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Official 2011 Season Prediction Thread


HoosierCat

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I want to expand a bit on my 6-10 prediction. While I am sticking with 6-10, I do think this will be a good season, or at least as good as a 6-10 can be. If you look at where this team was in early January until now they have done a very good job of picking up the pieces and making improvements. This team reminds me more of what we had in 2009. Tough, hungry, aggressive...and most importantly, overlooked. The top 2 picks in last years draft of Green and Dalton might just be the core of this team for years to come. Green will definately excel and Dalton could be very good. Add in 2 year players like Shipley and Gresham and the offense might suprise.

The Bengals have some heart and potential but it's also thin depth wise. 6-10...but I will not be suprised if the magic from 2009 shows up and this team is pushing 9-7 by December. The running game appears to be back, Gruden has simplified this offense, and the defense looks much faster and tougher. Even bigger is the strength of schedule. They COULD come out at 3-2 if they play sound football.

My top 2 crucial keys to success:

Cedric Benson

Injuries

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Marvin said he knows this team is better then the 4-12 team last year, because players this year earned there spots they were not given!

I think last year this team was so cocky because of all the superbowl talk, that they walked into games thinking it was an automatic win. This they know they have to bust there butts, i think thats what will be the difference. I still dont see playoffs, but if they get a 8-8 record hell thats like winning the superbowl, since there are guys in the media that says the bengals will win 0 games, and they couldnt beat a team in the WAC :lol:

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I'm gonna go with 8-8. Given Marvin's history with the team, that actually does seem reasonable. Last year's 4 win season was the abberation and had everything to do with the bad apples who have been largely tossed from the barrel.

Until now, I've stood by a 4-12 prediction, but today I'm feeling giddily optimistic! :cheers:

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The good news, is I can't think of a team in recent history that has lower expaectations than these Bengals. We have nowhere to go but up! Dalton get's ZERO love. The best I've heard is he can be a Kitna. We'll find out Sunday.

I may be in the minority but I see some good things from him. I am not sure why everyone is bushing this guy considering the circumstances. I will interested to see how he does when compared to guys like Bradford or Stafford at the same point in their careers. Not expecting him to be Peyton Manning but I see him being better than Kitna once he gets settled into the offense.

I am struck by his maturity and calm in the huddle and his apparent leadership qualities that the guys are pulled to. I think he has his predecessor beat on that already.

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The good news, is I can't think of a team in recent history that has lower expaectations than these Bengals. We have nowhere to go but up! Dalton get's ZERO love. The best I've heard is he can be a Kitna. We'll find out Sunday.

I may be in the minority but I see some good things from him. I am not sure why everyone is bushing this guy considering the circumstances. I will interested to see how he does when compared to guys like Bradford or Stafford at the same point in their careers. Not expecting him to be Peyton Manning but I see him being better than Kitna once he gets settled into the offense.

I am struck by his maturity and calm in the huddle and his apparent leadership qualities that the guys are pulled to. I think he has his predecessor beat on that already.

Klingler was pretty mature too before he was put on his backside 3,000 times his first season. Then he became a turtle every year after that and when he did manage to throw the ball his eyes were closed.

Point being, it's hard to expect much out of a first year QB, especially one that didn't come from a power conference. One motto that always seems to hold true, prepare for the worse, hope for the best.

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The good news, is I can't think of a team in recent history that has lower expaectations than these Bengals. We have nowhere to go but up! Dalton get's ZERO love. The best I've heard is he can be a Kitna. We'll find out Sunday.

I may be in the minority but I see some good things from him. I am not sure why everyone is bushing this guy considering the circumstances. I will interested to see how he does when compared to guys like Bradford or Stafford at the same point in their careers. Not expecting him to be Peyton Manning but I see him being better than Kitna once he gets settled into the offense.

I am struck by his maturity and calm in the huddle and his apparent leadership qualities that the guys are pulled to. I think he has his predecessor beat on that already.

Marvin said in Reedys interview that in the preseason that all the guys had Daltons back, and that they told Marvin they wont come out unless he takes Andy out. So its nice to hear that the team is getting along, and they maybe they can get back to playing team football.

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The good news, is I can't think of a team in recent history that has lower expaectations than these Bengals. We have nowhere to go but up! Dalton get's ZERO love. The best I've heard is he can be a Kitna. We'll find out Sunday.

I may be in the minority but I see some good things from him. I am not sure why everyone is bushing this guy considering the circumstances. I will interested to see how he does when compared to guys like Bradford or Stafford at the same point in their careers. Not expecting him to be Peyton Manning but I see him being better than Kitna once he gets settled into the offense.

I am struck by his maturity and calm in the huddle and his apparent leadership qualities that the guys are pulled to. I think he has his predecessor beat on that already.

I like everything I've seen from Dalton except accuracy and arm strength. In regards to the former I expect things to improve as Dalton gets more comfortable, more experienced, and most important...more patient. In regards to the latter, I think we've already seen plenty of evidence of a problem that can be managed, but not eliminated.

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I like everything I've seen from Dalton except accuracy and arm strength. In regards to the former I expect things to improve as Dalton gets more comfortable, more experienced, and most important...more patient. In regards to the latter, I think we've already seen plenty of evidence of a problem that can be managed, but not eliminated.

His accuracy seems to be erratic at the beginning of games... much better after the first drive or two.

I like Dalton and the fact that he doesn't appear to get rattled easily. On the other hand, we probably wouldn't know how well he responds to difficulty if he didn't play so poorly early on.

I'm not sure if he has the jitters during the first drive or two, or if it just takes him a few game-speed throws to get his mechanics right... but I hope it's not a pattern.

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I like everything I've seen from Dalton except accuracy and arm strength. In regards to the former I expect things to improve as Dalton gets more comfortable, more experienced, and most important...more patient. In regards to the latter, I think we've already seen plenty of evidence of a problem that can be managed, but not eliminated.

His accuracy seems to be erratic at the beginning of games... much better after the first drive or two.

I like Dalton and the fact that he doesn't appear to get rattled easily. On the other hand, we probably wouldn't know how well he responds to difficulty if he didn't play so poorly early on.

I'm not sure if he has the jitters during the first drive or two, or if it just takes him a few game-speed throws to get his mechanics right... but I hope it's not a pattern.

Erratic at the beginning of games is very bad for one of two reasons. First you want to put points on the board first, typically the outcome of the game generally falls in favor of the team that scores first. Also, it's a huge mental deflater when the offense goes out on the field and goes 3 and out on the first and maybe the second drive of the game as well. This affects not only the offense but the defense as well.

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I'm not sure if he has the jitters during the first drive or two, or if it just takes him a few game-speed throws to get his mechanics right... but I hope it's not a pattern.

I think what we're seeing is a case of a QB placing too much emphasis on getting the ball out of his hand as quickly as possible. Not because he's scared, but because that's what the coaches are pounding into his head 24/7. Hopefully as the game slows down a beat or two Dalton's throwing mechanics will improve.

As far as arm strength goes, I've already seen enough to conclude there are throws Dalton simply can't make at an NFL level, but nothing yet makes me think he can't develope into an effective NFL starter. That said, if his hard out and deep ball don't improve it will limit what his receivers can do, and defenses will quickly take advantage.

I'm not talking about bombs away stuff. But in this offense, with these weapons, Andy Dalton has to produce his share of chunk plays.

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I'm not sure if he has the jitters during the first drive or two, or if it just takes him a few game-speed throws to get his mechanics right... but I hope it's not a pattern.

I think what we're seeing is a case of a QB placing too much emphasis on getting the ball out of his hand as quickly as possible. Not because he's scared, but because that's what the coaches are pounding into his head 24/7. Hopefully as the game slows down a beat or two Dalton's throwing mechanics will improve.

As far as arm strength goes, I've already seen enough to conclude there are throws Dalton simply can't make at an NFL level, but nothing yet makes me think he can't develope into an effective NFL starter. That said, if his hard out and deep ball don't improve it will limit what his receivers can do, and defenses will quickly take advantage.

I'm not talking about bombs away stuff. But in this offense, with these weapons, Andy Dalton has to produce his share of chunk plays.

Without having a cannon for an arm it does in fact make it so that he is coached differently. There are throws that he could have made in college, but now can't in the NFL do to the increase in defensive players speed. He will never have the arm to throw those deepouts to the wide side of the field for example. Also, he must NEVER EVER EVER throw across his body to even the intermediate throws to the wide side of the field.

His arm strength also brings into play the offense's dependence on timing throws where he throws to a spot and hopes the receiver will get there. This is something several of us having been hoping to get away from because of all the slip ups Palmer and his receivers seemed to have. Hopefully Dalton can mesh better with the young guys on the team and make it work.

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I haven't seen much on the field play to get excited about. They do seem to have a much better attitude than past Bengals teams so it'll be easy to root for them but I don't see many wins. Maybe 4 of them. Put me down for 4-12

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I know it's one game, but does anyone want to change their opinion? I will allow 1 exemption for the rest of the season. I said 10-6 and I'm standing by it. Jump on the Bandwagon now brethren!

This game went pretty much how I expected it... so no. I'm not changing my answer. No less than 6 wins, no more than 9.

My original thought with the schedule was 7-9 wins. I'm with Derek on this...I can see that range easily.

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