AMPHAR

Fans want a singular source of blame so they easily craft their world view. Its not a matter of Zac making the call or even Burrow saying something one way or the other. I'm pretty confident that this has always been based on medical FACTS or Expert Medical Opinions. Then there is a group of decision makers working from the same set of data to make a decision. Any disagreement Mike Brown or a Brown family member will make the call. Their track record has always been to favor the long term benefit to the player. Rest may not get them anything because there may not be anything to actually heal. It could be a strength issue, mental issue combination of whatever. What I'm confident in saying is Joe Burrow can't go to Zac and say medical advice be damned I'm playing OR Zac can't go against medical advice and say Joe's playing. It is unlikely anyone is working off blind faith and sticking Burrow out there not knowing what the risk/benefit is. If a medical opinion was saying Joe Burrow needs to rest. Then he would be resting regardless of what Zac or Burrow wanted. I would be shocked if Mike Brown or anyone in that family went the opposite way. Based on my trust in Mike Brown not going the way of evil owner there's probably no medical risk at all. Its a question of who can perform better and give them the best chance to win. They've selected Burrow over Browning. Burrow hasn't played well in 2 of losses. He played well enough to win vs. Ravens.

Cole Trickel needed Harry's help to get the nerve to drive through the smoke after a crash took his friends life. Burrow re-injured his leg vs. Baltimore, a non-contact play. There's probably a bigger mental piece than people realize. He got the ball out vs. Rams while standing in the pocket. Titans found a way to make him hold it a tad longer with a better pass rushing front. You can roll out Burrow, I know it in my heart, pick a line and drive through it Cole.

Mike Brown trumped AJ Green and flew his ass home for Christmas one year. Fans can't really think this is Zac's call. I have zero inside sources, but this franchise operates on consensus on just about everything football operations involved with Mike having the trump card. I seriously doubt, they've outsourced the decision to a singular point and left the $275m player solely in the hands of Zac Taylor. Blaming Zac is so low level fan logic. Its very similar to the early Marvin Days were he would get credit for everything good, but any bad draft pick Mike all of sudden popped in the room and made the pick. Same logic that tried to blame Alexander for Bodine, even though Marvin was on record of personally scouting him and banging the table to trade up for him. Zac has a seat at the table along with several other people. They are going to get on the same page and IF they can't, Mike will make the call. I doubt Mike Brown is risking Burrow. Nobody outside that building knows the injury specifics, but I doubt Mike Brown is listening to dire injury news and leaving it up to Zac. This maybe a case that Burrow isn't at risk, he might have limitations but an athlete of his caliber should be able to overcome. Who knows? I don't. I'm fairly confident Zac Taylor does not have final say on starting/sitting Joe Burrow.

Titans D-lineman dropped a knee on Karras's back/neck after a play. This is the dirtiest play I've seen post Burfict and worse than anything he did. Player should receive multi game suspension, if not gone for the year. Video is floating around on the inter-webs. Its bad. Lucky Karras isn't seriously injured.

People don't want to hear this but Hall of Fame QBs are not Hall of Fame 100% of the time. They have bad seasons mixed in with their greatness. When bad seasons occur usually that drags down the entire team. I don't think the coaching all of sudden gets bad. Jane's and Joe's always matter more than the X's and O's. I have faith in this coaching staff that they could turn it around, but it won't happen with Joe and company playing like they have been. Zac Taylor or whoever basically schemed them into a win on Monday, maybe. Joe was horrible along with several execution errors. But a guy named Joe Burrow started, so I guess Zac Taylor has only won 5 games without Joe. I damn sure know they haven't gotten Hall of Fame QB play the entire time Zac Taylor has coached Joe Burrow. He's playing bad. The rest of the team didn't pick up their performance as matter of fact there are several areas of the defense that folded on Sunday. The defense was horrible against the Ravens. There's no play calling in the history of football that's gong to take Joe Burrow as he's been this year and start scoring 28 points. There's no offense scheme that's going to win games when Titans WRs are running wide open down the field or allowing an offense to suck 10+ minutes off the clock in the 3rd quarter.

Tee saying it will be an issue of pain tolerance. So he's not out automatically this week. I will be excited if the Bengals are looking at trying to get even at 3-3 after Arizona. I think it will be difficult. West Coast trip 2nd road game in a row. Not real excited about this match up. I think it will be bengals trying to get to 2-4 against Seattle. Strength of schedule is overrated in the NFL. Its way more about health and momentum, IMO. Unfortunately the Bengals are mysterious boat of crap right now.

Little bit of turd polishing but it was a nice sack by Murphy. Unfortunately, that's the second game in this young season they are completely not competitive. Being not competitive signifies the issue is multiple and deeper than a quick fix. NFL is a closed loop system that dispurses and spreads talent. Maybe they've allowed themselves to be caught? I mean you aren't going to sit around decide Mixon needs 5 more carries and correct an offense that can't make it into the red zone. Titans had multiple times the WR was wide open down the sideline; the only thing you could do is hope the Titan player dropped it or Tanny would do what Burrow does and throw it way out of bounds. Just a cluster.

Well that game sucked.

I believe they are both officially out now.

If Smith is going to be injured that really places into question not taking Sam LaPorta in the draft. See how it plays out but a significant piece for the Bengals offense to beat two deep coverage is to dump the ball short and get YAC. Although Hudson might be a decent/cheap option. Really hope Smith is able to get back on the field because I think he can produce at a decent level.

Game 1 - offense was lost playing what is the league's best Defense in a rain storm. With a hurt QB. Game 2 - decent not great offense performance. Defense really couldn't get off the field. Punt return and redzone Int stunted their out put stats. Game 3 - another lost showing. Execution errors. Really left points out on the field. Given 2 TOs and several other defensive stops they should have approached 25+ points. This week the OL has to keep the Titans rush in neutral. There should be opportunity to throw the ball, so hopefully the QB/WR mental errors are corrected.

I wouldn't bet against a new stadium. You'll get some politicians playing both sides, maybe even speaking out against it, but they ALL love to collect money and play city planner. So a new stadium would not shock me in the least. Bengals don't seem to be pushing for new stadium so, I'm guessing renovation with a medium term lease.

Bengals are now 1-2 in Superbowl revenge games! 1st game meeting Superbowl opponent featuring same starting QB 1984 @ SF L 17-23 1990 vs SF L 17-20 (OT) 2023 vs LA Rams 19-16

Rewatched. Murphy had a big rush up the middle on the Hubbard sack. He may have gotten the sack if Hubbard didn't beat him to Stafford.

Murphy had a couple good rushes last night. I'm not sure if he was the one that drew a penalty for the guy holding the helmet opening. I thought it was him. Then he had strong middle push on another that led to a sack. Volson struggled vs. Donald. He also has some really nice crushing run blocks.

Key to the game is the OL. Titans have o-line issues. 13 sacks, 19 Tackles for loss, 25 QB Hits through 3 games. The Bengals line going up against a tough front 7 will need to out perform the Titans OL going up against the Bengals front 7. If that can happen there might be some opportunities to throw for some passing yards.

I keep seeing these TV stats pop up all the time. If you can remember them post them here. 1. Bengals vs. Rams Monday Night Football - 6 sacks is a franchise record for most sacks in a primetime game. OK, nice to know.

I hope the Offensive Line is not playing at peak performance. The amount of negative plays has decreased tremendously from last year. There has to be a gradual improvement like they see every year and then hopefully the health factor falls their way. They got another tough front 7 this week.

Offense? Defenses will not get away from 2 high safety looks until you can prove to them snap after snap grinding out first downs and then touchdowns. Unfortunately the Bengals are proving they can't grind out a drive most times. QB is going to make a bad throw or two. WR going to drop a pass or not make a contested grab like they've been proven to do. They'll make a pre snap penalty. They are really missing the Hurst and Perine underneath factor right now. Especially with the struggle of Higgins.

Jessie Bates was a great safety for the Bengals. But Dax Hill is just a different kinda safety. Not sure how Dax Hill is doing om coverage or pre snap duties wise, but he is certainly a big play safety in the making. Already has 4 tackles for a loss and a sack. Jessie Bates never had a sack as a Bengal. Logan Wilson just around the ball all the time. Defense has given 2 good efforts and 1 crappy one.

Murphy isn't a concern of mine right now. They've played in AFC Champ game two years in a row. That means drafting low and snaps are going to be hard to come by. They didn't lose anything at DE during the off season and a top depth piece is returning so it should be a tough road to snaps/production. Especially when you consider he probably wasn't their top choice. Now if injuries start to mount. DEs leave via Free Agency and Murphy isn't cracking the line up or isn't producing. Then worry.

It looks like even though its on NBC its the ESPN second string calling the game. Buck and Aikman are on the other MNF. Oh well.

Didn't realize this Monday game was on NBC. Are they just picking it up because of the other MNF on ABC?

Mixon has a 131 QB rating largely off his 1 attempt 1 completion 1 TD from Superbowl 56.

Joe Burrow did not play at high level weeks 1 or 2. Joe Burrow in fact played at a very low level week 1 and adequate level week 2. There are handful of back ups that IN FACT could have out played him week 1. Why this is viewed as if late season, 100+rated, MVP level Joe Burrow was playing and this team still lost? All off season a Joe Burrow extension was talked about closely behind the question "how do they keep.......". There is a significant amount of proven playoff talent on this team that is going to get paid as soon as they hit FA market. Yes, I expect them to win and cover Monday Night with or without Joe Burrow.