membengal

The 3rd and 1 fullback plunge followed by missed field goal was where any remaining patience I have with Zach Taylor ended.

Pretty great article in the The Athletic by Ted Nguyan with a lot of video and analysis of what the Bengals did to slow down and frustrate the Ravens' offense. Came away from the article feeling much better about LouA. I am not the pasting wizard (especially when there is video ) like some are but for those of you with a subscription (and it is still on sale for $1 a month right now, so get it) it is here: https://theathletic.com/2135253/2020/10/14/the-bengals-stifled-the-ravens-offense-with-something-completely-different/ (then the video and analysis part starts) Summed up - really good discipline and buy-in to that scheme across the board - and the LBers and DBs flowed and filled well while the d-line played their assigned gaps. The Ravens were clearly frustrated.

A week break for the Bengals right now given their bumps and bruises and an extra week for AJ to practice in the offense would actually be...pretty ok.

They did. That's the point of the article I linked. And they did it by design. Caught the Ravens off-guard. It was a good job by LouA.

IR this year is a minimum of 3 weeks . He could still be back after the bye.

Here's where we are at as the Bengals clearly demonstrate that they believe in what they have in house: LT - Jonah Williams (top OT taken in 2019 draft - age 22) Back-up Isaiah Prince age 22 LG - Michael Jordan (4th round 2019 draft - age 22) Back-up Billy Price and/or Alex Redmond C - Trey Hopkins Back-up (Billy Price) RG - Xavier Sua Fila (age 27 - FA from Dallas) - back-up Alex Redmond - NEW DRAFT PICK X-FACTOR - Adeniji RT - Bobby Hart age 25 - ( back-up Fred Johnson - age 22) - NEW DRAFT PICK X-FACTOR - Adeniji From the Bengals perspective, they clearly feel they heavily invested in the line last year with picks 1 and 4 used for Williams and Jordan - each of whom will be starting this year. They sorted out C, settling on Hopkins and rewarding him with a contract. They looked at right guard, kicked out John Miller, and selected Sua-Fila in FA - apparently very much valuing his ability to pull and his athleticism as compared to Miller. That leaves RT - I am not a Bobby Hart fan - and I know I am not alone. But he's...serviceable. If he were the back-up swing T, that would be fine. It really comes down to Fred Johnson for me - he's an absolute monster in terms of size with the measureables you want at RT. 6'7" - 34 inch arms - 325 pounds. He was very late to playing football, and is still very new to it, relatively. The Steelers were reportedly distraught to lose him to the Bengals. The Steelers are really good at identifying and developing tackle talent from late in drafts or undrafted (Villlanueva their latest success), so there's that. Johnson was quite good in the last six games last year - two of them starts. He's...interesting. And quite young. If he's a thing, that really helps. Jonah Williams better live up to his pedigree, or we are fucked. No reason to think he won't, but he better be good. Expecting improvement from Jordan in his second year is reasonable. Hopkins is solid. The Bengals coaches are betting on Sua-Fila -that's on them - they better be right. That leaves...RT. I suspect they think Johnson can beat out Hart. It would be good if he could. But there was nothing in the draft once Isaiah Wilson went 29 which was going to come in day 1 of camp (whenever that is) and win the RT battle. Maybe an argument could be made that someone in 3 would have been better than Sua-Fila but that would have meant passing on LB room yet again. Lapham would not stop talking about how short Josh Jones's arms are. That's apparently a real worry with him, so he may have been guard only - and even maybe limited there per Lap. I guess I am saying, if Jonah Williams is what is he supposed to be (and he better be at his draft position), if Jordan takes a step year two (which he should or they should cut him at the end of camp if it isn't clear he's spent the off-season getting ready physically), then it comes down to RT for me. Hopefully Fred Johnson is seizing his opportunity. The path to this team REALLY surprising may run through him.

LS--- left safety? long snapper? loose snoozer?

The core of the "discontented" are the vets left over from the Marvin years. Probably time to move on from them. Was last year at the deadline too. But we know that Tobin et al apparently see dealing as a one-way street. I am still puzzled over the "we are not in the business of improving other teams" quote given that the Bengals would be getting assets in return, but, hey, whatevs, Duke.

The bigger issue, all good and bad jokes aside, is that simply saying "draft a lineman" is very much hit and miss. Looks like they have gotten Jonah WIlliams right (fingers crossed) but as was pointed out above, even top 10 O-line picks carry their share of busts and risk. The need to pony up for a legit RT and RG in FA is my view. Players they know can block and have blocked successfully in the NFL already. Free up their draft for DL or WR if those players are ranked higher when they pick and not reach. And then draft several o-lineman rounds 2-6 who the can groom over time and provide depth while they learn. They did spend in FA last year. They can do it again. Hit Oline this time.

I no longer can edit the initial post to change the title, but maybe Hoosier can.

He was lucky he didn't throw a pick 6 yesterday. And the two jumpballs to Gallup were prayers. But, glad he got that moment. He's a good guy.

Dunlap starting? Now that’s some bullshit from the coaches.

Rain taking its time getting here. Maybe can get past halftime dry. Should not affect bengals passing game now.

That was not the original MNF game. Chargers/Saints is still a go.

Rain definite for the game now. Hopefully not a deluge. Wind should not be a factor.

Rain on Sunday still in forecast but heaviest not til later in the day into the evening is the current thought. Would be light rain earlier. That would be better for Cincy's chances to keep this close.

It's not a dick move. It could be a simple miscommunication. Or maybe it was designed to tick Dunlap off - because he's playing pretty nearly as shitty through this first four games as he did last year through the first eight before he decided to try.

Get over it carlos. Play better. Just because you are not starting doesn’t mean you are not part of the gameplan. Jeebus. as for Lamar, they should hold him out for Sunday because of wet turf. To be safe.

It's very likely going to be raining here on Sunday. Heavy rain at times. Probably not ideal for as much as the Bengals will need to pass.

"He's so good already I don't know how much better he can get" is an observation I can live with...

His blocking grades have been quite good, actually. And the end zone fiasco yesterday was a definite minus - but he has been a receiving threat otherwise. He's not looking like a bust at this point, in any event. Maybe not worth a 2nd round pick, ever, but still not a bust. As for the rest of that, if you had told me Burrow would be a PFF grade near 80 four weeks in after the nightmare off-season and no real training camp, I would have been giddy. Still am.

I can tell you all from being there Sunday that was as safe as I have felt in a public place since Covid started - much safer than going to a grocery store or for sure going to a restaurant. There was plenty of room between seats - rows even. Everyone wore masks (and if you let yours slip lots of stadium personnel with gentle reminders to put them back on), lots of space at concessions. And in Pro Shop. If you think you want to go, from a Covid safety standpoint, I gave it an "A".

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-4-pff-team-of-the-week-key-takeaways-weekly-awards-and-more 5. JONAH WILLIAMS IS TURNING OUT TO BE A BRIGHT SPOT ON THE CINCINNATI BENGALS’ POROUS OFFENSIVE LINE WHILE JOE BURROW CONTINUES TO PLAY LIKE A TOP-10 QUARTERBACK As bad as Cincinnati's offensive line has been, one lineman is starting to hold his own: 2019 first-round pick Jonah Williams. The Alabama product didn’t play a single down last year as a rookie due to an injury. He was plugged in as the starting left tackle right away in 2020 for the Bengals and performed good, not great, in his first time seeing the field since 2018 in college; he allowed seven pressures over his first two games. However, Williams has performed exceptionally well in pass protection in his past two games against Philadelphia and Jacksonville, surrendering only three pressures while earning pass-blocking grades above 80.0 in each outing. In Week 4, Williams was the fifth-highest graded tackle in pass protection.

More Alex Redmond - with the seal to spring Mixon on his second TD run - this confirms what I thought I saw at the game and put in my obs write-up in the Jags game thread...

Hello Alex Redmond...