Bengals @ Texans Wild Card Weekend Pregame Thread

[HoosierCat]

Hobson's report on today's practice:

Early in practice, Green-Ellis, who felt his hamstring tighten on the first carry of last Sunday's pregame warmups, returned and was listed as limited. Safety Chris Crocker (thigh) was dressed and listed as limited. Backup safety Taylor Mays (hamstring) returned after missing Tuesday and was listed as limited, as was starting cornerback Terence Newman (groin) after he worked for the second straight day after missing last Sunday's game. The only player not working was backup right end Wallace Gilberry with an illness.

Sounds like they are about as good to go as you could hope for this time of year...

[ShulaSteakhouse]

George Vogel on WLW today said Crocker was "down" today about his status - which seemed odd as on Monday night's Bengals Line, he was as a chipper as could be and walking "pain free without a limp." Said it was unusual for Crocker not to talk to the media "at all" and mope around (something's not adding-up there).

Sounds like BJGE's limited practice is just precautionary, just pray he doesn't have any "twinges" this week or before or during the game.

I don't see how they win that game without him, there's just no RB depth here at all. I also think Crocker is a huge need, but the horrible playoff game last year he had doesn't really say much either.

----------------------

I leave it up to Dalton, who cannot afford to throw any INT's this time, nor let JJ Watt harrass him and bat down passes (one of the best at it).

It's not a good matchup really, just as it wasn't last year. I would rather see Huber out there than Dalton making even semi-risky passes...and that is why they need BJGE at full speed, but who knows how that'll go.

If they win it'll be done just like they did the last two weeks - limit or avoid turnovers on offense, and play field position with your punter and defensive big plays/plays for loss all day.

Aight, that's all I gotta say.

[cincyhokie]

George Vogel on WLW today said Crocker was "down" today about his status - which seemed odd as on Monday night's Bengals Line, he was as a chipper as could be and walking "pain free without a limp." Said it was unusual for Crocker not to talk to the media "at all" and mope around (something's not adding-up there).

That makes no sense unless he "re-injured" the leg duing his sideline work.

I simply don't see a scenario where he doesn't play. I'd like to think so, at least.

[ArmyBengal]

Again, look at what the Vikings did to the Texans.

That is EXACTLY how the Bengals function this season.

This is the best matchup they could have hoped for honestly.

[GapControl]

Things I noticed since the eagles game:

cook/robinson/boling -- they are struggling in pass and run blocking. eagles had a pretty serious dline guy and of course so do the steelers. need to upgrade there in the draft or free agency. i prefer to draft a center and guard high

what it means for the texans -- it means that we need to run over zeitler and smith and call some misdirections or reverses to get to the other side over or around whitworth. pass blocking could be the real issue. establish the run and we have a chance to pass under to gresham, jones, or hawk.

i was wrong about the pittsburgh game, thank god. at the beginning of the year, i thought the bengals would go 10-6 and be in the playoffs but after the drubbing in baltimore and then the 4 game losing streak i figured it was a wash for the year.

can`t say enough for the coaching by paul alexander and the rest considering the injuries we suffered on the oline and the problem with the dbs and safteys early.

about the defense: mays is a liability right now. guy doesnt see the play develop or overreacts. i dont know which. got to have crocker healthy back there. he did play well against the ravens option offense with taylor, though. also, where the hell has jason allen been all year? thought he was supposed to be a decent nfl corner. he is basically the same age as adam jones and leon hall. he could really be of help now that kirkpatrick is done.

i didnt think we could beat pissburgh in pissburgh but we did. i am all in now. we can beat the texans. this team has leadership all over the roster. handle the interior oline duties and stay legit in pass coverage (esp. safties) and we win!

WHO DEY!

[ArmyBengal]

I was reading some of the quotes from yesterdays team meeting and thought about something Zimmer said.

I'm wondering if this week might be the week we get something huge from Jason Allen.

NO, not on the field, but rather what he might be able to offer up in regards to what the Texans do defensively.

If we could get THAT out of him at this point, it would be his only contribution of his useless season.

[volcom69]

Crocker did not practice, I really don't want to see Mays playing safety. Hope Crocker can play!

[GapControl]

I was reading some of the quotes from yesterdays team meeting and thought about something Zimmer said.

I'm wondering if this week might be the week we get something huge from Jason Allen.

NO, not on the field, but rather what he might be able to offer up in regards to what the Texans do defensively.

If we could get THAT out of him at this point, it would be his only contribution of his useless season.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Crocker did not practice, I really don't want to see Mays playing safety. Hope Crocker can play!

Not good, but, to be honest, BJGE is a bigger need I guess. But I suppose Vogel might've been right about Crocker

[cincyhokie]

Crocker did not practice, I really don't want to see Mays playing safety. Hope Crocker can play!

If he doesn't, it'll be a mix of Clements and Mays. Our safety depth is horrible.

I feel for Crocker if he can't go. He's had a solid year after coming back. Redemption shot at the exact place and game a year later? And he can't play in it? Terrible....

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Again, look at what the Vikings did to the Texans.

That is EXACTLY how the Bengals function this season.

This is the best matchup they could have hoped for honestly.

Well, it's better than going to Denver or NE right now, but I might prefer Baltimore again over the Texans.

Watt's the kind of player that'll give this offensive line fits, as well as Dalton - this becomes about Dalton avoiding tipped passes and INT's, he killed them last year vs the Texans with those, and Watt practically won the game himself.

I just want to see Dalton throw a ball or two away, or chuck it downfield to AJ, instead of throwing risky underneath passes or sitting in the pocket all day - roll him out of tackle box so he can get rid of it, play field position, throw RB screens, change-up your offensive plan.

I guess we'll see what kind of coorindator (or not) Gruden is - he can't keep doing the same crap he has the last few weeks, it's not working anymore, time to adjust, teams have figured him out, and the o-line is not very good.

[ArmyBengal]

I would like to see some more work out of the shotgun for Dalton. Give him some more time to see what's going on and keep an eye on JJ Watt. I agree, that he is just a brutal matchup for us this week. I would like to see Dalton work more out of the shotgun this week, giving him some more time to see where things are coming from. Another step would be huge considering the Texans pass rush.

[kingwilly]

If they can get Dalton to move, and not on a naked boot/TE pass, then they can pick apart Houston. They have enough hands underneath with Hawk, Gresham and Leonard/Peerman to make it happen. They simply have to roll the play over or away from Watt. I think Watt could disrupt a ton, so how Gruden works to neutralize him will be a huge factor. Simply "runing" the bal will not soften up Watt and company for the pass.

I think they could bait Texans into giving up some big plays to Green, if they can get playaction going but I am not so sure they can run effectively with Cook starting. Seems since he came back the run game has totally flopped.

[TJJackson]

Naturally, Don Banks has to pick some team as the worst of the 12 teams in the playoffs

Can you guess?

/>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130102/nfl-playoff-power-rankings/index.html

[ArmyBengal]

Naturally, Don Banks has to pick some team as the worst of the 12 teams in the playoffs

Can you guess?

/>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130102/nfl-playoff-power-rankings/index.html

Honestly, while that might get under my skin a little, I don't think he's off.

Our offense has to come out and have an above average game against the Texans for someone to think the Bengals are for real.

[HoosierCat]

Well, if you look at the last week's ranking numbers, he had the Bengals 12th and all the other teams ahead of them. And I would agree that the glorified scrimmage that was the Ravens game last Sunday shouldn't count for much. I've seen them get a little more love on other power rankings but not much. The highest I've seen is IIRC 8th.

As the cliche goes, it is what it is. On the plus side, the Bengals have a dominant defense, good special teams, are very healthy relative to this point in the season and come into the playoffs with far more momentum than in any of their last three appearances. On the minus side, the offense operates in fits and starts, the head coach is good for a couple brain farts per game, and the opposition boasts the defensive player of the year and a victory over the Bengals in last year's playoffs -- with their backup QB at the helm to boot.

I have absolutely no feeling about this game. But I'm looking forward to it.

[ArmyBengal]

Looking forward to it ?? Looking forward to it ??

WHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO, I'M F*CKING STOKED !!!!

Is it Saturday yet ??

[HoosierCat]

Looking forward to it ?? Looking forward to it ??

WHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO, I'M F*CKING STOKED !!!!

Is it Saturday yet ?? :bengal:/>

I'm just trying to keep an even keel.

On the injury front, Crocker sat out practice today.

[ArmyBengal]

I was trying to keeps things cool as well, but today was as far as I could push it.

Crocker sitting out bums me out. I really hope he can be ready.

Mays blows.

[HoosierCat]

Good read on the game here:

/>http://www.footballoutsiders.com/film-room/2013/wild-card-film-room-afc

[HoosierCat]

Hobson:

Safety Chris Crocker (quad) has been saying he'll be OK for this game, but he showed up in sweats after he went limited on Wednesday. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (hamstring) and safety Taylor Mays (hamstring) were limited Thursday for the second straight day. Cornerback Jason Allen (hamstring) was also limited. Defensive end Wallace Gilberry (illness) was limited after missing Wednesday. Cornerback Leon Hall was also limited for a non-injury reason. Cornerback Terence Newman (groin) was back to full go Thursday.

[membengal]

Banks lives over this way, and carries a torch for the Ravens. When he is on local sportstalk shows over here (which he is kinda frequently) he slobbers the Ravens' knobs and is quick to slag the Bengals. Him ranking them that way is also consistent with that.

[combatbengal]

Last night before I went to bed NFL network said that they were going to talk about the playoff games this morning at 6. So I set it to record. When I got home tonight I sat down to watch it, thinking I'd get some insight into the Bengals Texans game. The program lasted 4.5 hours and they didn't talk about us at all! They spoke about Ray Lewis retirng, they talked about Luck and RG III. They spent time on the Packers and Vikings... This could be a good thing, out sight, out of mind. I'm thinking that we can win the Super Bowl and the media will still focus on other teams and garbage throughout the NFL. Oh well, I'm thinking of the game and the Bengals!! Who Dey!!

[walzav29]

I watched the Houston/NE game and I think it gave some clues how they'll play the Bengals. They focused on taking Wes Welker away and left Lloyd and Stallworth in 1 on 1's, and they got torched. There is no way they'll try that with Cincy. AJ Green will get all the attention. Anthony Hernandez lit them up, and we need Gresham to do the same. Andrew Hawkins should be a huge pain to Houston with all of the LB issues they are having. Gresham and Hawkins are the keys. They have big games and we win.

[COB]

Last night before I went to bed NFL network said that they were going to talk about the playoff games this morning at 6. So I set it to record. When I got home tonight I sat down to watch it, thinking I'd get some insight into the Bengals Texans game. The program lasted 4.5 hours and they didn't talk about us at all! They spoke about Ray Lewis retirng, they talked about Luck and RG III. They spent time on the Packers and Vikings... This could be a good thing, out sight, out of mind. I'm thinking that we can win the Super Bowl and the media will still focus on other teams and garbage throughout the NFL. Oh well, I'm thinking of the game and the Bengals!! Who Dey!!

I watched some ESPN this morning. They asked their experts about the playoff games. The only guy to talk about the Texans game, and I call it the Texans game purposefully, said that the Texans need to win this game to quiet the doubters, and to do that they need to play pass defense because everyone, including the Jags, passed well against them. The only mention of the Bengals was at some point he was talking about what the Texans needed to do and he said, "against a very tough Cincinnati team".

We are basically being ignored, because the media is conditioned by our failures. We made the playoffs? Great, we've made them 4 out of the last 8 years. So far every time we get knocked out in the first round, usually it's the first game on the first Saturday of the playoffs. Win some playoff games and we'll get some respect. It should start tomorrow.