HoosierCat

Got a good tip from a friend: take the over on Andre Smith versus Golden Corral Sunday. Says it’s a lead pipe lock.

Hendrickson questionable for Sunday, per Zac.

Wilson wants out. Can’t say I’m surprised. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46701489/source-bengals-lb-logan-wilson-requests-trade-amid-reduced-role

https://www.wcpo.com/sports/football/bengals/former-bengals-stars-advance-in-pro-football-hall-of-fame-voting-process

Chase knocks out his fifth AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. https://www.bengals.com/news/ja-marr-chase-afc-offensive-player-of-the-week-7-2025

I'm not sure there's much difference either way (meaning better or worse play) at LG between Fairchild and Risner. Risner definitely looked better there than at RG, but still had some ups and downs. I get the argument for continuity, though. Rivers I am less sold on. He's been better than Risner was there, but that's not exactly a high bar. I'd like to see Patrick again.

DE Cedric Johnson cleared to practice.

Well, I see things are going just peachy in New York today. Woody also gave head coach Aaron Glenn the dreaded vote of confidence, noting that "he hugs Glenn every day, giving him encouragement." Careful there Aaron, one of these days (probably sooner rather than later) that hug will end with a knife in your back. Tyrod Taylor will reportedly be named the starter for the game today. Hopefully the Bengals aren't their usual welcoming selves to journeyman bums at QB.

I could go for a salad about now…

Lamar still not back from the hammy yet... https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46663947/lamar-jackson-hamstring-ravens-return-bye

Yah tackling continued to be terrible on Thursday, and their obvious preference for dropping 8 into coverage versus actually trying to get to Rogers when he had to throw long speaks to Golden’s lack of confidence in generating a pass rush without Trey. Though tbf you can argue the two picks were the difference in the game, so I guess it worked, barely.

Jets benched Fields at halftime today. Tyrod Taylor took over and stunk too. Who the Bengals will face is unknown. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46650287/jets-bench-ineffective-justin-fields-favor-tyrod-taylor Bengals are 4.5 point favorites.

Oooof. The Dolphins are terrible.

It’s really not that complex, Andy did it for years with the pre-snap read system. Flacco is effectively doing the same thing, at least as far as familiar teams are concerned. There’s nothing they can show him that he hasn’t seen, which is why Tomlin was so butthurt. So we should be a little restrained about what this means for teams like the jets and bears. But in the division, dude ought to be money.

Yah as someone who briefly flirted with the talking head thing, I can assure you millions are not a thing. Would that they were, it would beat my 9 to 5.

Imo the biggest factor re Flacco is that he’s not interested in being the hero. If he gets the snap and the play is there he throws the ball. If not he puts it in the dirt or in the stands and moves on to the next down. He rarely has asked the line to hold up for more that 3 or so seconds. The adjacent factor is just that he knows he’s got two of the best receivers in football so 90% of the passing game plan is: is Jamarr open? If yes, throw the ball. If not, throw it to Tee.

Lol https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1APAgDq6VJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Bottom line is that the division is wide open. The team that can suck just a little bit less will take it. At a guess it will be Baltimore because Lamar will be back soon and I think he’s the best QB active in the division. But…Rogers can still play and Flacco can still play and all the defenses have big holes so who knows. Cleveland is the only team that seems hopeless but the way things have gone I’m not prepared to rule anything out yet. For us, I still think the most likely outcome is that they win just enough games to miss the postseason while completely screwing their draft position next April, because Bengals gonna Bengal. But we will see.

I don't think they are ok in Cleveland today... (starts at the 4 minute mark)

Well, the rules say every division has to have a winner, even when the whole division is crap like the AFCN this year. The Bengals have as good a shot at it as any of the other three teams. That said, imo whoever gets in is most likely one-and-done.

This is some funny stuff right here.

Funny thing is, that run, which was awesome, was actually a completely busted play. Dude is just out there having fun. Gotta love it.

Lol

Welcome to Victory Friday, folks! And just think, Pittsburgh’s weekend is *already* ruined!

Battle’s and that spectacular Turner TOs basically saved the d. Just barely enough to edge things out. (Also shout out to Ivy for the Hail Mary knockdown.) D was horrible overall but made just enough big plays to survive. Can’t count on that tho, must play better.