New Orleans Game

[schweinhart]

The pass protection was so good vs. the Bolts that it looked like they had a team of Justin Smith's

Yeah, things probably won't improve until next season, and only then if the Bengals listen to your plan of using a 1st round draft pick on "your boy" Lawrence Jackson.

Didja see him bust his cherry last weekend?

That was one ripe cherry I caught the 1st sack but crashed before the other 2. Jackson has pretty much proven that he's not a 3-4 DE but the sack I saw had him lined up real wide in it which pretty much showcases what he does best --- rush off the edge. Jackson in the 1st would be fine by me if he enters but I'd rather see them draft LaMarr Woodley in the 1st because he can replace either Pollack or Smith.

Watching Justin get nowhere rushing against McNeill bothered me. Eric Henderson gave Marcus a much harder time last year in college than Smith did last week and I wouldn't expect Smith to fare any better this week against a similar LT type in Jammal Brown. Now that both Dex Jack and Deltha have popped up as questionable, the pass rush vs. the Saints is going to be even more important since K2 could be starting and Keiwan the nickel. If those 2 are in, the Bengals will have no choice but to lay off the LB blitzes and rely more on the 4-man rush -- maybe a well-timed blitz or 2 from Ahmad but on the whole, somebody up front has got to get to Brees without letting him slip away to throw flushed which he is quite good at. Jumpy Jr. should have a much better shot at this than Justin unless they can get him off inside on stunts.

Some power push from the DTs would help immensely. I wouldn't mind seeing Shaun Smith get lots of shots this game at LDT rushing. He should have something to prove to the oprganization that cut him loose for swiping cheeseburgers.

[derekshank]

The key? Holding Reggie Bush to under 1,500 yards.

[agreen_112]

Putting up at least 42 points and Chris Henry scoring 2 TD's in his homecoming.

Oh yeah, and the defense has to at least show up...

[HairOnFire]

The pass protection was so good vs. the Bolts that it looked like they had a team of Justin Smith's

Yeah, things probably won't improve until next season, and only then if the Bengals listen to your plan of using a 1st round draft pick on "your boy" Lawrence Jackson.

Didja see him bust his cherry last weekend?

That was one ripe cherry I caught the 1st sack but crashed before the other 2. Jackson has pretty much proven that he's not a 3-4 DE but the sack I saw had him lined up real wide in it which pretty much showcases what he does best --- rush off the edge. Jackson in the 1st would be fine by me if he enters but I'd rather see them draft LaMarr Woodley in the 1st because he can replace either Pollack or Smith.

On Pete Carroll's weekly radio show he basically admitted that Jackson's poor season was largely the result of Jackson completely geeking under the mental pressure of trying to secure his position of a potential 1st round pick. After failing to produce a single sacks for a few weeks Jackson could see the size of his future paychecks getting smaller and smaller and he began to take himself out of plays with wild rushes that took him out of plays. This explanation prompted the interviewer to ask if the problem wasn't more of a case of Jackson being poorly suited to fill the "elephant role" that Frostee Rucker had once manned so well. Pete responded..."Well, yeah. That too."

Everyone on the show then cracked up for a couple of seconds.

[Swilling56]

While the key for every team is ball control/running, our run d is better than the stats from teh steelers game say. they got 150 on 2 runs against us, otherwise we held them in check (yes i know - insert some jokes/comments here). However, Willie just hit a hole and is fast as lightening.

The key for y'all really will be the offensive tackles. we got a great pair of DE's that can disrupt the passing game, however our corners are very suspect. And your receivers are great. chad and tj can have a field day on us, if palmer has time. y'all need your o-line to step up, and you'll light us up like there's no tomorrow. however if your tackles falter, grant and will smith will kill your offense.

[schweinhart]

While the key for every team is ball control/running, our run d is better than the stats from teh steelers game say. they got 150 on 2 runs against us, otherwise we held them in check (yes i know - insert some jokes/comments here). However, Willie just hit a hole and is fast as lightening.

The key for y'all really will be the offensive tackles. we got a great pair of DE's that can disrupt the passing game, however our corners are very suspect. And your receivers are great. chad and tj can have a field day on us, if palmer has time. y'all need your o-line to step up, and you'll light us up like there's no tomorrow. however if your tackles falter, grant and will smith will kill your offense.

Yeah we know all about fast Willie but don't think he ever cracked 200 yards vs. Bengals. The Saints D most likely won't know what's hit them or where it's coming from because of the passing game and that really opens up the run for Rudi if the Bengals decide to actually utilize the man the way they should.

I hear you on your DEs but Andrew Whitworth is a big ol' hoss who's been more than holding his own and Big Willie still has got enough to handle most DEs in the league w/o help. I like McKenzie and Bullocks but after that I think the Saints secondary really makes the Chargers' look good and that don't do nothing for me but stir up a big kettle of TD gumbo for the Bengals.

Bengals 38

Saints 24

On Pete Carroll's weekly radio show he basically admitted that Jackson's poor season was largely the result of Jackson completely geeking under the mental pressure of trying to secure his position of a potential 1st round pick. After failing to produce a single sacks for a few weeks Jackson could see the size of his future paychecks getting smaller and smaller and he began to take himself out of plays with wild rushes that took him out of plays. This explanation prompted the interviewer to ask if the problem wasn't more of a case of Jackson being poorly suited to fill the "elephant role" that Frostee Rucker had once manned so well. Pete responded..."Well, yeah. That too."

Everyone on the show then cracked up for a couple of seconds.

The Elephant Role....Is that what Frostee was doing on the #90 backpedal with a blocker shoving him across the field so Vince Young could run in for a TD and hand Texas the national championship. Why I say let's call ol' Frostee "Dumbo" Rucker then.

I don't know but I heard Mark May saying the USC defense was much better this year in total and scoring defense but that seems neither nor there as regards Jackson because the main reason I see he got sack shackled was that USC switched to a 3-4 this year and Jackson is a true edge player, which he showed well at last year in USC's 4-3. I guess Carroll had to do the switch this year since they don't have more than one player who can play DT in a 4-3. Course any seed he can plant to make Jackson think maybe he won't go 1st round would get him another year out of him. But I'd guess Jackson's early entry evaluation will still enough to make him laugh all the way to the bank and he'll come out to play the position he's actually best suited for.

[BengalByTheBay]

Yeah we know all about fast Willie but don't think he ever cracked 200 yards vs. Bengals. The Saints D most likely won't know what's hit them or where it's coming from because of the passing game and that really opens up the run for Rudi if the Bengals decide to actually utilize the man the way they should.

While my premise was that we need to run the ball and control the clock a little in this game to get the pressure off of our defense, I totally agree with the above way of doing that. The Bengals are a natural pass-to-run offense. When we just try to line up and run it's 3 & out. So, I agree that we mix in the pass liberally the first series or 2 to get the Saints on their heels and then try to establish Rudi. Based on last week, I'm not sure how many points we would have to score in the first half to make me feel comfortable again -- maybe 50? This week...Rudi, Rudi, Rudi!