Confidence level going into Sunday's game?

[bengals67]

8

Bengals should handle rookie QB who is not very good.

I disagree with lots of people who talk about running first. We do not have a run first offensive line. Andy is great with short passes to maintain possession. We should be a pass first team running the ball just to keep D off balance.

we will never be a run first team against to[p Ds until we get a quality center. Bodine is just as bad as everyone else we have had since Richie B. He is just awful.  I will never understand why we did not draft a replacement or at least someone to give him serious competition.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(09-24-2016, 03:38 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I think Zampese is too set on throwing it from being a QB coach to give it to Hill and let him just pound the ball.

I think is so happy and obsessed with Dalton leading the league in passing yards that he feels like he needs to keep throwing it so he can look back after the season and have everyone saying "he did that in his first year as OC."

Dalton can still get his yards because our offense will have more possessions from scoring more, but we need to establish the run to keep the defense honest (I think that's been a big reason for our problems with pass protection) and control the clock.

Give it to Hill and let him just pound the ball for 2ypc?

Hill has been terrible for going on two years now. Unless something drastically changes with him, he's looking like just another Peyton Hillis.

[Ricky Spanish]

What scares me is the refs

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(09-24-2016, 04:30 PM)Ricky Spanish Wrote: What scares me is the refs

What, you mean you don't trust the refs who officiated the Bengals/Steelers playoff game last year?

[Fan_in_Kettering]

My confidence level going into tomorrow's game is 3. Usually I'm more of a "glass half full" kind of person but it seems without a run game, without Vontaze Burfict, and without Tyler Eifert we're average at best. It's not like we have a great coach who can fit anyone into a scheme and blow away a team 27-0 on national television with only three days rest and an untested rookie quarterback.

Anyway, the defending Super Bowl champions are here in the Queen City and if last year's matchup is any indication, it's going to be a very close game. Merely dusting off the 2014 playbook against the Peyton Manning Broncos won't do: Cincinnati made a huge mistake by not re-signing Reggie Nelson so it's going to take lots of defensive line pressure for the Bengals to stop Trevor Siemian and Demaryius Thomas from going deep all day long. CJ Anderson and Devontae Booker are two powerful running backs and Denver's offensive line run and pass blocks equally well. Paul Guenther will have to make sure the linebackers seal the edges so CJ and Devontae are forced inside where Geno Atkins and Margus Hunt can make plays in the gaps. Denver's tight end Virgil Green is possibly injured so Ohio State's Jeff Heuerman may get the start. He's really good so Paul Guenther needs to put his fastest linebacker on Green with two safeties over the top: One to contain Green and the other to provide cover on Thomas. I fear Demaryius Thomas might be faster than any of the Bengals' cornerbacks.

As for the Bengals' offense, um, uh, ah, just don't turn the ball over and avoid pre-snap penalties. I do not expect Paul Alexander to have the offensive line issues fixed this week but if Andy Dalton can make it through this game upright with his helmet on I'll consider it a minor victory. It's not going to be pretty on this side of the ball and it's going to be up to the Cincinnati defense to win this game.

As for predicting who wins, well, I can't -- but I'll predict the winning score will be by three points or less.

[bengalguy71]

(09-24-2016, 06:09 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: ....  It's not like we have a great coach who can fit anyone into a scheme and blow away a team 27-0 on national television with only three days rest and an untested rookie quarterback.  ......

IMHO FIK, I can't think of ANY franchise, past or present, that has been able to do what the Pats have done in the last 15 years. Even the Steelers and 49ers have had stud muffin players.  I am also convinced that Brady is a product of that franchise excellence.  They have not had a losing season in the last 15 years.
Now obviously Bill doesn't get ALL the credit, because the excellence has to be from GM to position coaches.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(09-24-2016, 06:27 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: IMHO FIK, I can't think of ANY franchise, past or present, that has been able to do what the Pats have done in the last 15 years. Even the Steelers and 49ers have had stud muffin players.  I am also convinced that Brady is a product of that franchise excellence.  They have not had a losing season in the last 15 years.
Now obviously Bill doesn't get ALL the credit, because the excellence has to be from GM to position coaches.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/executives.htm

Belichick is also the GM. He just doesn't do the legal/contract negotiations.

[reuben.ahmed]

I'm also at 3, with Kettering. The offense concerns me, and we've given up the most rushing yards in the league. No way around that fact.

I'm missing Marvin Jones, Sanu, and Eifert. Obviously one of those guys we'll get back.

It also concerns me the amount of times Dalton is getting sacked. The last couple years he started like the first 5-6 games with zero sacks and zero picks. Zero sacks and zero picks = win. Offensive line, troubling. Can't run the ball because of it, either.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(09-24-2016, 06:59 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: It also concerns me the amount of times Dalton is getting sacked. The last couple years he started like the first 5-6 games with zero sacks and zero picks. Zero sacks and zero picks = win. Offensive line, troubling. Can't run the ball because of it, either.

You know what amazes me about this situation?  The first team offensive line looked very good in their preseason appearances and as soon as the regular season began, it was like someone flipped their switches to "off."  Andy Dalton is leading the NFL in passing yards behind Waddle, Lurch, Turnstile, Flinch, and Airbag.  

[HarleyDog]

(09-24-2016, 08:40 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote:
You know what amazes me about this situation?  The first team offensive line looked very good in their preseason appearances and as soon as the regular season began, it was like someone flipped their switches to "off."  Andy Dalton is leading the NFL in passing yards behind Waddle, Lurch, Turnstile, Flinch, and Airbag.  

Hilarious and sad.