Bengals @ Falcons Game Thread

[ArmyBengal]

I was pissed at Whalen for dropping that beautifully thrown pass by Dalton. If Whalen can't hang on to throws like that, what good is he?

That play made me think of what could be with this line.

Dalton had all the protection in the world, was able to step into his throw in the interior of the o-line, and delivered a strike.

Then the drop.

I still have my concerns with Cook and don't know if that play or others where protection collapsed are the standard, but if that type of protection happens more than not, Dalton will have a big year. If the push continues from the middle into Dalton, the quick dumpoff will be his best friend.

Whalen ?? Just make the trade with Indy now.

You can't tell me that almost ANY other WR on this roster couldn't give you what Whalen has the past two seasons.

11 receptions, 80 yards, and 0 TD's.

NEXT...

[skyline]

Forgot to mention Margus Hunt. Wow, what a freak. I almost felt sorry for the RT. It looked like Hunt, lifted him onto the QB on one play.

I'd love to see them bring him in on third down passing plays. Can you imagine him, Harrison and the others on a jailbreak blitz? He might be like Fanene, in that he had the strength to get Ben on the ground.

It will be fun to watch him develop. I thought he might be inactive a lot this season, but I don't see how you can keep him off the field. Even if it's just a few plays, he will create havoc and that might be the difference in a game or two.

Yeah, I'd really like to see what he could do against some 1st stringers.

[cHaD711Johnson]

Surprised no one mentioned Dimanche. He has to make this roster or he'll get picked up elsewhere.

[TJJackson]

I was pissed at Whalen for dropping that beautifully thrown pass by Dalton. If Whalen can't hang on to throws like that, what good is he?

Whalen ?? Just make the trade with Indy now.

NEXT...

I even suspect there are some shenanigans going on with Whalen

I am nigh 100% certain that Luck and Whalen have stayed in communication on a purely personal basis since the Stanford days - and naturallly, football is gonna come up

I figure Whalen'd rather play with his old QB, and also that Luck has made it known to Indy management that he wants his old favorite receiver on the Indy squad

So the best route to get from where he is now to where he wants to be - is to practice hard but stink up the preseason games so that no one but Indy will want him, and he clears waivers and signs freely with Indy

Pure speculation on my part, of course, but well within the realm of possibility

[volcom69]

Surprised no one mentioned Dimanche. He has to make this roster or he'll get picked up elsewhere.

Just about to mention this, Jayson played awesome last night! He was so fast around the edge for that sack it was crazy. Where do the put him though its such a strong class of guys I just don't know who to cut. Vinnie Rey will stick because of special teams, I'm pretty sure Moch and Evans are gone, Moch played a pretty bad game last night. I'm thinking Porter to the practice squad, but man a lot of tough cuts coming for all positions.

[membengal]

I mentioned dimanche during the thread. He, Dre, hunt and Schaffer really popped with that second team.

The Whalen drop was the thing I was most piossed about last night, given that the starters were only going to have one or two series, his dropping that cost us an extended drive, chances to see eifert, etc. Just a crap time for that.

[Stripes]

Forgot to mention Margus Hunt. Wow, what a freak. I almost felt sorry for the RT. It looked like Hunt, lifted him onto the QB on one play.

I'd love to see them bring him in on third down passing plays. Can you imagine him, Harrison and the others on a jailbreak blitz? He might be like Fanene, in that he had the strength to get Ben on the ground.

It will be fun to watch him develop. I thought he might be inactive a lot this season, but I don't see how you can keep him off the field. Even if it's just a few plays, he will create havoc and that might be the difference in a game or two.

I think they have to activate him more often than not for his kick blocking ability if nothing else.

[ArmyBengal]

For what it's worth, Moch isn't a concern as they moved him back to the DE spot and aren't considering him at LB.

That's at least one less to have to worry about although I don't think he would have been a concern anyway.

Dimanche won't make it past waivers to the practice squad, but don't think he makes it over Porter.

In regards to Whalen, I don't really care much anymore what his motives are. I just don't.

He might be a solid kind of guy, but as I mentioned, there's simply no way that there isn't another WR that could give the Bengals what he has.

Sanzenbacher almost did more in one game last night than Whalen has done in two full seasons.

I bet even Billy (yes still thinking of him) could give the Bengals 11 receptions over two full seasons.

[Stripes]

Even in a vanilla preseason game, it's nice to see this first team go on the road and hold tough with a team that fell a couple plays short of the Super Bowl last year, and then shred their depth mercilessly. I have seen virtually no fanbase freakouts or meltdowns, which is so refreshing. The only things that really irked me were the penalties by the centers, but until that becomes a 2013 trend I won't worry about it.

[volcom69]

I think Dimanche played a much better game the Porter. He looked faster, could cover and get off blocks where Porter couldn't. Now that dosnt mean it won't reverse the next game, but I still see Porter on the practice squad. That's not to say Dimanche makes the team, but after last night I really liked what I seen from him, and J.K.

[HoosierCat]

Forgot to mention Margus Hunt. Wow, what a freak. I almost felt sorry for the RT. It looked like Hunt, lifted him onto the QB on one play.

I'd love to see them bring him in on third down passing plays. Can you imagine him, Harrison and the others on a jailbreak blitz? He might be like Fanene, in that he had the strength to get Ben on the ground.

It will be fun to watch him develop. I thought he might be inactive a lot this season, but I don't see how you can keep him off the field. Even if it's just a few plays, he will create havoc and that might be the difference in a game or two.

I think they have to activate him more often than not for his kick blocking ability if nothing else.

I think it will be tough to activate Hunt, just due to the numbers and the fact he is still raw, if very strong.

[TJJackson]

Eifert

he's not on the stats sheet

are the Bengals maybe hiding him during the preseason so they can surprise opponents when the real games start?

[volcom69]

Eifert

he's not on the stats sheet

are the Bengals maybe hiding him during the preseason so they can surprise opponents when the real games start?

They didnt get many snaps last night, Gresham stole the show last night

[ArmyBengal]

Porter is a 4th round pick at a position of need. He's not going anywhere.

Gresham stealing the show ??

Great. Tell him to do that in the regular season.

Better yet, tell him to do that when the team throws an entire gameplan at him in the playoffs.

Not mad, just want to see him do that consistently.

[HoosierCat]

Eifert

he's not on the stats sheet

are the Bengals maybe hiding him during the preseason so they can surprise opponents when the real games start?

He had a nice in stride grab for about 8 yards but it got called back because of a penalty (Cook face mask I think).

[cHaD711Johnson]

I was pissed at Whalen for dropping that beautifully thrown pass by Dalton. If Whalen can't hang on to throws like that, what good is he?

Whalen ?? Just make the trade with Indy now.

NEXT...

I even suspect there are some shenanigans going on with Whalen

I am nigh 100% certain that Luck and Whalen have stayed in communication on a purely personal basis since the Stanford days - and naturallly, football is gonna come up

I figure Whalen'd rather play with his old QB, and also that Luck has made it known to Indy management that he wants his old favorite receiver on the Indy squad

So the best route to get from where he is now to where he wants to be - is to practice hard but stink up the preseason games so that no one but Indy will want him, and he clears waivers and signs freely with Indy

Pure speculation on my part, of course, but well within the realm of possibility

Huge reach. He can be claimed by worse teams before Indy. They made the playoffs last year.

[redsbengalsbucks]

When Bernard skidded and slipped on an early carry, I had a Ki-Jana flashback. I was happy to see that he was alright but squeamish every time he touched the ball.

This team will go as far as the O-line and Dalton will take them. I thought they held their own when the first teams were in but Dalton still missed some.

Loved what Sanzenbacher brings. I was concerned about his size but he makes plays. JK Shaeffer also looks like he could be a solid backup and prime special teamer.

Bringing Josh Johnson in as the QB in the Wildcat is very intriguing possibility.

Overall I was pleased with the effort and results.

Dont forget about Sanu, I could see a play involving Sanu throwing to Johnson out of the wildcat.

[TJJackson]

Huge reach. He can be claimed by worse teams before Indy. They made the playoffs last year.

Yep

As I said, he has to suck hard in the preseason to be guarenteed to clear waivers, and then he is free to join whoever (ie the Colts)

[jjakq27]

1376076875' post='398235']

1376048923' post='398205']

When Bernard skidded and slipped on an early carry, I had a Ki-Jana flashback. I was happy to see that he was alright but squeamish every time he touched the ball.

This team will go as far as the O-line and Dalton will take them. I thought they held their own when the first teams were in but Dalton still missed some.

Loved what Sanzenbacher brings. I was concerned about his size but he makes plays. JK Shaeffer also looks like he could be a solid backup and prime special teamer.

Bringing Josh Johnson in as the QB in the Wildcat is very intriguing possibility.

Overall I was pleased with the effort and results.

Dont forget about Sanu, I could see a play involving Sanu throwing to Johnson out of the wildcat.

Wow that would be nuts.

Btw is there any chance that Johnson could be plan B next year should Dalton fall short of expectations? With the move to the spread across the league, a guy like Johnson is intriguing.

[ArmyBengal]

Only if Johnson gets WAAAAAAY more consistent with his throws. Not just the long balls, all of them.

As much fun as it was to watch him run wild last night, there were some throws that were just horrendous.

There's a reason he's been cut from so many teams and I can't see him as a starter.

At least I would hate for that to be their current plan.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Let the QB competition begin.

Dalton = Mark Sanchez

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Forgot to mention Margus Hunt. Wow, what a freak. I almost felt sorry for the RT. It looked like Hunt, lifted him onto the QB on one play.

I'd love to see them bring him in on third down passing plays. Can you imagine him, Harrison and the others on a jailbreak blitz? He might be like Fanene, in that he had the strength to get Ben on the ground.

It will be fun to watch him develop. I thought he might be inactive a lot this season, but I don't see how you can keep him off the field. Even if it's just a few plays, he will create havoc and that might be the difference in a game or two.

I think they have to activate him more often than not for his kick blocking ability if nothing else.

I think it will be tough to activate Hunt, just due to the numbers and the fact he is still raw, if very strong.

That's still up in the air, it will depend on his impact during preseason. I think we'll see him active more often than not...he was a great draft pick.

[membengal]

Let the QB competition begin.

Dalton = Mark Sanchez

Jesus. Are you drunk? Trolling? Or just trying to drive more people away from the board?

[jjakq27]

I'll take the version that made it to the AFC Championship twice.

[volcom69]

Let the QB competition begin.

Dalton = Mark Sanchez

How is he Mark Sanchez? Look at his numbers in his first couple years compared to some of the best QBs in the league, and Dalton is right there. While I admit there is a lot to work on, when the line gives him time he can make any throw he wants, he just needs more pocket presence. Last year he had 23 TDs in his first 11 games, then he started taking sacks and wasn't the same. Lets see what happens this year before we start comparing him to anybody.