Bengals @ Bears Pregame Chatter

[HoosierCat]

And today's breaking news out of Chicago: da Bears cut Jordan Palmer.

Shocking, I know...

[ArmyBengal]

Carson and Trestman must have had a falling out resulting in baby brother getting the axe.

Anyway, pregame chatter right ??

Bengals- 127

Bears- 0

Seriously, I expect the Bengals to win this one on the road.

The Bears still have concerns with Brandon Marshall's hip and their DT Melton with concussions.

If either of them are iffy for the game, it won't be close.

[Scottishbengal]

Tough opener on the road in the windy city but at least it's Sept weather and not mid-Dec with an icey gale blowing in off the lake.

Pretty hard to call this one ... pressure will be on Chicage as the home team so that may help, .....

???????????????

[HoosierCat]

Reedy with the injury report for today:

Whitworth, Still, Newman, Ghee not practicing as we begin the regular-season mode

Whit said earlier today that he couldn't say if he'd be ready for Chicago. Reedy's outlook for him is "extremely cloudy." My guess is Collins will go. Hope they give him some help vs. Peppers.

[volcom69]

My guess is that Whit wont play either, I have to wonder how bad his knee really is?

I like Collins a lot, but your right they will probably have to give him some help, so the other o-linemen better hold there own. Like I said before I really think this offense line is the most important thing. If the o-line gives Andy time I really think he will make his throws. There are a lot of weapons, and they cant double everyone, so if they give him the time he will find somebody open.

I wonder whats up with Newman, maybe its just his day off, and Ghee still out.

[HoosierCat]

How bad is the knee? This from Hobson today didn't help:

Whitworth (knee) is leaving all the talking to Lewis as he tries to keep the club's longest streak of 67 straight starts intact. But he did say he expects to play some time this season…

Oh. Well, that's good. I hope you play sometime this season too, Andrew.

Also in today's quick hits:

-- No Howard until at least week two, don't want to guarantee his salary.

-- Still and Newman's injuries are unknown.

-- Marvin has suddenly begun to gush over Onterio Mccaleb, talking about how the converted CB could contribute this year. Oy. I guess with Prater in Philly we need a new scrub poised for a Very Special Year.

/>http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Monday-quick-hits/f2dbed8e-a399-4c14-b292-a8247ff8c4f8?campaign=cin:fanshare:twitter

[ArmyBengal]

Some time this season ??

Man, you know that's not a good sign...

[cHaD711Johnson]

The kid is learning a new position on the opposite side of the ball, sheesh. Especially since that's one of the deepest positions on our roster, I would say that's pretty high praise from Marvin.

[volcom69]

Sometime this season? Really, well I guess Collins better come to play this year. Like I said I like Collins, but I just wonder how he would do for the long run against top DE. I guess we will find out Sunday.

[HoosierCat]

The kid is learning a new position on the opposite side of the ball, sheesh. Especially since that's one of the deepest positions on our roster, I would say that's pretty high praise from Marvin.

Not sure it's as deep as you think. Newman is hurt, Ghee is hurt again, Pacman will probably be suspended for some period at some point this year, and Dre looked terrible in preseason. I hope Onterio makes the transition but any talk of him contributing this year is IMO fantasy.

[HoosierCat]

On the good news front Hobs says Dunlap was full go and should play Sunday.

[ArmyBengal]

The only thing I saw McCallebb doing this year was in the return game.

If he comes on as a CB, that would be a bonus, but I don't buy it at this point either.

Gotta have the "shiny goodness" story somewhere during the season.

[ArmyBengal]

I was wondering if they ever thought about moving big Dre to the left side ??

Don't get me wrong, i'm not advocating the move, only wondering if it was a thought seeing as how he played there during his time at Alabama.

It's not like he sucked at it either, so that's not really a counter argument.

Maybe they feel Collins is better suited on the left side, maybe they don't want to mess with what works on the right side in regards to the run game.

[HoosierCat]

Yeah, maybe in a pinch but the right side of the line seems to have pretty good mojo, especially in the run game. Why risk screwing up both sides?

[ArmyBengal]

I agree with you Hoosier and think the right side is absolutely beastly.

The left side is still the premiere of the two and you typically want to ensure that is covered.

They obviously feel they have that in Collins and i'm not as concerned about Collins as some.

I would just like to know (which I won't) if they gave it much thought.

I made the argument early on, before Dre was resigned and people were calling for a RT in the first round, that Collins was better suited for that spot and that the team had a ton of confidence in him. There weren't many that shared that view and now here we are looking at Collins as the week 1 starter at LT. Are people really confident in him or simply hoping for the best without thinking much of him ??

With Collins, Boling, Cook, Zeitler, and Smith, I think we have a solid line with Cook being the weak link. Boling has really taken advantage of his opportunities and played well all through the preseason. He's blocking well and his pulling ability has been on display quite a bit to this point. Cook will just have to suffice, but I don't care for him much from a physical standpoint. He just doesn't seem to hold his own at the point of attack. Hopefully he proves me wrong and changes my opinion. God knows he's smart enough for the position.

[cHaD711Johnson]

The kid is learning a new position on the opposite side of the ball, sheesh. Especially since that's one of the deepest positions on our roster, I would say that's pretty high praise from Marvin.

Not sure it's as deep as you think. Newman is hurt, Ghee is hurt again, Pacman will probably be suspended for some period at some point this year, and Dre looked terrible in preseason. I hope Onterio makes the transition but any talk of him contributing this year is IMO fantasy.

Newman seems to be more of rest. Dre looked bad against a Top 5 receiver in the league, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[Scottishbengal]

Anyone going to throw up some scoreline predictions for Week 1 ???

[Kazkal]

Anyone going to throw up some scoreline predictions for Week 1 ???

Bengals 61 Bears 3

[GapControl]

Bengals 2 Bears 0

[GapControl]

For the record i thhink letting prater go is a mistake. We always seem to need cbs

[HoosierCat]

Newman seems to be more of rest. Dre looked bad against a Top 5 receiver in the league, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

If anything I'm late to the game. Calls to shore up CB have been getting louder since Dallas. Hopefully Newman and Ghee can get back on the field.

[ArmyBengal]

If Newman, Hall and Jones are ready to go Sunday, I won't be at all concerned.

If Kirkpatrick has to step in, i'm only slightly more concerned but not much.

Zimmer stated he wouldn't work things the same way with Dre he did in the Dallas game so take that FWIW.

[ArmyBengal]

As for taking a stab at the scoreline for the game, I think much depends on where the Bears are with both Marshall(hip) and Melton(concussion).

If either one or both of them are not 100% for the game, the Bengals walk all over them:

Bengals- 27

Bears- 10

If both are good to go for the game, I expect it to be much tighter honestly, but still see the Bengals coming out on top:

Bengals- 24

Bears- 17

Also, the Bears revamped their o-line and if they aren't ready for what the Bengals defense brings from the front 4, Cutler is in for a very long day.

I can see Atkins celebrating his new contract with a 2 sack and 1 forced fumble kind of day, where Cutler has nightmares about him the rest of the season.

[HoosierCat]

Anyone going to throw up some scoreline predictions for Week 1 ???

I will but you probably won't like it.

On paper, this should be a Bengals victory. Not a slam-dunk by any means, but they are a better team. Unfortunately, this game will be played at Soldier Field, not on paper, and the trouble is that Marvin's Bengals teams have a history of blowing goats on opening day.

This team routinely looks unprepared for the season in week 1. Almost as routinely they turn it around dramatically in week 2, but that's scant comfort for this Sunday. The Bengals are 1-4 on opening day in the last five years, including last year's embarrassing 31-point blowout in Baltimore and the 2010 debacle in Foxboro, where they were down 31-3 at one point in the third quarter. Their sole opening day win in the last five tries came against Cleveland, and even that required cooperation from the Browns, who obligingly quit playing defense for a play for AJ could get an easy score.

Meanwhile, the Bears have been more than ready to go, rolling up a 4-1 record on opening day over the last five years. They've won those four games by an average of about 15 points. In comparison, the Bengals have scored in total an average of 16 points in their last five opening days.

So, while I still think this team gets back to the playoffs, I don't expect them to look like it Sunday. In fact, I expect them to be trounced thoroughly and decisively. Come Monday, the stampede of pundits and talking heads exiting the bandwagon will be thunderous. The Bengals will plummet a dozen spots or more in the power rankings. Message boards will be aflame with threads demanding a variety of scalps, including Marvin's, Daltons's and Mike Brown's. The cries of "start Josh Johnson" will begin.

As always, I may be wrong. But right now my gut says Bears 34, Bengals 16.

[skyline]

I get your point, Hoosier, but this sure feels different.

I think it all comes down to whether or not our d-line can exploit their o-line. If so, then good things start to happen. Good field position will result, and I think our offense can capitalize. If not, then I'm afraid your prediction may end up being correct.