Revised season predictions

[cincygrad]

I have us at 7-8-1.

The sky IS falling.

Too many injuries and the wrong coaches to correct the free-fall when it starts.

 

[DanBengalfan]

with or without AJ Green

if he's in the line up it's worth at least 1 or 2 wins.

like, couldn't he play vs Ravens, and then take a 2 week vacation?

 

[cincygrad]

with or without AJ Green

if he's in the line up it's worth at least 1 or 2 wins.

like, couldn't he play vs Ravens, and then take a 2 week vacation?

I'm not convinced AJ will be back anytime soon and I'm not convinced that if he does come back he'll play to his normal standard. We haven't extended his deal yet..... That means next year is a contract year. He'll want to be healthy for that.

 

[alf8478]

Unless he's smart and wants to get the hell out of here, and maybe take less money

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I know you guys are just looking at it from a Bengals perspective here, but I thought BAL, CIN, PIT all had 9-7 to 10-6 type teams...at this point I'm not ready to back off that yet even though the Ravens are in the catbird seat.

On the game yesterday...I picked IND largely because they were the home team and no AJ...but Lewis has some soul searching to do this week on the same level as Tomlin. The Bengals are not supposed to get blanked against ANY team.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Yeah, I am starting to think the same CincyGrad. That was honestly the hardest football for me to watch in 20+ years. I do not ever remember a 90's Bengals team looking that pathetic and getting handled so easily on both sides of the ball.

We are in trouble, and the boat is sinking faster than we can throw buckets of water out of it.

Too many injuries, and too many guys looking like they have been defeated. That is hard to get that edge back once you have lost it.

The defense gave up a ton of yards yesterday and the score was 27-0, but considering how long they were on the field, I am honestly not that disappointed in the defense too much, minus a few players/plays here and there.

Worst offensive game I have ever seen though.

QB, RB's, WR's, TE, OL - EVERYONE BLEW! The offensive line made Dalton very uncomfortable today and you could tell he looked rushed on every play even if no one was in his face. He just had that internal clock going on how long he should hold the ball and he started panicking once he reached 3 seconds, when he got that long. When he didn't get that long, the play was even worse.

I would like to say that one positive was no turnovers, but when you have like 10 (3 and outs), that is basically equal to 3 or 4 turnovers because how long the Colts offense got a chance with the ball, and how long our defense had to cover that offense.

Yuck, yuck, yuck.

I am praying for 8-7-1 now.

 

[cincygrad]

I know you guys are just looking at it from a Bengals perspective here, but I thought BAL, CIN, PIT all had 9-7 to 10-6 type teams...at this point I'm not ready to back off that yet even though the Ravens are in the catbird seat.

On the game yesterday...I picked IND largely because they were the home team and no AJ...but Lewis has some soul searching to do this week on the same level as Tomlin. The Bengals are not supposed to get blanked against ANY team.

I think I probably agreed with this before the season.....And it still might be relevant now. At least as far as Baltimore goes.

The Bengals have too many injuries to key personnel and good teams will exploit it. I suppose they could tread water, win 2 of the next 3 (all at home), get healthy and then be prepared to make a run. Unfortunately, they would have to make that run with 5 of 7 on the road and the two home games would be against the Steelers and Broncos.

I don't know what to think of the Steelers. I see the uniform and I expect them to be tough and I expect them to be there late in the fall. Then I watch them play and they look like crap (outside that Carolina game).

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I think I probably agreed with this before the season.....And it still might be relevant now. At least as far as Baltimore goes.

The Bengals have too many injuries to key personnel and good teams will exploit it. I suppose they could tread water, win 2 of the next 3 (all at home), get healthy and then be prepared to make a run. Unfortunately, they would have to make that run with 5 of 7 on the road and the two home games would be against the Steelers and Broncos.

I don't know what to think of the Steelers. I see the uniform and I expect them to be tough and I expect them to be there late in the fall. Then I watch them play and they look like crap (outside that Carolina game).

Bengals...yeah, you guys have been hit harder than most injury wise...the DEF is really nowhere close to LY or even the Ravens game.

Steelers...if you see my thread in the Steelers folder on AFCN at large, that really spells out my thoughts on them...kind of a shame to lose both OLBs (in the same game) but the OFC is really the concern I have.

 

[Ryanballa]

I'm not gonna stop believing that this team can do some major damage this season,and win this division, because of 3 bad weeks and 1 where we shoulda won, Green will return this week and Eifert will return in 3 weeks. According to Marvin Lewis Burfict is "Fine". So going forward with a healthy AJ Green we should be the favorite to win this division. IMO.

 

[kramer1]

Bring in the bulldozers and turn PBS into a parking lot!

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I'm not gonna stop believing that this team can do some major damage this season,and win this division, because of 3 bad weeks and 1 where we shoulda won, Green will return this week and Eifert will return in 3 weeks. According to Marvin Lewis Burfict is "Fine". So going forward with a healthy AJ Green we should be the favorite to win this division. IMO.

We will see if the offensive line can block anyone. Dalton already has his limitations and if he begins to panic from pressure, even if there is no pressure, it won't make a difference if our WR core was Calvin Johnson, AJ Green and Jerry Rice in his prime.

We need to block better, and we need to get better push up front for the run game to succeed. Indianapolis created a blue print on how to dominate us. You provide a rush and you stack your CB's on our crappy WR's at the line so they get hit inside that 5 yards. That way you have so many guys near the LOS for protection against the rush, and you are playing the pass with a blitz and CB's chucking the crappy wide outs at the LOS. It is a full on assault with no one to stretch the field.

 

[DanBengalfan]

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101001180252AAY3v3d

turf toe takes ~ 6 weeks to heal

I guess it all depends on how serious the tear for AJ is.

 

[cincygrad]

I think it's pretty clear that we aren't better than Denver, New England, or Indy.

San Diego and Baltimore are probably better than us, though I think we can beat either of them if we play well.

We're probably better than Pittsburgh, but they'll still probably beat us at least once..... And we're obviously better than the mediocre teams in the AFC.

That leaves us as a marginal playoff team -- If we get healthy, we probably sneak in as a 4, 5, or 6 seed..... But that's probably best case scenario at this point.

So, what's the point? Should we root for us to bottom out? Or do we root for a 4th straight playoff birth and quick out?

I honestly don't know anymore....... It's better than the 90s..... But only because it's less embarrassing to be a fan.

 

[futballiscool]

I think it's pretty clear that we aren't better than Denver, New England, or Indy.

San Diego and Baltimore are probably better than us, though I think we can beat either of them if we play well.

We're probably better than Pittsburgh, but they'll still probably beat us at least once..... And we're obviously better than the mediocre teams in the AFC.

That leaves us as a marginal playoff team -- If we get healthy, we probably sneak in as a 4, 5, or 6 seed..... But that's probably best case scenario at this point.

So, what's the point? Should we root for us to bottom out? Or do we root for a 4th straight playoff birth and quick out?

I honestly don't know anymore....... It's better than the 90s..... But only because it's less embarrassing to be a fan.

A big plus for the Bengals playoff chances is that the AFCW plays the NFCW this year. With KC and SD most likely going after a wildcard spot they face each other twice, Denver twice, Sea, SF, Az, and NE. That's half of their schedules and its all against top tier teams.

I'm not sure I'd take Indy or Balt over KC or SD on a neutral field right now but the AFCW teams are going to struggle to get to 10 wins.

If this was a normal franchise I might root for them to bottom out but with Mike Brown as owner I don't see it mattering too much. I'm not bashing Mike Brown just to bash him, but if they miss the playoffs the only change I can imagine is possibly letting Marvin's contract run out without an extension being offered. At this point I have to think Lewis is looking to retire soon anyway. Might as well make the playoffs and hope they get healthy and go on a run

 

[cincygrad]

A big plus for the Bengals playoff chances is that the AFCW plays the NFCW this year. With KC and SD most likely going after a wildcard spot they face each other twice, Denver twice, Sea, SF, Az, and NE. That's half of their schedules and its all against top tier teams.

I'm not sure I'd take Indy or Balt over KC or SD on a neutral field right now but the AFCW teams are going to struggle to get to 10 wins.

If this was a normal franchise I might root for them to bottom out but with Mike Brown as owner I don't see it mattering too much. I'm not bashing Mike Brown just to bash him, but if they miss the playoffs the only change I can imagine is possibly letting Marvin's contract run out without an extension being offered. At this point I have to think Lewis is looking to retire soon anyway. Might as well make the playoffs and hope they get healthy and go on a run

I wonder if he needs a break. He doesn't look so good this year - I read that he lost his father during the offseason and I'm sure that has been stressful, but he is definitely putting on weight and looking much older.

Even if Marvin were to go, we'd just hire Hue and keep all the same coaches. I don't see much changing.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I wonder if he needs a break. He doesn't look so good this year - I read that he lost his father during the offseason and I'm sure that has been stressful, but he is definitely putting on weight and looking much older.

Even if Marvin were to go, we'd just hire Hue and keep all the same coaches. I don't see much changing.

I think you are right. I can't think of any coaches that are really available that would help us right now, we sent the best coach we had to Minnesota.