Game Thread: Bengals vs. Browns

[cincygrad]

Big game this weekend. Both teams are desperate for a win. For the Bengals, going into the bye at 5-4 would be a big letdown after their win in Baltimore earlier this month. They would have two more losses than Baltimore with a trip to Vegas coming right after the bye. If the Browns lose, they are 4-5 and 0-2 in the division. They also have the toughest remaining schedule (road games in NE and GB; 2 games against Balt; road game at Pit) the rest of the way. This is basically the crossroads of their season.

I have a bad feeling about this one. I think the Browns are the more desperate team. I think they rally through the crap about OBJ and Mayfield has his best game of the year.

What say you?

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think the Bengals come back out on top. After their last egg, Chicago, they rebounded nicely. I think the Cleveland defense is over-rated compared to where many of us thought it would be to start the year. Their offense is a mess right now from a personnel standpoint right now - OL injured, RB's injured, Mayfield injured...

If the Bengals can bring some pressure (not this rush 3/4 stuff they did against the Jets) and force Baker to make some early throws, they can capitalize - Baker has shown that his injury is effecting the ability to locate the ball deep. Get after him, hit him, and force him to beat the defense over the top.

Offensively - variety is key. Get the run game untracked, but it will have to be from various sets to keep the defense honest. Passing game just needs to be a bit more crisp than it was in NY - but the key will be getting to manageable 3rd downs, and converting them. This is where the run variety has to come into play more.

 

[alf8478]

We’re going to find out if the Browns players were pro-Baker or pro-Beckham

 

[DanBengalfan]

Browns are a bigger mess than we are.

Bengals by 7

 

[alf8478]

Browns by 3

 

[DanBengalfan]

21-7 in the second qtr

do we have any defense? lol

 

[cincygrad]

Wow.... Nothing going right today.

 

[alf8478]

I meant browns by 33

 

[cincygrad]

It's sort of strange..... Their defense hasn't stopped us yet (as of the 2:00 warning). Int (pick 6), touchdown, dropped third down pass (out on downs), Chase fumble, current drive.... Bengals moving it up and down the field but find themselves down 17. If they don't get a touchdown before half, the game will likely be over. The Browns and their ground game should be deadly with a two touchdown lead.

 

[DanBengalfan]

the Bengals just seem flat.

We used to have 2 good receivers, Boyd and Higgins. somehow, they don't exist anymore.
let's force the ball to chase, when he's covered.

there's a lot of nonsense going on right now, and a good head coach is what is needed.

I'm not saying that zach taylor will never be any good, but he's in over his head here.

 

[cincygrad]

the Bengals just seem flat.

We used to have 2 good receivers, Boyd and Higgins. somehow, they don't exist anymore.
let's force the ball to chase, when he's covered.

there's a lot of nonsense going on right now, and a good head coach is what is needed.

I'm not saying that zach taylor will never be any good, but he's in over his head here.

I agree. For how professional they were on their trips to Detroit and Baltimore, these last two weeks have been painful. They seem unprepared and not very interested in playing.

 

[cincygrad]

Receivers have been awful today. Chase's first bad game. Higgins a couple brutal drops. Boyd was invisible.

 

[alf8478]

Receivers have been awful today. Chase's first bad game. Higgins a couple brutal drops. Boyd was invisible.

Higgins we’re on contested balls. Chase was brutal today

 

[cincygrad]

Higgins we’re on contested balls. Chase was brutal today

That's supposed to be Higgins game though. If he doesn't make those types of catches, he's pretty average.

I think they are trying to do too much with Chase. Seems like the entire gameplan is run through him - Including forcing it to him in the redzone. They've basically stopped using Boyd for anything, they didn't have anything for Evans, and they only use Uzomah every now and then. For a team with some decent options, they've become one-dimensional.

 

[alf8478]

That's supposed to be Higgins game though. If he doesn't make those types of catches, he's pretty average.

I think they are trying to do too much with Chase. Seems like the entire gameplan is run through him - Including forcing it to him in the redzone. They've basically stopped using Boyd for anything, they didn't have anything for Evans, and they only use Uzomah every now and then. For a team with some decent options, they've become one-dimensional.

Um. He is pretty average.

 

[cincygrad]

Um. He is pretty average.

According to the Bengals beat writers and fanbase, he's a member of the best receiving corps in the league.

 

[Gypsumstack]

This doesn't make any sense at all. If Chase and Higgens are both covered, Boyd should be eating defenses alive. There should really only be two, maybe three reads for Burrow per pass. Is Chase/Higgens covered? No: bombs away. Yes: Boyd or CJ are open over the middle.

 

[cincygrad]

Chase and Higgins had 21 targets between the two of them (13 alone for Chase). Boyd had 2 targets.

They also ran Chase twice, but Boyd wasn't used in the running game. It's just an odd pattern.... I like that they try to get Chase the ball on the run, but it's not really effective if the only time he goes in motion he gets the ball on a handoff. These are professional teams. They figure shit out. You'd figure that you could stop lining him up by himself on one side of the field for every play and maybe start running some action off his routes since he's drawing coverage. I'm not an offensive coordinator (I'm a draft expert!), but it doesn't seem like we're very thoughtful about the passing game.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Did not watch a single second of the game. By all accounts, another lackluster performance from the players and coaches.

When Burrow and Co are on, the offense looks great, and Taylor is a good looking coach. When Burrow struggles and they need innovation to get things going, or to change things up, Taylor is exactly the coach we've seen for the last 2 years.

Outside of a big-time playoff run - if I were the Bengals, I would be looking to make changes. You cannot waste more years of the core of this group. You already lost 1/2 year on Burrow with his injury. Things change too fast in the NFL to sit around. That's what this team did in the mid-2000's and 2010's with Palmer/Dalton and Co. Just look at KC for an example. A healthy Rodgers, and they are likely yet another loss in the season - after being the SB multiple times. Window looked wide open. Then it slammed shut in a hurry.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

We blow. Smoke and mirrors in Detroit and Baltimore.