It sucks, but calm down.

[walzav29]

These games happen. For the life of me I can't understand that if everyone knows there is a letdown coming. Why does it still happen? It seems to me that this team may have been getting a tad cocky. They were getting the CBS interviews, and this cardiac cats nonsense. Now they realize they can't just waltz through games or wait until the last 2 minutes. They have to realize that they can't keep shooting themselves in the foot, and pull it out in the last minute. I'm still annoyed by John Stephens and Doug Flutie tearing us up in week 7 in 1988, but they weren't going to go 15-1. HUGE game this week. If they drop 2 in a row at home we will have issues. It was just a flat game.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

I think the real concern is that they aren't nearly as good as their record indicates, and that games like this reinforce that notion. Looked like the 1 win Marvin team from last year to me, or the crappy team the year before that.

Pretty sad when "Dennis Roland" is starting in place of your #1 pick, in week 6, and Dan Coats still has a job despite fumbling and dropping more passes in two years than any "professional" player I've ever seen in my entire life.

Standards sure are high here.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

These games happen. For the life of me I can't understand that if everyone knows there is a letdown coming. Why does it still happen? It seems to me that this team may have been getting a tad cocky. They were getting the CBS interviews, and this cardiac cats nonsense. Now they realize they can't just waltz through games or wait until the last 2 minutes. They have to realize that they can't keep shooting themselves in the foot, and pull it out in the last minute. I'm still annoyed by John Stephens and Doug Flutie tearing us up in week 7 in 1988, but they weren't going to go 15-1. HUGE game this week. If they drop 2 in a row at home we will have issues. It was just a flat game.

BTW - The 88-89 team annihilated teams most of the year, a loss wasn't a concern, this team can barely squeeze a Cleveland win out of their ass and make Derek Brown look like an all-pro. Let's keep it in proper perspective.

[walzav29]

They are every bit as good as their record indicates. We're just so beaten down that we can't trust that they're good. This team is really young. They don't know how to react to success. We all know the Andre Smith story. I'll bet he gets some action after the bye-week. They are 4-2 they've beaten the Ravens on the road and the Superbowl champs. The team just has to learn that they can't just play with emotions. They will win Sunday, and they'll be 5-2 going into the bye.

[membengal]

I'm not seeing a lot of people over-reacting on this board.

[walzav29]

These games happen. For the life of me I can't understand that if everyone knows there is a letdown coming. Why does it still happen? It seems to me that this team may have been getting a tad cocky. They were getting the CBS interviews, and this cardiac cats nonsense. Now they realize they can't just waltz through games or wait until the last 2 minutes. They have to realize that they can't keep shooting themselves in the foot, and pull it out in the last minute. I'm still annoyed by John Stephens and Doug Flutie tearing us up in week 7 in 1988, but they weren't going to go 15-1. HUGE game this week. If they drop 2 in a row at home we will have issues. It was just a flat game.

BTW - The 88-89 team annihilated teams most of the year, a loss wasn't a concern, this team can barely squeeze a Cleveland win out of their ass and make Derek Brown look like an all-pro. Let's keep it in proper perspective.

This team beat the Pitt at home for the 1st time since 2001, 1st time ever at Lambeau, and beat the Ravens on the road. NE barely beat Buff week 1 and lost to the Jets. Those things happen in division games.

[TJJackson]

make Derek Brown look like an all-pro

Derek Anderson?

[HairOnFire]

I'm not seeing a lot of people over-reacting on this board.

Agreed. And more importantly, I didn't see any evidence of the Bengals taking the Texans lightly. Instead, I watched the Bengals get outplayed almost from start to finish primarily because they were outcoached in nearly every phase of the game. Frankly, the Bengals have plenty of flaws that opposing teams can exploit IF their strengths match the Bengals weakness. And Houston did just that.

For me the loss doesn't suck more than any other, and if there's a lingering feeling of suck in the air this morning it relates to the injuries suffered by key players, especially Odom, the one player most responsible for the recent defensive improvement. In fact, this morning feels a little bit like the aftermath of the Cleveland game form a few years ago, when the Bengals lost several good players not just for 6 to 8 weeks,but forever.

[volcom69]

Im concerned, im concerned that it is going into week 7 and this offense has no rythem, players droping the ball when it hits them in the hands, players fumbling the ball away. This offense needs to find something, they cant/wont win every game in the last second and they need to realize that. It sucks when they get the momentum, and then lose it for no reason and then they go flat. If they cant find out who this offense is soon, they will lose many more games, and that concerns me.

We lost our best pass rusher the best DT, and they have no push up the middle or no edge rusher. Geathers is not a great pass rusher, i still wanna see MJ more before i say anything about him, but with out a pass rush the CB are getting smoked. Zimmer needs to blitz more if they cant get a pass rush, and i didnt see much blitzin yesterday. I feel this defense might be going backwards by losing these guys, and without a pass rush. They also need to find a way to cover a TE, and stop the screen.

Oh well they lost, i still dont have my hopes up and i wont, they always find a way to let me down. So if they make the playoffs this year that will be awsome, if they dont well i wasnt expecting them to anyways. A lose yesterday though really hurt, and im not sure what to make of this team yet. A lot of heart, but alot of mistakes, and yesterday the mistakes lost the game for them.

[walzav29]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10241284/There-is-still-plenty-to-like-about-these-Bengals-

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Agreed. And more importantly, I didn't see any evidence of the Bengals taking the Texans lightly. Instead, I watched the Bengals get outplayed almost from start to finish primarily because they were outcoached in nearly every phase of the game. Frankly, the Bengals have plenty of flaws that opposing teams can exploit IF their strengths match the Bengals weakness. And Houston did just that.

That's my fear too. I only saw snippets on RedZone channel, so take this for what it's worth. What I saw on defense was a lot of traps, misdirection plays, and quick hitters that were designed to take advantage of our D's tendency to overplay and nullify their speed.

My fear is that the Texans game was on of those "This is how to beat these guys" sorts of losses that basically serves as a blueprint for every offense we play for the rest of the year. We will see lots of traps. We will see lots of plays designed to get to the second level quickly. Definitely something that needs to be fixed ASAP.

The question is, can this D (especially with the costly injuries) stop teams without gambling and overplaying?

[kingwilly]

Agreed. And more importantly, I didn't see any evidence of the Bengals taking the Texans lightly. Instead, I watched the Bengals get outplayed almost from start to finish primarily because they were outcoached in nearly every phase of the game. Frankly, the Bengals have plenty of flaws that opposing teams can exploit IF their strengths match the Bengals weakness. And Houston did just that.

That's my fear too. I only saw snippets on RedZone channel, so take this for what it's worth. What I saw on defense was a lot of traps, misdirection plays, and quick hitters that were designed to take advantage of our D's tendency to overplay and nullify their speed.

My fear is that the Texans game was on of those "This is how to beat these guys" sorts of losses that basically serves as a blueprint for every offense we play for the rest of the year. We will see lots of traps. We will see lots of plays designed to get to the second level quickly. Definitely something that needs to be fixed ASAP.

The question is, can this D (especially with the costly injuries) stop teams without gambling and overplaying?

Most notable to me was that when there was no pass rush, or fear of a DE shutting down the edge, the Bengals secondary is abusable. There is only so much Leon and JJoe can do.

On the traps and misdirections, I saw Fanaene getting sucked inside and being WAY out of position, several times, giving Slaton eas access to the underneath/outisde for the short passes which he broke for chunks. I also saw such soft zones, Dhani and Rivers, dropping 15-20 yards off the line, giving Daniels easy seams and lanes to get open. When they blitzed, it looked like the timing was off. I was also dismayed by the lack of rotation in coverage. Zone requires players to shift and hand-off a player, from zone-to-zone. I saw shifts when the handed off to open field, as if they forgot which zone they were covering, on the Jacoby Jones TD.

[walzav29]

Agreed. And more importantly, I didn't see any evidence of the Bengals taking the Texans lightly. Instead, I watched the Bengals get outplayed almost from start to finish primarily because they were outcoached in nearly every phase of the game. Frankly, the Bengals have plenty of flaws that opposing teams can exploit IF their strengths match the Bengals weakness. And Houston did just that.

That's my fear too. I only saw snippets on RedZone channel, so take this for what it's worth. What I saw on defense was a lot of traps, misdirection plays, and quick hitters that were designed to take advantage of our D's tendency to overplay and nullify their speed.

My fear is that the Texans game was on of those "This is how to beat these guys" sorts of losses that basically serves as a blueprint for every offense we play for the rest of the year. We will see lots of traps. We will see lots of plays designed to get to the second level quickly. Definitely something that needs to be fixed ASAP.

The question is, can this D (especially with the costly injuries) stop teams without gambling and overplaying?

I say yes. You know, it is entirely possible that Zimmer didn't get to put in the time last week to get the defense ready for Houston. I'm still shocked he's even on the sideline. He is a good coordinator and I think the D may struggle during his grieving period. Thats just a theory, but how much time do you think he had to gameplan for the Texans with all he had going on?

[Pidge]

Of course our secondary is abusable with no pass rush. Every secondary in the history of the NFL has been abused without a pass rush. Ours is no different. Conversely a military medium secondary can cope quite adequately if the front 7 get consistent pressure on the QB.

Take a look at the secondary that held Brady and Moss to 14 pts in the SB.

If the injuries basically rob us of our pass rush, we'll get scored on and with regularity.

Does this offense have the potential/ability/whatever to score 25+ pts in that scenario because that's what they'll have to do most weeks to get the W.

[blueridge]

This was a letdown game pure and simple. For players and coaches. Our defense looked like it was on its heels from the outset. I don't think they were ready. Which team is real? The one that throttled the Ravens offense and knocked heads with the Steelers and Broncos, or the one that was missing tackles and chasing around Texans? The team that ran for 150 yards against the Ravens and Steelers, or the team that could only manage 50 against the Texans? I think the better measure of any team,especially this team, is over 5 games rather than the last one. Although I was bummed by yesterday's result, I felt much worse after the Broncos game, i.e., doubled over and sick to my stomach. Against the Texans, the Bengals did not play good enough to win and deserved to lose. Haven't we, as Bengals fans, learned to cope with disappointing losses? Some of us act like 6-year olds who have had their favorite Tonka truck stolen by the mean kid next door. Believe it or not, I am proud of this team for the way they have started the season and expect to have many more reasons to feel good about the Bengals before the season is over. Next week against the Bears is a good place to start. P.S. I really feel for Coach Zimmer right now. When I lost my wife to cancer, the grief and loneliness didn't hit really hard until a week after the funeral when I came home from work to an empty house.

[blueridge]

Agreed. And more importantly, I didn't see any evidence of the Bengals taking the Texans lightly. Instead, I watched the Bengals get outplayed almost from start to finish primarily because they were outcoached in nearly every phase of the game. Frankly, the Bengals have plenty of flaws that opposing teams can exploit IF their strengths match the Bengals weakness. And Houston did just that.

That's my fear too. I only saw snippets on RedZone channel, so take this for what it's worth. What I saw on defense was a lot of traps, misdirection plays, and quick hitters that were designed to take advantage of our D's tendency to overplay and nullify their speed.

My fear is that the Texans game was on of those "This is how to beat these guys" sorts of losses that basically serves as a blueprint for every offense we play for the rest of the year. We will see lots of traps. We will see lots of plays designed to get to the second level quickly. Definitely something that needs to be fixed ASAP.

The question is, can this D (especially with the costly injuries) stop teams without gambling and overplaying?

Most notable to me was that when there was no pass rush, or fear of a DE shutting down the edge, the Bengals secondary is abusable. There is only so much Leon and JJoe can do.

On the traps and misdirections, I saw Fanaene getting sucked inside and being WAY out of position, several times, giving Slaton eas access to the underneath/outisde for the short passes which he broke for chunks. I also saw such soft zones, Dhani and Rivers, dropping 15-20 yards off the line, giving Daniels easy seams and lanes to get open. When they blitzed, it looked like the timing was off. I was also dismayed by the lack of rotation in coverage. Zone requires players to shift and hand-off a player, from zone-to-zone. I saw shifts when the handed off to open field, as if they forgot which zone they were covering, on the Jacoby Jones TD.

I mean no disrespect and I certainly do not mean to disagree with your football observations, but I think you are really overanalyzing yesterday's game. Every time a team turns in a bad performance and loses, the tape shows how they lost. It doesn't always show why they lost. Moreover, I don't think the film of yesterday's game offers a blueprint for every opponent as to how to beat the Bengals. Too many variables. And do you think the Bengals will enter every game as flat and unprepared as against the Texans. What worked for the Texans on 10/18 won't necessarily work for the Bears on 10/25. Even if the tape doesn't lie, it doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I say yes. You know, it is entirely possible that Zimmer didn't get to put in the time last week to get the defense ready for Houston. I'm still shocked he's even on the sideline. He is a good coordinator and I think the D may struggle during his grieving period. Thats just a theory, but how much time do you think he had to gameplan for the Texans with all he had going on?

That's a very fair point. I didn't connect the dots on that one.

I still can't believe he lost his wife like that. Waaaay too young.

[blueridge]

I think the real concern is that they aren't nearly as good as their record indicates, and that games like this reinforce that notion. Looked like the 1 win Marvin team from last year to me, or the crappy team the year before that.

Pretty sad when "Dennis Roland" is starting in place of your #1 pick, in week 6, and Dan Coats still has a job despite fumbling and dropping more passes in two years than any "professional" player I've ever seen in my entire life.

Standards sure are high here.

Why sad? Roland has been playing pretty good ball and the Bengals are 4-2 (3-0 in the division) and tied for 1st in the AFC North after 6 games of a pretty tough early season schedule. All without Andre Smith and Chase Coffman getting a chance to show their stuff. Roland is starting in place of Smith because the latter broke his foot. He and Coffman will get their chance soon enough. I believe they will both help this team get better. There's a lot to look forward to. Of course, if I were irrational I would ignore the first 5 games and judge the Bengals solely on the most recent game.

[Sea Ray]

Today the talking heads are criticizing the NY Giants D-line saying that they got no pressure on Drew Brees. Truth is the other guys get paid too and they beat us this time.

Best thing they can do is forget it and move on. There's no question this team is a work in progress. I see next year as being better than '09 but let's see how far they can go.

[HoosierCat]

I wasn't expecting 15-1. And I'm not expecting 14-2 now. They were always going to lose some games.

The loss of Odom sucks, but it is what it is. Hopefully, the Non-Dairy Dessert can get healthy. He's flashed playmaking ability before, he just can't stay off the injury rolls.

Really, my concerns still revolve around he offense, namely their continued (bad) habit of stupid penalties, and the ongoing case of the dropsies that appears to have infected all the wideouts, back and tight ends. Fix those two problems and it won't matter that Odom is gone because we'll be scoring 30-40 points a game.

Anyhow, bring on the Bears.

[jjvolt]

I wasn't expecting 15-1. And I'm not expecting 14-2 now. They were always going to lose some games.

The loss of Odom sucks, but it is what it is. Hopefully, the Non-Dairy Dessert can get healthy. He's flashed playmaking ability before, he just can't stay off the injury rolls.

Really, my concerns still revolve around he offense, namely their continued (bad) habit of stupid penalties, and the ongoing case of the dropsies that appears to have infected all the wideouts, back and tight ends. Fix those two problems and it won't matter that Odom is gone because we'll be scoring 30-40 points a game.

Anyhow, bring on the Bears.

dead on, hoosier. there are gonna be bumps in the road this year. good teams bounce back from them. with the heart that this version of the bengals has displayed this year I'd be surprised if they lost going into the bye. the losses on D does hurt, though.

[BengalPimp]

I think the real concern is that they aren't nearly as good as their record indicates, and that games like this reinforce that notion. Looked like the 1 win Marvin team from last year to me, or the crappy team the year before that.

Pretty sad when "Dennis Roland" is starting in place of your #1 pick, in week 6, and Dan Coats still has a job despite fumbling and dropping more passes in two years than any "professional" player I've ever seen in my entire life.

Standards sure are high here.

Even if they were 6-0 instead of 4-2, you'd still say they aren't good. Some people just love to be negative.

Some of us are Bengals fans because we like and care about them, while others (Shula) are fans just so they can put down the team. If the Bengals ever win a couple of Superbowls, or have records like 12-4, 13-3 for a couple of seasons, I bet Shula would suddenly disappear, because he would have little negative left to say.

[icehole3]

I agree with Hoosier, it was a tough loss, a lesson learned, you move on, add a DLineman, drop Coats to at least second team and beat Chicago even if its only by 1 with 1 second on the clock, just beat them and all will be well.