Game Thread: Bengals vs. Patriots

[cincygrad]

Watch this video of our last drive. I slowed down the third down play to watch Burrow. He bails almost immediately after his back-foot hits on his drop. The pocket was clean - Maybe a little disorganized around Trent Brown, but he could have easily slid left. The scheme on the other two plays is confusing because all of the receivers end up in the same place. But, Burrow's comfort level is certainly an issue..... I didn't catch it in real time yesterday, but it was clear as day on this video.

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[Cincyfan78]

Watch this video of our last drive. I slowed down the third down play to watch Burrow. He bails almost immediately after his back-foot hits on his drop. The pocket was clean - Maybe a little disorganized around Trent Brown, but he could have easily slid left. The scheme on the other two plays is confusing because all of the receivers end up in the same place. But, Burrow's comfort level is certainly an issue..... I didn't catch it in real time yesterday, but it was clear as day on this video.

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I noticed this as well - and noticed it other times in the game - where Burrow just didn't look locked in. OL looked OK at times, but struggled against pressure and there were likely some missed line calls. T.Brown had an OK day, but certainly had a fair share of players that made you hope Mims is ready to return sooner than later.

I'll continue to say this - as I have for 3+ years now - practice doesn't equal a gameday feel. Scrimmages against other teams do not bring the same feel as gameday. Only going out in game situations and running those plays and getting a feel for actual game situations is how you prepare for.....gasp....game situations.

Even with it being "pre-season", players have talked about the importance of getting a feel for an actual game day. Getting up, getting to the stadium. Going through warmups, coming out of the tunnel. Feeling that adrenaline and the rush from the fans, the lights. You cannot replicate this in a practice or scrimmage. You might be able to work on certain things in those set-ups, and they should be used...but if you want your team to look game ready - then you have to get them in game situations. There is simply no substitute.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I noticed this as well - and noticed it other times in the game - where Burrow just didn't look locked in. OL looked OK at times, but struggled against pressure and there were likely some missed line calls. T.Brown had an OK day, but certainly had a fair share of players that made you hope Mims is ready to return sooner than later.

I'll continue to say this - as I have for 3+ years now - practice doesn't equal a gameday feel. Scrimmages against other teams do not bring the same feel as gameday. Only going out in game situations and running those plays and getting a feel for actual game situations is how you prepare for.....gasp....game situations.

Even with it being "pre-season", players have talked about the importance of getting a feel for an actual game day. Getting up, getting to the stadium. Going through warmups, coming out of the tunnel. Feeling that adrenaline and the rush from the fans, the lights. You cannot replicate this in a practice or scrimmage. You might be able to work on certain things in those set-ups, and they should be used...but if you want your team to look game ready - then you have to get them in game situations. There is simply no substitute.

Plus, it is about the speed change. Almost nobody goes full bore in a practice or worthless scrimmage. Turn on the cameras, push the adrenaline and see guys starting to actually fly around, now t hat is different. I remember an interview with Burrow during the second preseason game where he said he would have liked to of seen some more playing time in the preseason, but that is not his call. Once again, it goes back to Taylor and his coddling of his players instead of prepping them. I get that contract prices are starting to dictate some of this, but you can't play scared.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Plus, it is about the speed change. Almost nobody goes full bore in a practice or worthless scrimmage. Turn on the cameras, push the adrenaline and see guys starting to actually fly around, now t hat is different. I remember an interview with Burrow during the second preseason game where he said he would have liked to of seen some more playing time in the preseason, but that is not his call. Once again, it goes back to Taylor and his coddling of his players instead of prepping them. I get that contract prices are starting to dictate some of this, but you can't play scared.

Burrow wanted to play in the pre-season finale this year - and Taylor said no.

Jonah Williams touched on the differences last year when he was the only OL to play in the pre-season. Said he fought to get out there because it is different - and he wanted to be ready, especially coming off an injury.

KC plays their starters, as do many teams. We're not talking about playing guys 2 or 3 quarters here - we're talking 2-3 drives, at best. Maybe you go most of a quarter in game 2 or whatever...but you get them out there.

Anyway - I digress....I think we are all on the same page on this one...

 

[cincygrad]

Burrow wanted to play in the pre-season finale this year - and Taylor said no.

Jonah Williams touched on the differences last year when he was the only OL to play in the pre-season. Said he fought to get out there because it is different - and he wanted to be ready, especially coming off an injury.

KC plays their starters, as do many teams. We're not talking about playing guys 2 or 3 quarters here - we're talking 2-3 drives, at best. Maybe you go most of a quarter in game 2 or whatever...but you get them out there.

Anyway - I digress....I think we are all on the same page on this one...

I don't think anyone can argue with the idea that *something* has to be done. As Marvin Lewis would say, "you are what your record says you are." And Taylor's record in September is awful - And that is even with some really excellent teams. My hunch is that it goes beyond the preseason games and to the practices themselves. Even the guys that play in the preseason generally look awful. Think about Jake Browning - I always figured he just kinda sucked given how bad our offense looked in preseason the last few years (he didn't play this year). But, his command of the offense was night and day difference playing in the middle of the season. I have no idea what their process is, but Taylor's teams look like guys that never practice before playing preseason games and they continue to look like that until October in the regular season. Do something different.

 

[cincygrad]

Here is the overhead from that 3rd down play. This was 100% on Burrow. If he feels the pressure and slides just a bit he has two receivers running verticals and a single high safety. The key point here is that there is absolutely no real pressure - But he panicked. Reminds me a little of the Bears game (2nd game of the season after knee injury) where he just looks uncomfortable in the pocket. I hope that is all that this is and it's not an issue with the wrist.

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[cincygrad]

Oh man... First down was bad too. Look at Chase.

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[jbuck]

KC and the ravens hit the ground running. They both had that mid season look. We were prepared to punt. Now I have to face my Boston buddy tonight. Goddammit.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Let's take at least 2 positive from yesterdays' game:

1 - Despite the crapfest on the Bengals side of the game (non-existent O, 13 missed tackles on D, etc...) - They were in a position to win that game. As always this early in the season, they show that even on bad days they can be tough to beat, and on good days can beat the best...so let's just hope that they get in gear much sooner than usual for KC.

2 - Did the Bengals finally find a punter? Rehkow was flipping the field. His net average was an NFL record, I believe I saw. His 80 yarder was an absolute BOMB shot that kept helping the defense, and giving the offense a chance.

 

[jbuck]

they sure know how to tamper expectations

 

[DanBengalfan]

Let's take at least 2 positive from yesterdays' game:

1 - Despite the crapfest on the Bengals side of the game (non-existent O, 13 missed tackles on D, etc...) - They were in a position to win that game. As always this early in the season, they show that even on bad days they can be tough to beat, and on good days can beat the best...so let's just hope that they get in gear much sooner than usual for KC.

2 - Did the Bengals finally find a punter? Rehkow was flipping the field. His net average was an NFL record, I believe I saw. His 80 yarder was an absolute BOMB shot that kept helping the defense, and giving the offense a chance.

he's gonna be doing a whole lotta punting week 2

 

[cincygrad]

Let's take at least 2 positive from yesterdays' game:

1 - Despite the crapfest on the Bengals side of the game (non-existent O, 13 missed tackles on D, etc...) - They were in a position to win that game. As always this early in the season, they show that even on bad days they can be tough to beat, and on good days can beat the best...so let's just hope that they get in gear much sooner than usual for KC.

2 - Did the Bengals finally find a punter? Rehkow was flipping the field. His net average was an NFL record, I believe I saw. His 80 yarder was an absolute BOMB shot that kept helping the defense, and giving the offense a chance.

Punter was one of my top 3 concerns going into the season! My god was that a neat feeling having a guy that could flip a field. Not sure the consistency will be there, but they need to hang onto this guy.

I'll also take it as good news that Mac's field goal was drilled from 51 and right down the middle. So, the hold must have been adequate.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Good read here from a breakdown of 1st game this year compared to when Bengals have hit their stride later in the season in the past, and why the struggles early.

Summary - Weeks 1-3 are pre-season for the Bengals.

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[Cincyfan78]

Here is another one that is good.

Summary - When Burrow is on - he can hide Taylors play calling. When he's not 100%, or not in the flow early in the season...Taylors flaws as a play-caller stick out like a sore thumb:

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[cincygrad]

Here is another one that is good.

Summary - When Burrow is on - he can hide Taylors play calling. When he's not 100%, or not in the flow early in the season...Taylors flaws as a play-caller stick out like a sore thumb:

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I think Burrow is at least partially to blame. Taylor calls a decidedly different game for Burrow than he does for Browning. After witnessing this last year, I'm convinced that Burrow just doesn't want to run that part of the playbook.

 

[cincygrad]

Big picture from last week and the fall out..... Burrow was not ready and it showed. Historically, Burrow roars back when he starts slow or when doubt creeps in. This will be an exciting week. Good chance for a big bounce back. Also a good chance we see the same stuff and have to start questioning where he is from either a physical or mental (or both) standpoint.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Big picture from last week and the fall out..... Burrow was not ready and it showed. Historically, Burrow roars back when he starts slow or when doubt creeps in. This will be an exciting week. Good chance for a big bounce back. Also a good chance we see the same stuff and have to start questioning where he is from either a physical or mental (or both) standpoint.

A big part of the playbook issue, IMO, is the lack of dedication to the run game. Why would any defense fear the Bengals in the medium to short game when they can stop the very few runs they do decide to call with a light front. Even then - because of how skewed the calling can get, defense just hedge against the deep balls and bet that Taylor will eventually stop calling runs.

It's honestly kind of the same approach that the Bengals have employed against KC - they let them run and hedge against all the passing and eventually know - KC will fall into the same lull of passing way to much when the run is clearly working.

 

[Cincyfan78]

To further illustrate - in a game that was never out of reach - the Bengals ran the ball just 12 times with designed running plays for the RB.

Twelve.

I mean, if you were a defense - wouldn't you just play everyone back and take that? That's basically 3 run calls a quarter to nearly 10 passing calls.

Bengals averaged 4.5 YPC between Brown/Moss. They had 55 yards on 12 attempts. This is the same issue that was talked about when Mixon was here. While I don't think Mixon will continue to do what he did on Sunday (He had a game like that here, too every now and then)...if the offense doesn't dedicate itself to being more varied - defenses will never respect it and that will hurt the passing game.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

To further illustrate - in a game that was never out of reach - the Bengals ran the ball just 12 times with designed running plays for the RB.

Twelve.

I mean, if you were a defense - wouldn't you just play everyone back and take that? That's basically 3 run calls a quarter to nearly 10 passing calls.

Bengals averaged 4.5 YPC between Brown/Moss. They had 55 yards on 12 attempts. This is the same issue that was talked about when Mixon was here. While I don't think Mixon will continue to do what he did on Sunday (He had a game like that here, too every now and then)...if the offense doesn't dedicate itself to being more varied - defenses will never respect it and that will hurt the passing game.

I think Mixon is going to have a career year. I think with the passing threat they have in Houston, and the really good run blocking offensive line, Mixon is going to probably wind up with 1400+ yards this year I bet.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think Mixon is going to have a career year. I think with the passing threat they have in Houston, and the really good run blocking offensive line, Mixon is going to probably wind up with 1400+ yards this year I bet.

He might. I don't think he's advanced metrics will improve a ton from when he was here, but with that OL and their play-calling, that can be mitigated to a good degree. He had some really good games here, too. It can happen.

The issue is that Taylor wants to throw it, he has Burrow, and refuses to acknowledge by way of action the importance of having a balanced attack and a solid running threat.

Again, this is another thing Taylor continues to TALK about, but rarely puts into practice.

Just like his 4th down play - how many times have we heard in the past about how he laments going horizonal on 4th down, but then continues to call screens and end-arounds?