Bengals at the bye

[cincygrad]

5-4. I'd say most fans are depressed. Things would feel different if they were 6-3 and didn't lose Chido. I hear a lot of comparisons to last season and most people making these comparisons say that we were in much better shape last year given our past victories and future schedule. I think that's overblown. In 2021, at the break, we had wins over Minnesota (a bad team - not this year's version), Detroit (same old Detroit), Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Jacksonville. This year we have wins over the three NFC-S teams, the Dolphins (a likely playoff team) and the Jets (a maybe playoff team). In 2021, we still had to play at Vegas (playoff team), against the Chargers (probably the best team not to make playoffs), SF (one of best in NFC), @Denver, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and KC. This year we have the division games, Tampa (not very good), NE (hard to understand), KC (not as explosive as years past), Buffalo (best in AFC, but can be beat), and Tennessee (tougher than I thought they'd be).

This team still seems too inconsistent to win more than 10 games and getting to 10 is going to be a grind. But, you do see flashes from time to time and it does make you wonder whether they could catch fire at the right time. I certainly wouldn't gamble on it though.

 

[DanBengalfan]

we won't be taking Buffalo and KC by surprise. I think some teams underestimated our talent level last year, the thing is, even with offensive coaches that can sometime hinder our creative success, our talent on offense can put us right back in a game at almost any time.

Defensive woes are more worrisome going into a potential playoff run, if you are in the playoffs, you are guaranteed to face some good offenses that can expose whatever defensive injury your trying to compensate for.

 

[cincygrad]

 

[cincygrad]

If you're a believer in DVOA and other advanced stats, you'd have to believe this team is better than 5-4 and they'll be a tough out the rest of the way. But, they've had a enough bad moments this year that it feels hard to trust. Should be an interesting stretch run.

 

[cincygrad]

BTW - The special teams stuff is easy to correct. We're weighed down by a bad week 1 when we lost our snapper and a punter that should have been cut after preseason. Simmons coverage teams will be fine and Taylor is a better returner than I think most of us thought he'd be. Cut Huber, hope for something approaching league average from Chrisman and let Mac work through his mini-slump. They'll be fine.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I am not worried about Chase. I think he will be back soon. He is a massive part of our offense. Reader is finally on his way back. Those will be two huge pieces back for both offense and defense. I am terribly worried about losing Awuzie with t he type of offenses in our conference though. KC, Buffalo, Miami, LA, etc. There are some damn good passing teams, and having to rely on rookies opposite of fn Eli Apple scares the shit out of me.

Yeah, poor Huber hit a wall. It is unfortunately time for us to move on from Huber and Harris and going with the youth movement is important, especially at that ranking.

Being ranked int he top 10 on both sides of the ball is pretty damn good though.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Big difference between last year and this year - 0 and 3 in division thus far. Have to sweep out.

The team isn't worse than last year, but the ineptness of the offensive play calling, lack of OL gelling early, and lastly Burrow needing 2-3 weeks to really get back into football shape - really put the Bengals behind 3-4 weeks. Bengals could play above their station going forward if they can hit on all cylinders, but that could be asking a lot. Losing Cheeto really hurts the defense, and a lot of what Lou is able to do. The return of DJ will be big. Defense has shown they have depth, which is good. OL finally got going with pinning and pulling. Will they continue to do this? Passing game is showing they can take advantage still without Chase, even if the long ball may not be as prevelant. Chase returns, keep running the ball - suddenly - offense could be really tough.

Will it happen? I have my doubts.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Big difference between last year and this year - 0 and 3 in division thus far. Have to sweep out.

The team isn't worse than last year, but the ineptness of the offensive play calling, lack of OL gelling early, and lastly Burrow needing 2-3 weeks to really get back into football shape - really put the Bengals behind 3-4 weeks. Bengals could play above their station going forward if they can hit on all cylinders, but that could be asking a lot. Losing Cheeto really hurts the defense, and a lot of what Lou is able to do. The return of DJ will be big. Defense has shown they have depth, which is good. OL finally got going with pinning and pulling. Will they continue to do this? Passing game is showing they can take advantage still without Chase, even if the long ball may not be as prevelant. Chase returns, keep running the ball - suddenly - offense could be really tough.

Will it happen? I have my doubts.

we're on the border line at this point. that last game against the Ravens will be critical (unless a bunch more people get hurt)

 

[cincygrad]

Big difference between last year and this year - 0 and 3 in division thus far. Have to sweep out.

The team isn't worse than last year, but the ineptness of the offensive play calling, lack of OL gelling early, and lastly Burrow needing 2-3 weeks to really get back into football shape - really put the Bengals behind 3-4 weeks. Bengals could play above their station going forward if they can hit on all cylinders, but that could be asking a lot. Losing Cheeto really hurts the defense, and a lot of what Lou is able to do. The return of DJ will be big. Defense has shown they have depth, which is good. OL finally got going with pinning and pulling. Will they continue to do this? Passing game is showing they can take advantage still without Chase, even if the long ball may not be as prevelant. Chase returns, keep running the ball - suddenly - offense could be really tough.

Will it happen? I have my doubts.

i get it. In some ways it feels like one of those seasons where things just never really come together long enough to make some noise.

On the other hand, this is sort of what the NFL is now in the era of the 17 game season. Look around the league this weekend.... Suddenly, Buffalo is 6-3, might have a banged up QB, definitely has some issues in 1-score games and isn't even leading their division. This is the same Buffalo team that was almost universally agreed to be the best team coming into the season and still rated as the best team by many through the first 7-8 weeks. The other universally praised team, the Eagles, have had long stretches where they don't play well. Last night it finally caught up with them. The flavor of this week will be the Vikings, but as fun as they can be to watch (Jefferson is amazing), I don't think anyone is rushing to put bets on Kurt Cousins winning the Lombardi.

If I had to put my money on any one QB or team, it would likely be KC. I think I just trust Mahomes more than I do a lot of the other guys. In years past, I would have almost always said Brady, but I think they have too many issues. But, more than likely, it will come down to whatever team really starts to get it together in December and rides that wave through the playoffs. I think there are probably about 6-8 teams that could win the Super Bowl - That's why the NFL is exciting!

 

[cincygrad]

Lots of interesting stuff in here.... Aside from pass-blocking, the Bengals continue to show well in these types of metrics.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Lots of interesting stuff in here.... Aside from pass-blocking, the Bengals continue to show well in these types of metrics.

carolina and atlanta were good tune-up games.

that Cle game is still a head scratcher.

 

[Cincyfan78]

i get it. In some ways it feels like one of those seasons where things just never really come together long enough to make some noise.

On the other hand, this is sort of what the NFL is now in the era of the 17 game season. Look around the league this weekend.... Suddenly, Buffalo is 6-3, might have a banged up QB, definitely has some issues in 1-score games and isn't even leading their division. This is the same Buffalo team that was almost universally agreed to be the best team coming into the season and still rated as the best team by many through the first 7-8 weeks. The other universally praised team, the Eagles, have had long stretches where they don't play well. Last night it finally caught up with them. The flavor of this week will be the Vikings, but as fun as they can be to watch (Jefferson is amazing), I don't think anyone is rushing to put bets on Kurt Cousins winning the Lombardi.

If I had to put my money on any one QB or team, it would likely be KC. I think I just trust Mahomes more than I do a lot of the other guys. In years past, I would have almost always said Brady, but I think they have too many issues. But, more than likely, it will come down to whatever team really starts to get it together in December and rides that wave through the playoffs. I think there are probably about 6-8 teams that could win the Super Bowl - That's why the NFL is exciting!

This is exactly why I never worry about the schedule. So many things change from pre-season to week 17 that any stretch can be reversed. Those that looked hard, suddenly much easier. Those that looked easier, suddenly much more difficult.

To me, the biggest thing that holds back this offense is the lack of adaptability. There is enough talent that it can be overcome, but all of the set-backs previously mentioned had a big impact. For sure sitting at 5-4 they are nowhere near out of the race with 8 more games to play - but guys have to get healthy (those who can) and the offensive game plan has got to start to come together. The defense has played well enough to be sitting at 6-3 or even 7-2 at this point - but the offense has been that bad. Time for the offense to start carrying some additional weight as the defense is now banged up, and losing Cheeto is a big, big blow.