Stripes

Every time I look up at the game, the Jags are throwing a hopeless bubble screen.

Rooting for the Jaguars defense is not an enjoyable experience.

Having Prince available is nice to settle some of the nerves. In the event Carman struggles, they can go to Prince and be left with something similar to last year's postseason line with less out-of-position shuffling and a vast upgrade at center. Carman-Volson-Karras-Scharping-Adeniji --> We'll see. No clue. Prince-Volson-Karras-Scharping-Adeniji at least looks better on the surface than Williams-Spain-Hopkins-Adeniji-Prince. The tackles are less than ideal, but at least Adeniji is clearly better there than he was at guard.

Volson is probably undervalued by PFF grades. They're not reliable at all for offensive line play. Volson is probably overvalued by the fanbase, because he is not the previous guy (who's now standing next to him, heh). I think Volson was a good pick, and he is not one of my biggest worries this week. I think he benefits from having Karras next to him, and that's okay. Because he still has Karras next to him.

Tre Flowers was downgraded to doubtful. That's not great against Dawson Knox.

Your point is received, just want to clarify that they did score in the 3rd quarter (Burrow sneak).

I have a suspicion that his prospects for the 2023 season will be dictated by his performance in this postseason. Without all the injuries I doubt he’d be active.

80% chance of light snow in Buffalo on Sunday, per latest reports. It's probably no net gain for either side. Still, I wonder if it might mitigate one of my biggest concerns: Apple and CTB matched up against Diggs and Davis (with help). Anything that reduces the tendency of the Bills to chuck the rock down the field might play into a game script that is more Bengals-friendly. It's also possible that hurts the defenses with respect to leverage and footing and they just get roasted. Who knows.

It looks like Micah Hyde will still be out for Buffalo, so yes they will have a drastically worse secondary than what Baltimore put on the field. Hopefully it's enough.

According to Santagana, the Bengals went quick-game and three-step drops in the entire second half. They ran a five-step drop once and it resulted in a sack charged to Carman. That might not paint the whole picture, but it certainly suggests the coaches were protecting the line.

I'm developing odd confidence about this game as the week proceeds. Not sure if it's justified faith in the established process, or if it's pure homer junk. But I think I see multiple lanes for this game to end with a W.

I teach primarily cognitive science and statistics. The position is in Switzerland. Might be tough to find a Bengals bar.

My very first impression of Joe Burrow was “Ryan Tannehill”. Brilliant. But then I saw him in the SEC championship and the CFP, and I saw a more athletic Drew Brees instead.

Thanks, Army! I think it went well. It felt like it went well. I am not great at reading cues though, so I won’t know until they tell me. It’s a professor position in Europe, so life will definitely be taking a turn either way.

Bengals 2020 draft: Burrow 1 (1) Higgins 2 (33) Wilson 3 (65) Davis-Gaither 4 (107) Kareem 5 (147) Adeniji 6 (180) Bailey 7 (215) Perfectly reasonable to wonder if this is the strongest Bengals draft class ever. All of them have made some kind of difference, and six are on the team now. All of those six played an important role in last night's playoff win. (Burrow = duh | Higgins, two point conversion | Wilson, amazing FF | ADG, interception | Adeniji, spot starting RT | Bailey, block to help Hubbard score).

There's certainly an argument for it. I think it'd also shorten the game advantageously. The Bengals can win a shootout, but I'd prefer we don't expose Apple and CTB to that kind of game if it can be avoided.

I was hesitant to celebrate, because I wasn’t sure Huntley hadn’t gotten it over the plane until the replay.

Gonna hype myself up like I’m Hayden Hurst, and I just converted a first down in the middle of the second quarter.

I’ll just continue to serve as the official cool cucumber of the gameday thread (while thrashing and screaming offline).

Ravens fans offer their thoughts on the Hubbard TD.

Biggest defensive play in Bengals history.

Nantz and Romo on CBS. Woo.

The line opened Bills -6, and a wad of money immediately came in on the Bengals to push it down to -3.5.

Now I can do my job interview with a smile on my face. Who dey, folks. The Bills await.

Baltimore's defense was the best in the AFC playoffs. It wasn't supposed to be easy.