it being the first game of the year and having those jitters. I think most thought we would win but didn't want to jinx it. Plus we hadn't played well in Oakland. If it was the fourth game I think more people would have been more confident. I think it will be the same this year in New York. I think we have the better team and should beat them. I will stay cautiously optimistic though.

[BengalFanInNJ]

On a side note, I sort of like the Bengals opening up on the road. I figure it's the first real game of the season and that they players are all jacked and ready to go so regardless of where they play, they are going to be "up" for it. The following week is usually a home game, so they will be jacked for that as well.

[Shake n Blake]

(05-10-2016, 01:02 AM)Camdaddy08 Wrote: I think a lot had to do with it being the first game of the year and having those jitters. I think most thought we would win but didn't want to jinx it. Plus we hadn't played well in Oakland.  If it was the fourth game I think more people would have been more confident.  I think it will be the same this year in New York. I think we have the better team and should beat them. I will stay cautiously optimistic though.

I guess I'm just not that superstitious. The fact that it was week 1 made me even more confident because it was a good veteran team with a 13th year HC going against a young team with a 1st year HC. It just smelled like a comfortable win to me. 

It doesn't seem like fans of the Steelers, Patriots, Seahawks, etc are too worried about "jinxing" their teams. In general, they seem to show more confidence than our fan base. Imo, even after 5 straight playoff trips, a lot of folks still worry about the Bengals "bungling" when they least expect it, and that's what keeps them from expressing more confidence in this team.