AMPHAR

9ers coming off 2 game road losing streak heading home with the bye week on the horizon is going to be very tough to deal with. Any sort of ugly win for the Bengals would be a huge positive indicator for the rest of the season. No matter what the injury report says the 9ers will be looking to right the ship at home before heading into the bye.

From the Caskey Clicker review on Sacks 1. Volson completely blown up 2. Miscommunication - maybe by Burrow missing the hot read or a WR missing the hot read. Maybe Williams taking inside and doing poor job. 3. Trap Pass - He highlighted a couple of these. They simply did a poor job of executing. 1. was tipped ball to an open chase (faulted Mixon) 2. One, if block better is a huge play to Irv Smith instead an outlet to Chase for a decent gain. 3. Sack. These are play action type looks with a pulling guard (Cappa), hard block to execute by Karras.

Teams are not going to get away from two deep coverage, rush 4. Until they can prove to grind out TD drive after TD drive. Although the Titans certainly brought pressure. The O-line isn't good enough to keep Burrow clean IF a team decides to loop and stunt with 4/5 rushers. Volson is a pass pro nightmare. Don't ever recall Carman being that big a liability. Burrow has not been accurate enough. Then Higgins, Smith, Brown whoever just simply are dropping balls, not making drive extending plays. Defense has been up and down through 6 games. A couple players certainly are having promising possible elite seasons. You have to trust these players/coaches perform up to their standard post bye week. Every AFC team except Patriots and Broncos survived the first 6 weeks. So just about every AFC team can make a case for improvement the remaining 12 weeks.

Seattle was probably a tougher team than I expected. They certainly aren't winning with style points at this moment. So I guess the good news is they are playing well below expectations and still in the thick of things. I think the tackling has been soft and even with a very strong defensive effort yesterday; opposing players seem to get 3/4 yards after first contact. The line's standard seems to be 2/3 sacks a game. Given the amount of effort to revamp the line, I would love for that drop post bye week.

Joe Burrow is dying for competent o-line coaching.

Pass on Hunter Henry. Hurst is probably more than what they want to spend on TE; they would have to keep his salary on the book next year as it guaranteed.

Way better. Alexander had multiple years allowing under 2 sack average. Pollack's line the way they are playing is going to get sniped for 5/6 sacks in a game eventually this year.

Its possible to have an explosive offense with 36 sacks, but given who they have up front, it'd be nice to have a week with 0. Feels like they are under performing especially at LG and RG. Alexander threw up multiple sub 30 sack years. Everyone hated him, now 36 is acceptable.

D-line not getting off blocks makes bad tackling get even worse. Caskey predicted teams would try to exploit what the Titans put on film and it looks like he's right. Bengals offense will need to put scoring pressure on the Seattle play callers. If it gets to a point were Seattle can just pound away then the Bengals D will give up rushing yards. Don't care how bad Giants line is or isn't. The 2/3 sack game is becoming the norm with Bengals line. At this point its unacceptable.

QB School and Caskey film reviews are awesome for this week. My thoughts are: 1. There's so much conjecture from guys that have been in NFL game plan meetings. PFF grades aren't worth a crap. 2. Major protection issues vs. Titans. Caskey goes into more detail trying to explain why. JT takes it at face value as being bad. Caskey found fault with RBs chipping or lack there of numerous times. Bottomline for me no matter what, it was bad. Caskey shows several deep play concepts that ultimately get undermined by bad pass protection. 3. Joe Burrow displays good mechanics sometimes. 4. Most interesting was Caskey/JT opinions on the near Red Zone Int. JT blames poor design/possible route error. Caskey basically blames Burrow. Pre Snap show Titans have 4 to cover 3 on both sides. That left middle wide open and along with no D-line in middle. Thought there should have been a check to QB draw up the middle. Also noted it appeared Irwin darting underneath into the middle was the key concept that Burrow missed/ignored or whatever. Thought this might be the same concept they used with Mixon in New Orleans to score a TD. Its interesting because you have two guys still into coaching/ton of NFL game film review experience, still having different takes on the same data. No way in hell PFF is accurate in anything.

Being Concerned and forcing an injured player to play are world's apart. The concern is driven by his performance in Nashville. That does not equate to Burrow being injured and needing rest. I have not been briefed on Burrow's status so my guess is worth a crap. I have seen the rehab process a bunch of times unfortunately. Stage 1 - Rest, isolate, immobilize - That 's when you see Boots, Crutches, Scooters, Braces Stage 2 - Once the injured area has reached a level of repair they stress the area to re gain basic functionality. You see alot of stretching bands in this stage. Stage 3 - Cleared to practice and the player is off trying to regain whatever performance attributes they lost. This is what Burrow addressed after the Rams game. There is always risk of re-injury but that does not mean Stage 1 gets them anywhere. If he's truly in Stage 3 taking reps off the calf may delay his return to the fans expectations. He probably needs reps and work. This is what it sounded like he was saying post Rams game.

That's not acknowledging anything about further injury. That actually states he'd have to suffer another injury. He's healed. He's played like crap as he tries to make up for missed practice time and regaining what ever physical abilities he lost while healing in training camp. At best they are 2-2 but I think you'd still have to work some magic thinking to sell that based on the defenses performance in two of those games.

Run/Pass ratio is predicated on the amount of RPOs they insert into the game plan and call through out the game. That puts the end result of that ratio partly on Burrow's post snap decisions. Burrow enjoys RPOs based on some previous post game comments. Draft a franchise QB. Pay a franchise QB. Expect a franchise QB to deliver results. He gets a tremendous amount of credit showing up at Jeff Ruby's with a Free Agent. Great amount of credit in a sub-par performance that results in a win. No blame. He hasn't played well in 3 of the 4 games. The 2nd game vs. Ravens is decent. Zac is accountable for never having an elite offense. Zac is accountable for the way this team enters the season. IMO. Suggesting the Bengals treat Burrow like Hue did Dalton in 2014, might work. But that offense was just mid pack and the defense was the catalyst for a playoff run. Zac Taylor pundits once criticized him for running against SF in OT even though Burrow was getting pounded. How dare he take the ball out his hands! Now there a vocal loud radio show filled with opinions blaming Zac for Burrow being on the field and not taking the ball out of his hands. Just shows the low level logic, IMO. Burrow would not be on the field if there was greater risk injury. Running the ball ala 2014 to save an under performing QB, might work. But how many people are willing to point out the under performing QB? Do the Bengals have the defense to get the job done? I still say revert to 2014 running the ball is only getting them 2-2 at best. Defense has only put a winning performance on the board twice this year. Jane's and Joe's matter more that X's and O's. Always. Teams would pay another position group if they could scheme their way past poor QB play.

Joe Burrow has simply sucked. The suggestion of "rest" is something to explain the unknown reason as to why. Then of course you need a "fall guy" to explain why "rest" isn't being done. "Rest" to me means "Injured". That is what happens after an injury. They throw in a boot, cast, brace, walk around on crutches or a scooter. Isolate it and heal it. Then there is a battery of exercises once healed enough used to make it functional. My guess Burrow passed all that stuff a while ago, but that doesn't mean you are 100% NFL level. "Rest" could be counter productive. Sure it would gives us a reason to explain a miserable season so far and allow us to wash away the reasons of losing to a singular failure point. But Burrow's comments after the Rams game and the fact they've said he's starting vs. Arizona and the history of this organization lean me towards believing there is nothing to be gained by "resting". There are similar thinking but different theories to explain Joe Burrow sucking. If there was some magical play call or offensive scheme to overcome a league worse QB play, then team's would not be spending $250m+ on QBs. QBs would be getting the RB treatment which most NFL front offices have made it clear RBs are a dime a dozen. The hard part is simply Joe Burrow needs to play better and yes he was dealt a bad hand again in training camp. An equally harder part to accept is even if Joe Burrow was average the best they probably would be is 2-2. As they weren't beating the Ravens or Titans with those defensive performances. An average Burrow may have beaten the Browns given the number of defensive stops. A below average Burrow did beat the Rams thanks to the defense.

IMO, rest solution from fans is more about their sensibilities in handling their disappointment of a season not working out they hoped. If there was something to be gained from resting then they would be doing it. I refuse to believe there is medical advice suggesting rest is the best solution and the Brown family is putting Burrow at risk and then Burrow's camp not leaking that info. Quite frankly, I believe if there was not medical advice of resting and Burrow's camp wanted to rest anyway then he would be resting. Conspiracy theories are great for message board conjecture, but the Brown family being evil owners treating their players as raw meat putting them through a grinder is something I've never heard of from them. There is a recent example of AJ Green wanting to play and Mike Brown saying no and then sending him home for Christmas. I doubt there is someone in that building with medical facts/opinion saying "rest" and the entire building is going against it.

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.