Still can't beat other AFC teams

[JoePong]

I pointed it out last year that we are totally incapable of beating AFC teams outside of our own division.

Going back to last year, we have lost 7 out of 8 games against AFC teams outside our division. The only win was a last second win against the lowly chiefs at home.

Going back even further...In our last 14 games against AFC teams outside our division, the only two teams we have beaten are KC and Jacksonville

[Stripes]

Thanks for that illogical look at a simple statistic convenient to your ridiculous assertion, JoePong.

[JoePong]

Thanks for that illogical look at a simple statistic convenient to your ridiculous assertion, JoePong.

You don't think the ability to beat teams in your conference is significant? That's pretty much the only way to advance in the playoffs.

[HoosierCat]

Meanwhile the Ravens and Steelers both beat 4 AFC teams outside the division last season and both of course split the Lombardi Trophy last January...

[Stripes]

You don't think the ability to beat teams in your conference is significant?

I don't think significance is relevant to an assertion that is likely not even true.

Yeah, the Bengals have lost eight of nine against AFC opponents not in the AFC North. Yeah, it's very easy to assume based upon such a truth that the Bengals are thus "incapable" of winning games of that variety.

Looking a bit deeper than just plain wins and plain losses like a mouth-breathing half-wit, however, leads me to a different viewpoint on this concept: There're virtually no tangible relationships between the Bengals' separate losses to non-AFC North teams in the AFC. Circumstance can be drawn in much more vivid detail, detail which enables the observer to understand causality more complex and believable than what you offer.

[JoePong]

The Ravens advanced in the playoffs each of the last two years...including all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they played...guess who...the STEELERS.

Plus, the Steelers have advanced enough to win a couple Superbowls in recent years.

The bengals haven't won a playoff game since...well...nobody can actually remember...

[HoosierCat]

The Ravens advanced in the playoffs each of the last two years...including all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they played...guess who...the STEELERS.

ZZZZZ...AFC championship game....ZZZZ

Tell me, Joe, if the Bengals had reached the AFC championship game last year and lost, this would have changed your theory how?

[JoePong]

The Ravens advanced in the playoffs each of the last two years...including all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they played...guess who...the STEELERS.

ZZZZZ...AFC championship game....ZZZZ

Tell me, Joe, if the Bengals had reached the AFC championship game last year and lost, this would have changed your theory how?

You are asking me if the bengals beating other AFC teams in the playoffs would have changed my theory about the bengals not being able to beat other AFC teams????

Seriously? That's your question? Um, they didn't. That's kind of the point, isn't it?

And it's not a theory that they haven't been able to beat AFC teams outside their division. It's a matter of record.

[Stripes]

I'll ask you a question, Pongy-bear.

Why can't the Bengals beat AFC teams outside the AFC north? You claim ever boldly THAT they can't do it, but you haven't bothered to theorize WHY they can't do it. So, I ask that you dig into your obviously endless mental expanses for the actual cause of this supposed problem. What is the trend present between teams in AFC not in the AFC north which so sorely deters the Bengals from finding victory?

[HoosierCat]

You are asking me if the bengals beating other AFC teams in the playoffs would have changed my theory about the bengals not being able to beat other AFC teams????

Yeah, because your theory is all about the regular season, not the playoffs. Even if they had won a couple games against non-AFCN opponents in the playoffs, your theory would still stand, right? Even if they won a Super Bowl, you could still claim it was a fluke, right?

You found a pet statistic that can't be falsified. Bravo.

[TJJackson]

I pointed it out last year that we are totally incapable of beating AFC teams outside of our own division.

I pointed it out last year that you are totally incapable of writing a coherent post outside of your own 2nd grade education level

[TJJackson]

The bengals haven't won a playoff game since...well...nobody can actually remember...

Joe Wrong has not written a coherent post since....well.....no one can actually remember

[JoePong]

You are asking me if the bengals beating other AFC teams in the playoffs would have changed my theory about the bengals not being able to beat other AFC teams????

Yeah, because your theory is all about the regular season, not the playoffs. Even if they had won a couple games against non-AFCN opponents in the playoffs, your theory would still stand, right? Even if they won a Super Bowl, you could still claim it was a fluke, right?

You found a pet statistic that can't be falsified. Bravo.

I'm just reporting a fact.

If the Bengals had lost 14 of their last 15 games on the road, then you would probably agree that they seem to be incapable of winning on the road.

Andif they suddenly started to win road games, I would simply assumed that they improved at playing on the road. That doesn't make sense to you?

[Stripes]

If the Bengals had lost 14 of their last 15 games on the road, then you would probably agree that they seem to be incapable of winning on the road.

Andif they suddenly started to win road games, I would simply assumed that they improved at playing on the road. That doesn't make sense to you?

Worthless comparison, twit. Historic trends favor every team losing more often on the road, and thus there are plenty of specifics one can look to for an explanation of why.

A team losing frequently to other teams in its conference that are not in its division is something utterly random which cannot be explained by any descriptive trends, statistics, or logic. There is no correlation or causality to be noted.

Thus it's entirely logical for anyone to surmise that the Bengals recent struggles against AFC teams not in the AFC North is a problem wrought by circumstances far more specific than just what you present in this thread. The Bengals don't lose to them because they're teams in the same conference but not in the same division. The idea is just silly.

[JoePong]

I'll ask you a question, Pongy-bear.

Why can't the Bengals beat AFC teams outside the AFC north? You claim ever boldly THAT they can't do it, but you haven't bothered to theorize WHY they can't do it. So, I ask that you dig into your obviously endless mental expanses for the actual cause of this supposed problem. What is the trend present between teams in AFC not in the AFC north which so sorely deters the Bengals from finding victory?

You want a reason? Come on man. It's not that difficult to figure out.

It's because they aren't as good as most other AFC teams.

And as for the difference between teams in the AFC North and the rest of the Conference, it's easy as well. Familiarity. That evens the playing field and allows us to have some success. I mean, look at the games within the division. All six games last year came down to the wire and could gave gone either way. We somehow puled them all out, and that sort of anomaly allowed us to sneak into the playoffs...whre we were matched up with teams that were better than us. And it showed.

It was a pretty simple observation that allowed me to win a large sum of money because I knew the bengals had no chance to beat the jets last year in the playoffs. And the fact is, if the bengals don't start showing the ability to beat AFC teams, they won't be in the playoffs because they can't count on all their division games going their way again this year. Bottom line is, even after sweeping all their division games last season, they just snuck in, finishing one game out of third place.

[cincyhokie]

I'll ask you a question, Pongy-bear.

Why can't the Bengals beat AFC teams outside the AFC north? You claim ever boldly THAT they can't do it, but you haven't bothered to theorize WHY they can't do it. So, I ask that you dig into your obviously endless mental expanses for the actual cause of this supposed problem. What is the trend present between teams in AFC not in the AFC north which so sorely deters the Bengals from finding victory?

You want a reason? Come on man. It's not that difficult to figure out.

It's because they aren't as good as most other AFC teams.

And as for the difference between teams in the AFC North and the rest of the Conference, it's easy as well. Familiarity. That evens the playing field and allows us to have some success. I mean, look at the games within the division. All six games last year came down to the wire and could gave gone either way. We somehow puled them all out, and that sort of anomaly allowed us to sneak into the playoffs...whre we were matched up with teams that were better than us. And it showed.

It was a pretty simple observation that allowed me to win a large sum of money because I knew the bengals had no chance to beat the jets last year in the playoffs. And the fact is, if the bengals don't start showing the ability to beat AFC teams, they won't be in the playoffs because they can't count on all their division games going their way again this year. Bottom line is, even after sweeping all their division games last season, they just snuck in, finishing one game out of third place.

I think there is something to that. I would also say that the Bengals have designed their personnel to defeat and play with teams in the AFCN.

However, I would say that when looking at the Colts and Patriots, the Bengals just don't match up as well. I think we match up much better against teams like San Diego, Tennessee, Denver, etc.

[Sea Ray]

Don't blame the messenger here folks. Joe is just stating facts. He doesn't claim to know why. That's up for discussion. What's not debatable is that the Bengals need to do better outside of the AFC North. We can't rely on going 6-0 in the division every year.

What's the point in saying "if" the Bengals had gone to the championship game? If Aunt Jane was James she'd be your Uncle...so what?

[Stripes]

I'll ask you a question, Pongy-bear.

Why can't the Bengals beat AFC teams outside the AFC north? You claim ever boldly THAT they can't do it, but you haven't bothered to theorize WHY they can't do it. So, I ask that you dig into your obviously endless mental expanses for the actual cause of this supposed problem. What is the trend present between teams in AFC not in the AFC north which so sorely deters the Bengals from finding victory?

You want a reason? Come on man. It's not that difficult to figure out.

It's because they aren't as good as most other AFC teams.

And as for the difference between teams in the AFC North and the rest of the Conference, it's easy as well. Familiarity. That evens the playing field and allows us to have some success. I mean, look at the games within the division. All six games last year came down to the wire and could gave gone either way. We somehow puled them all out, and that sort of anomaly allowed us to sneak into the playoffs...whre we were matched up with teams that were better than us. And it showed.

The argument that the Bengals in-division success last year was an anomaly is one I can buy, but your reasons why are a problem. You're ignoring half of the NFL.

If familiarity is somehow what allows the Bengals to succeed against the division but not against the rest of the AFC, why are they 4-3-1 against the NFC since the start of the abysmal 2008 season?

[HoosierCat]

What's the point in saying "if" the Bengals had gone to the championship game? If Aunt Jane was James she'd be your Uncle...so what?

Exactly. Joe's whole argument is based on an "if." If you ignore the Bengals games against AFCN teams they can't beat AFC teams..

So what?

[jjakq27]

More specifically we can't beat a Bill Belichek coached team. He is 14-3 against us and Marvin is 0-4 against him. They have a 7 game season opener win streak and have won their first game every year at Gillette since it opened in 2002.

I think the most recent win was in 2001 when we beat them here when Drew Bledsoe was their QB. He got hurt and they won the SB with Brady as their QB. Other than Indy they probably have the most wins in that time frame.

He seems to be a step ahead of us every time we play them.

[JoePong]

I'll ask you a question, Pongy-bear.

Why can't the Bengals beat AFC teams outside the AFC north? You claim ever boldly THAT they can't do it, but you haven't bothered to theorize WHY they can't do it. So, I ask that you dig into your obviously endless mental expanses for the actual cause of this supposed problem. What is the trend present between teams in AFC not in the AFC north which so sorely deters the Bengals from finding victory?

You want a reason? Come on man. It's not that difficult to figure out.

It's because they aren't as good as most other AFC teams.

And as for the difference between teams in the AFC North and the rest of the Conference, it's easy as well. Familiarity. That evens the playing field and allows us to have some success. I mean, look at the games within the division. All six games last year came down to the wire and could gave gone either way. We somehow puled them all out, and that sort of anomaly allowed us to sneak into the playoffs...whre we were matched up with teams that were better than us. And it showed.

The argument that the Bengals in-division success last year was an anomaly is one I can buy, but your reasons why are a problem. You're ignoring half of the NFL.

If familiarity is somehow what allows the Bengals to succeed against the division but not against the rest of the AFC, why are they 4-3-1 against the NFC since the start of the abysmal 2008 season?

My reasoning is that NFC teams suck

Bears, Lions, Redskins, etc We did beat the Packers.

But that's my whole point. We do okay against NFC teams. We do ok against teams in our division. But we seem incapable og beating other AFC teams. I'm not providing any explanation. Just stating a fact. I'm not sure why people can't seem to accept it.

[Kazkal]

I pointed it out last year that we are totally incapable of beating AFC teams outside of our own division.

Going back to last year, we have lost 7 out of 8 games against AFC teams outside our division. The only win was a last second win against the lowly chiefs at home.

Going back even further...In our last 14 games against AFC teams outside our division, the only two teams we have beaten are KC and Jacksonville

Not even g9onna bother reading your post.

[Stripes]

My reasoning is that NFC teams suck

My reason for raising so many questions in this thread about your reasoning is that too much of it is utterly basic, underdeveloped drivel. You try so hard as it is, I should expect you'll eventually say something everyone doesn't already know.

[Sea Ray]

What's the point in saying "if" the Bengals had gone to the championship game? If Aunt Jane was James she'd be your Uncle...so what?

Exactly. Joe's whole argument is based on an "if." If you ignore the Bengals games against AFCN teams they can't beat AFC teams..

So what?

Didn't you read his statement? He's not discounting the wins in our division. He's saying that outside the division in the AFC they've been horrible. You really can't argue with that, so what is your gripe?

I pointed it out last year that we are totally incapable of beating AFC teams outside of our own division.

Going back to last year, we have lost 7 out of 8 games against AFC teams outside our division. The only win was a last second win against the lowly chiefs at home.

Going back even further...In our last 14 games against AFC teams outside our division, the only two teams we have beaten are KC and Jacksonville

[COB]

And it's not a theory that they haven't been able to beat AFC teams outside their division. It's a matter of record.

True, it's a matter of record recently. But then the leap you make is that we haven't beaten AFC teams recently, therefore we can't beat AFC teams.

And that is where we disagree. The future is not a slave to the past. Two football teams line up. Which division they play in? Means almost nothing to the outcome.

So how to explain the recent rash of losses to AFC teams? Is it just a statistical anomaly?

Yes, I believe that is exactly what it is. A statistical anomaly. We'll beat non-North AFC teams this year, I'd bet on it.