Stripes

God just sneak the fucking ball. Why. And fuck punting.

Just sneak it

Two straight drives where the defense bends to the brink but then holds up inside the ten.

Another huge play by CTB.

Hill definitely tried to lead with his shoulder, but the helmet connected with the helmet. Just shit luck.

Volson continues to be a glaring weak link.

Hell yeah Hilton

Force it to Chase. Bummer.

Damn, that was a pick for Battle if he didn't slip. Good hold though.

Would love to see another sustained drive even if they don't score. Flip field position.

Awuzie is having a tough year so far.

It's almost like Joe Burrow is good.

TD Iosivas! I think that's 8 different receivers already

Encouraging first down run on 3rd and 2.

Gotta get this running game going somehow. Right now its only purpose is to stall the offense.

That'll work defense

Great play by CTB

Really nice, meaty drive apart from Mixon's drop.

The old draw them offsides crap finally matters.

Nick Scott again. So often he is behind a bad play. That call was ticky tack to be fair.

Defensive line looks kinda rough so far.

Very tired of these close-but-no-cigar defensive snaps that look great at first only to turn into big gains.

Gotta win today, or the schedule will look extremely unkind at 2-4.

I don't really blame the team from a process standpoint. They addressed the issue by grabbing Irv Smith to fill the Hayden Hurst role. On paper, that should be fine. It just hasn't worked out. Sometimes free agents miss. It's clearly a hole right now though, and I wonder if there are two viable solutions (not great, but viable) already present that have been left under the rug because of Irv's presumptive starting role. Both Hudson and Wilcox could provide at least what Smith has provided so far, and I suspect they could do better. Last season when Hurst was out, Wilcox did a nice job. I think he could be the tight end version of Trenton Irwin given an opportunity.

Feels good to see them play like the Bengals. I won’t say they’re “back” after one complete half against a contender for the #1 overall pick, but it’s still a good sign.