Game Thread: Week 1: Bengals vs. Indy

[cincygrad]

Can we get a few predictions before the festivities begin?

I think the Bengals take this one. I'm not buying Andrew Luck coming off the training table and lighting up any NFL D - Not with a new offense and questionable talent. I don't expect him to struggle, but I think his effort will be a little uneven.

I think this game will be ugly like last year. I think Fat Randy has a good day and we win 20-13.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Indy's defense is not good.

Their OL is worse than their defense, and their best OL is likely not to play. Even if he does, he's coming off no pre-season and a hamstring injury, which does not bode well for facing speed rushers like Dunlap and Lawson. The same goes for their RB, who hasn't played in over a month due to a hamstring injury.

Bengals offense will be uneven at times, but good enough to put up a few TD's and drive into FG range. The defense will have a rude welcoming party for Luck's return.

27-13

 

[CrashDavisSports]

34 - 10 Bengals

I expect the pressure from the front 7 lead to turnovers, and I am not sold on Indy's secondary other than Hooker.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I'm not going to watch, but Indy seems even more lost than we are.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Bengals win 23-19.

It will be more frustrating then it should be.

 

[Be Weary of Query]

Two turnovers by the offense. Shawn Williams ejected.

Marvin with the same vacant stare.

I could have copied and pasted the prior three sentences from a random game thread in the last five years.

 

[kramer1]

The Bengals stink. What else is new?

 

[Be Weary of Query]

Holy shit. We won. Pulled it out of our ass but it’s a W.

 

[Zephyrus001]

Hmmmph ...I see the Bungles won. Don't expect the same outcome on Thursday night.

 

[Myles]

Nice game Cincy. I was pretty happy with how Luck and the Colts looked. I figured them for 8 wins this season and that's what they looked like. Very young.

 

[Be Weary of Query]

 

[cincygrad]

Hmmmph ...I see the Bungles won. Don't expect the same outcome on Thursday night.

Oh, good lord.... A Ravens fan. You'd figured they wouldn't talk shit to the Bengals given that they are the only franchise that consistently struggles with Marvin Lewis teams.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Is what it is.

A win is a win, especially on the road.

 

[futballiscool]

A banner day for the "Brown System"...

The Bengals won. Fitzpatrick threw for 400 yards and 4 TDs. Joseph, Zimmer, and Gruden won. Hue Jackson didn't lose.

 

[futballiscool]

Is what it is.

A win is a win, especially on the road.

If Luck is healthy I think the Colts have a winning season. It was a road win in the conference. That could be big at the end of the year.

 

[cincygrad]

I didn't watch the game. I followed on my phone and saw the highlights. It's a promising start in that the team didn't give up, they might have finally figured out how to use Joe Mixon and they finally generated a turnover that actually mattered. All of those things are different from last year's version of the Bengals. It's a little disconcerting that we gave up two sacks to Margus Hunt. And the turnovers came from stupid plays by Dalton and Green.... Can't have that from those guys. Didn't like the 3 given up before half either (a trend that really killed us last year).

The NFL is going to be tough to watch this year.... A guy like Carlos Dunlap getting flagged twice pretty much tells you all you need to know. We've had our share of cheap players, but Dunlap has never even been close to cheap. Time to hold your breath for every sack.

 

[cincygrad]

If Luck is healthy I think the Colts have a winning season. It was a road win in the conference. That could be big at the end of the year.

I think they'll be in some shoot-outs.... Luck is still a damn good qb. That D probably needs work.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Bengals looked like they had a game plan that was clear: Don't let luck get deep. They played a lot of, what looked like, deep coverage and allowed Luck to hit the crossing and under routes. I think that played a big role in the DL not getting as much pressure as we thought. Luck was able to hit those short passes quickly, but he wasn't able to burn the DB's deep.

It honestly reminded me a lot of last year's Jax game where Bortles just picked, picked, picked the under routes the Bengals gave them all day long.

While I think there are times to allow those kinds of coverages, I think it is going to end up taking away from the strength of this defense. If they continue to play like that in the secondary it will neutralize the speed of the DL; allowing the QB to get rid of the ball faster with those short under routes.

 

[cincygrad]

Bengals looked like they had a game plan that was clear: Don't let luck get deep. They played a lot of, what looked like, deep coverage and allowed Luck to hit the crossing and under routes. I think that played a big role in the DL not getting as much pressure as we thought. Luck was able to hit those short passes quickly, but he wasn't able to burn the DB's deep.

It honestly reminded me a lot of last year's Jax game where Bortles just picked, picked, picked the under routes the Bengals gave them all day long.

While I think there are times to allow those kinds of coverages, I think it is going to end up taking away from the strength of this defense. If they continue to play like that in the secondary it will neutralize the speed of the DL; allowing the QB to get rid of the ball faster with those short under routes.

I wondered about this when I saw Luck's numbers but not very many 'big' plays. This seems to be a theme of a Marvin Lewis team, no matter who the coordinator is. We've heard all summer about the more aggressive defensive approach, but it seems to be the same scheme..... They just have slogans about turnovers and stuff now.

 

[Yo Tee]

Was this just a bad game for Luck or are the Bengals really that good this year? Great comeback victory.