Ex Post Facto: Bengals vs Patriots

[walzav29]

The Bengals can't play with expectations. They always have to have no expectations, which is a loser mentality. We'll never win a Super Bowl.

[cincyhokie]

The Bengals can't play with expectations. They always have to have no expectations, which is a loser mentality. We'll never win a Super Bowl.

Yep.

[Stripes]

Mindless bulls**t, IMO.

[Kazkal]

-did the bengals even have one penalty ? Though with how we played wouldn't say that's a good thing...

-Carson needs to spread the ball out more once Shipley & Gresham were utilized the offense started having success...

-Offensive Line play was pretty Terrible the Weakest link was Livings imo yet he still starts over Mathis...

-Zimmer needs to put his foot in some asses on that Defense it looked Terrible...We Need to also go in a Youth Movement I was one of Dhanis biggest fans before he came to cinci but he just doesn't have the hussel...We also need to get Geno on the field as much at possible on passing downs and just in general.

[HoosierCat]

Mendenhall 50 yard TD. Steelers win.

[cincyhokie]

-did the bengals even have one penalty ? Though with how we played wouldn't say that's a good thing...

-Carson needs to spread the ball out more once Shipley & Gresham were utilized the offense started having success...

-Offensive Line play was pretty Terrible the Weakest link was Livings imo yet he still starts over Mathis...

-Zimmer needs to put his foot in some asses on that Defense it looked Terrible...We Need to also go in a Youth Movement I was one of Dhanis biggest fans before he came to cinci but he just doesn't have the hussel...We also need to get Geno on the field as much at possible on passing downs and just in general.

They had one penalty. That's really good for them considering what they usually do.

I am very concerned about the middle of this defense. I do think that this week will be Zimmer laying down the hammer and I think they'll play better next week. How much better is the question.

[cincy9275]

-did the bengals even have one penalty ? Though with how we played wouldn't say that's a good thing...

-Carson needs to spread the ball out more once Shipley & Gresham were utilized the offense started having success...

-Offensive Line play was pretty Terrible the Weakest link was Livings imo yet he still starts over Mathis...

-Zimmer needs to put his foot in some asses on that Defense it looked Terrible...We Need to also go in a Youth Movement I was one of Dhanis biggest fans before he came to cinci but he just doesn't have the hussel...We also need to get Geno on the field as much at possible on passing downs and just in general.

my veiw exactly. time for rey to play the middle. the pats abused jones all game, the bad thing is it was happening in the preseason also. teams are picking on jones in the pass game with drag routes matching up wr's te's and rb's on him. jones has not been able to cover them.

[whizzo]

Jones is slowing down, opponents are noticing. time for Rey to come in at MLB - can Roy Williams make the defensive calls? i think he did it in Dallas...

[volcom69]

The defense is so weak right now and they get no push. Look at last year they played physical at the point of attack, and in this game i didnt see that at all. Odom and Geathers are horrible starting DE, and something needs to be done about that. The middle of the field has always been a weakness of the teams defense, but it has yet to be fixed!!!! I dont like this defense right now, and im not sure Zim will be able to fix it. This defense looked like a pre Zim defense and thats not good!

I dont know about the offense, 2nd half they looked pretty good, but was that because the Pats defense let it? First half looked like i was watching last years offense. All these weapons you would think they have would be putting up points, but they were horrible in the first half.

Special teams was not very strong, return game was bad, coverage was bad. I did like Nugents long kick.

Something needs to be done or needs to be fixed, otherwise this team will be 3rd in the division, and maybe a 7 win season. So they need to shift somethings around or make some changes.

[cincy9275]

The defense is so weak right now and they get no push. Look at last year they played physical at the point of attack, and in this game i didnt see that at all. Odom and Geathers are horrible starting DE, and something needs to be done about that. The middle of the field has always been a weakness of the teams defense, but it has yet to be fixed!!!! I dont like this defense right now, and im not sure Zim will be able to fix it. This defense looked like a pre Zim defense and thats not good!

I dont know about the offense, 2nd half they looked pretty good, but was that because the Pats defense let it? First half looked like i was watching last years offense. All these weapons you would think they have would be putting up points, but they were horrible in the first half.

Special teams was not very strong, return game was bad, coverage was bad. I did like Nugents long kick.

Something needs to be done or needs to be fixed, otherwise this team will be 3rd in the division, and maybe a 7 win season. So they need to shift somethings around or make some changes.

what surprised me was that dunlap did not dress for the game. which i don't understand he and atkins where the best pass rusher in the preseason. dunlap showed he can get after the qb, he was drafted high for that reason. why he did not dress is beyond me. the funny thing is the only time we got a little bit of pressure on brady guess who it was? atkins. atkins and dunlap need to be on the field on 3rd downs. we already know the others can't do it.

[Sea Ray]

What we had today we've seen way too many times. How often have we seen an Opening Day where our opponent is much more prepared than our Bengals? The only year in recent memory that the Bengals looked like they were ready to start the year was 2006.

The Patriots were ready to go and the Bengals were not up to speed. Marvin did not have our guys ready to play. Last year we were not ready to play either. We struggled at home vs another struggling team and only scored once.

This game is also example #1 of our tough 2010 schedule. Not only is starting at Foxborough extremely tough, so is catching them at the beginning of the year. By the 2nd half I doubt these Patriots will look so sharp as injuries and whatnot will take their toll on this team with many veterans 30 and over. It was a bad draw. Well coached team vs our ill coached team. I would have much rather started with Atl at home or TB on the road. Traditionally the Bengals have never looked up to speed on day one

[volcom69]

Dunlap should have dressed he needs the reps and would like to have seen it. Odom and Geathers right now are just not getting it done, and i dont think they will. I would rather have Rucker and Fanene or put Dunlap out there. The defense was embarrassing today, it sucks because i had high expectations for them.

I think this team was too high on themselves thinking they were all great. Who is going to stop Batman and Robin, all this talk about the Bengals going to the playoffs ect ect, well i think it showed today they might not be as good as they think. Maybe that will be a good thing for them.

[JoePong]

Well, this game went almost exactly as expected.

We could generate no pass rush...as expected. Brady had all day to sit back and compeletely pick apart the bengals defense...as expected. We couln't stop them at all...as expected. Hopefully all the bengal homers will stop complaining that the "experts" don't rate our defense ahead of defenses like Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and don't give us the respect we deserve by picking baltimore and/or pittsburgh to finish ahead of us.

Carson Palmer continues to play like a rookie QB. He throws yet another INT returned for a TD...as expected. Continues to lock onto his receivers.

The only thing I didn't expect was how bad our return game and coverage teams were on special teams. But Huber continues to suck...as expected.

Another UNexpected result was the lack of penalties.

[HoosierCat]

I think this team was too high on themselves thinking they were all great. Who is going to stop Batman and Robin, all this talk about the Bengals going to the playoffs ect ect, well i think it showed today they might not be as good as they think. Maybe that will be a good thing for them.

This.

[Jet23]

Zimmer has heart and will turn the defense around. But, someone needs to poke Carson with a stick to make sure he is still breathing. Save for a couple of obligatory 'come on guys let's go', he has all the passion of a Tax Attorney. Boomer would have drug TO's butt out of the locker room at the end of the first half.

[coupdayta]

Of course, the Bengals were just a poorly defended kick return and a pick six away from this being an actual game. Just saying there are some positives to be had. Gresham looked awesome, btw.

[volcom69]

Zimmer has heart and will turn the defense around. But, someone needs to poke Carson with a stick to make sure he is still breathing. Save for a couple of obligatory 'come on guys let's go', he has all the passion of a Tax Attorney. Boomer would have drug TO's butt out of the locker room at the end of the first half.

Too bad TO and Chad went into the locker room with 1 sec left in the half, and left there teammates to do the hailmary lol lol

Yea this team has no fire i didnt see anyone fired up.

They cant have expectations, because they dont live up to them. They are not as good as they think, they have the talent but they cant seem to put it on the field. Last year they had less talent, but they played like a team and that allowed them to live. It looked like the defense was lost and there was no communication going on.

[Trevor]

I am very impressed with nugent.... 3 50 yarders,.. Totally crazy, i am not impressed with our pass rush... AT ALL, mike johnson and geno atkins arent that good yet, odom and geathers blow, peko and tank were still in the hotel. Our linebackers did aweful, hall shut down torry holt on the IR great job leon!!!! And jjo was mediocre. Looks like the bengals of the great 90's on D. Zim needs to light a fire under these guys.

[vettespd20]

take away a stupid interception pick 6 and a kickoff return (kinda fluke plays) we wouldnt have lost this game more than likely

[Stripes]

I'm not at all interested in any of the following predictable tripe:

"The Bengals were overconfident."

"The Bengals were unprepared."

"Carson Palmer sucks."

"The Bengals can't handle big expectations."

etc...

Anyways, this game leaves me with only one real impression: the pass rush is horrific. Otherwise, the better team won today. Forgotten in all of this melting down is that the Patriots are a really good football team.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Dhani Jones and Mike Zimmer are still looking for Wes Welker...

[volcom69]

I'm not at all interested in any of the following predictable tripe:

"The Bengals were overconfident."

"The Bengals were unprepared."

"Carson Palmer sucks."

"The Bengals can't handle big expectations."

etc...

Anyways, this game leaves me with only one real impression: the pass rush is horrific. Otherwise, the better team won today. Forgotten in all of this melting down is that the Patriots are a really good football team.

Tell me how are the bengals going to fix this pass rush. Zim said they worked all offseason to get a better pass rush and we have not see that yet. Any good pass rushers available out there? These guys didnt even get close to getting Brady no pressure.

Last year opening day the defense was flying around, Rey was in the backfield, the DEs were in the backfield they were flying around. Today the defense looked lost, i didnt even see any of the young guys out there playing well. Where was Rey, where was MJ, i just hope these guys dont go backwards. Im very concerned about the defense.

[HoosierCat]

I'm not at all interested in any of the following predictable tripe:

"The Bengals were overconfident."

"The Bengals were unprepared."

"Carson Palmer sucks."

"The Bengals can't handle big expectations."

etc...

Anyways, this game leaves me with only one real impression: the pass rush is horrific. Otherwise, the better team won today. Forgotten in all of this melting down is that the Patriots are a really good football team.

Well, sorry TDB, but overconfident and unprepared looks pretty solid to me. Palmer didn't suck, but especially early on he had no time, and I still think the run game was way underutilized. The "big expectations" thing is fluff, I agree. The long and short of it is that they came out fat & happy & got punched in the nose. Repeatedly.

Yes, the Pats were the better team toady, no doubt. But that much better? Naw, this was slop.

The question is whether they suck it up and take out the loss on Baltimore, or whether they crumble like so many teams in the 90s did. I'm betting on the former.

[JoePong]

take away a stupid interception pick 6 and a kickoff return (kinda fluke plays) we wouldnt have lost this game more than likely

Give me a break. Keep telling yourself that. Palmer throwing an INT on an out-pattern that gets returned for a TD is anything but a fluke. It's a pretty common occurrence.

And the Patriots could have scored 70 points if they wanted to. We couldn't stop them at all. They scored whenever they needed to. We had no chance to win.

[vettespd20]

Ok if your thinking that they let up after they had the big lead you are wrong!!! what about the 4th down play they tried near the end of the game trying to score one last time? just keep bashing like you do EVERY SINGLE SEASON. Dont you have better things to do on Sundays?

take away a stupid interception pick 6 and a kickoff return (kinda fluke plays) we wouldnt have lost this game more than likely

Give me a break. Keep telling yourself that. Palmer throwing an INT on an out-pattern that gets returned for a TD is anything but a fluke. It's a pretty common occurrence.

And the Patriots could have scored 70 points if they wanted to. We couldn't stop them at all. They scored whenever they needed to. We had no chance to win.