Packers @ Bengals Game Thread

[cincyhokie]

Lots of weapons, boys. I watched the SB squads in the 80s. Their key was lots of weapons. Green will get his shots. But the key is having a whole entire o. Bengals are on the brink. Just need to pull it together.

The early part of the schedule has been tougher for the Bengals the last few years. Especially last year where they didn't hit a stride until week 9.

They have the talent. It's there. I see Bernard being the key. He tilts the balance that makes Dalton much more effective. The more snaps Bernard gets, the better this offense is.

Playing Cleveland in Cleveland early in the year has proven tough for the Bengals in the past. If they can get to 3-1 next week, they're in good shape.

[cincyhokie]

Game

Game over

That is game, agreed.

*grin*

Yep. Again, I gladly ate the turd sandwich I had made for myself. Today was a turning point for me, as I'm sure it was for alot of Bengal fans. Alot of the past bad games, and Bengal teams imploding under adversity, fell by the wayside today.

[ArmyBengal]

Some other things I noticed when looking it over:

- Bernard and BJGE both had 10 carries. Guess that 50/50 came sooner rather than later.

- Minus the INT and fumble, Dalton went 20/28 for 235 with 2 TD's. Would you guess his numbers were better than Rodgers ??

- Of the Bengals 19 first downs, 12 came by way of the pass.

- 5 different players had at least 3 catches and no one more than 4.

- Again, Eifert appears to not get much in the way of targets, with 2.

- If I see Tate fair catch another kick inside the 10, my TV is in for it.

- Did I miss something ?? Geno still plays for the Bengals right ?? Where has he been ??

- Credit to Marvin Jones on the kickoff fumble in knocking the hell out of the guy. Great play to keep him from the ball.

Bottomline for me is that this team has all kinds of talent. They are sitting at 2-1 after 3 games and i'm happy about that.

The Giants, Steelers and Redskins are all sitting at 0-3. It could be much worse.

[skyline]

- Did I miss something ?? Geno still plays for the Bengals right ?? Where has he been ??

My guess would be stuck in the middle of a lot of double teams, which is making it easier for other guys to make plays.

[redsbengalsbucks]

I don't know about forcing it to Green in this one.

I thought I was watching the playoff game from last season in how long they took to even throw to him today.

When he did, it wasn't close on an overthrow. Then when it mattered most, it was Green for a TD on a BEA-utiful ball thrown by Dalton.

As the person that was asking for more throws to other WR's, I liked the fact that they finally did not force throws into a well covered Green all day long. He got the targets that he was open for most of the day and the other guys picked up some slack. Sanu needs to hold onto the ball, it cant become a habit to put one on the ground every game.

[skyline]

I don't know about forcing it to Green in this one.

I thought I was watching the playoff game from last season in how long they took to even throw to him today.

When he did, it wasn't close on an overthrow. Then when it mattered most, it was Green for a TD on a BEA-utiful ball thrown by Dalton.

Sanu needs to hold onto the ball, it cant become a habit to put one on the ground every game.

Did he fumble yesterday? I haven't seen anything about it if so...

[skyline]

I would like to once again highlight back to back weeks with successful challenges by Marvin.

What is this voodoo!?

[redsbengalsbucks]

I don't know about forcing it to Green in this one.

I thought I was watching the playoff game from last season in how long they took to even throw to him today.

When he did, it wasn't close on an overthrow. Then when it mattered most, it was Green for a TD on a BEA-utiful ball thrown by Dalton.

Sanu needs to hold onto the ball, it cant become a habit to put one on the ground every game.

Did he fumble yesterday? I haven't seen anything about it if so...

Maybe I am wrong but I thought he had one of the fumbles.

there were so many I lost track.

[skyline]

I don't know about forcing it to Green in this one.

I thought I was watching the playoff game from last season in how long they took to even throw to him today.

When he did, it wasn't close on an overthrow. Then when it mattered most, it was Green for a TD on a BEA-utiful ball thrown by Dalton.

Sanu needs to hold onto the ball, it cant become a habit to put one on the ground every game.

Did he fumble yesterday? I haven't seen anything about it if so...

Maybe I am wrong but I thought he had one of the fumbles.

there were so many I lost track.

Gresham, BJGE, and Dalton.

Tate and Nelson both fumbled, but neither of them really hurt us (the Nelson fumble, especially!).

Sanu's bounced back well, I think.

[Wraith]

Nope Gresham, BJGE, and Dalton were the fumblers, Sanu had a pretty nice game.

Two games in a row that they won without a tremendous contribution by A.J. that is good to see because they will need other contributors come playoff time.

[ArmyBengal]

Sanu dropped a pass in the open when it hit him right in the hands, but he didn't fumble this game.

It was a good game for Sanu otherwise.

I'm just so used to hearing Geno's name and seeing him in the backfield, it's just odd.

Nice to see others making it happen.

[volcom69]

Yep everyone knows Geno now, so they all double team him. Hopefully he can push through the double teams, because it's so much better when he is making plays in the backfield.

[ArmyBengal]

As long as someone is living in the oppositions backfield, I won't mind.

Be it Geno or another player due to his double team is fine by me.

Like I said, it's just weird.

Dunlap and MJ sure have to love getting their chances and making the best of them.

[skyline]

Yep everyone knows Geno now, so they all double team him. Hopefully he can push through the double teams, because it's so much better when he is making plays in the backfield.

Agreed. And keep in mind, that even when he's not making plays directly, I see him VERY often pushing his guy straight back and causing the pocket to collapse. That makes good things happen.

[HoosierCat]

Am I the only one who keeps checking the score this morning because they still can't believe the Bengals won?

The defense deserves huge props for this win. I keep reading about how Aaron Rogers didn't play well, as if he just had an off-day and if he'd eaten his Wheaties or whatever, things would have been different. No, he had a bad day because Carlos Dunlap and MJ were in his face all afternoon. The D turned Rogers into just another QB and that's not easy to do. Huge props.

Obviously the O has to find an answer to the fumbling problem. They couldn't hold on to the rock against Chicago and the were dropping it all over the place yesterday. It helped that Green Bay matched them turnover-for-turnover but they aren't going to be able to count on that. It's alarming how team-wide the fumble problem is.

But it's Monday morning, the Bengals won and the Steelers got stomped again on national TV. What a great start to my week.

[ArmyBengal]

Yeah, that crap about Rodgers having an "off" day is crap.

He didn't suddenly just decide to throw 2 INT's for sh*ts and giggles.

It wasn't his own doing that led to a crappy day.

It was the Bengals defense that changed him from what he was against the Redskins to what we saw yesterday.

I heard an announcer say, "This sure isn't the Redskins defense is it ??"

Good job D !!!

[HoosierCat]

This is hilarious.

/>https://soundcloud.com/dan-hoard/newman-fumble-return-td

[COB]

This is hilarious.

/>https://soundcloud.com/dan-hoard/newman-fumble-return-td

Classic Lap there, just making random grunting and whopping noises in the background. He's awesome.

[volcom69]

I just saw a crazy stat that said in 68 snaps this year Atkins has 0 tackles. If that is correct, that is crazy. I figured he would at least have a tackle. I don't know if it's just a slow start, or if it's something to be concerned about, but man I'm hoping he figured it out. If he can't learn to beat the double team, that's not going to be good for him, but will help others I guess.

[HoosierCat]

He had 68 snaps yesterday and no tackles. For the year he has 1 tackle and 1 sack. JG was chatting about this earlier today on twitter, there are a couple things going on. One, he's getting more double-teams and offenses are using TEs to chip him inside. Second, offenses are getting the ball out faster this year to try and neutralize our pass rush. Third, according to Joe it looks like Geno isn't finishing plays, maybe because he thinks the focus on quick throws means he doesn't think he'll have a chance to make a play. That was Goodberry's theory; seems weak to me but I don't have anything better to offer.

I do think all the attention on Atkins is helping propel Dunlap and MJ to monster seasons tho.

[volcom69]

He had 68 snaps yesterday and no tackles. For the year he has 1 tackle and 1 sack. JG was chatting about this earlier today on twitter, there are a couple things going on. One, he's getting more double-teams and offenses are using TEs to chip him inside. Second, offenses are getting the ball out faster this year to try and neutralize our pass rush. Third, according to Joe it looks like Geno isn't finishing plays, maybe because he thinks the focus on quick throws means he doesn't think he'll have a chance to make a play. That was Goodberry's theory; seems weak to me but I don't have anything better to offer.

I do think all the attention on Atkins is helping propel Dunlap and MJ to monster seasons tho.

Yea sorry I meant yesterday thanks for catching my mess up lol.

[Earendil]

I just saw a crazy stat that said in 68 snaps this year Atkins has 0 tackles. If that is correct, that is crazy. I figured he would at least have a tackle. I don't know if it's just a slow start, or if it's something to be concerned about, but man I'm hoping he figured it out. If he can't learn to beat the double team, that's not going to be good for him, but will help others I guess.

I saw him getting triple teamed in the Pittsburgh game. Meanwhile Ben got leveled by Michael Johnson. So he may not be getting the stats, but I'm pretty sure he's having an impact.

[Stripes]

Atkins is doing fine. On the rare occassion he's been allowed to play with reasonable space he has made the opposing line pay for it promptly. It may not be the most exciting thing when he isn't able to compile statistics, but rest assured he is making all the difference on that d-line. Remember when Peko bowled through a single and devoured Rodgers? His pal next to him opened the door. Dunlap, MJ, and Gilberry? Same deal.

Now that he has solidified his reputation as a Bonafide Monster, teams aren't going to be inclined to leave him alone. They can go ahead and pick their poison that way if they so desire. :bengal:/>

[101Airborne]

Yup, it's a shame he won't be getting the stats he had before because of teams keying off on him, but his play sure is making the rest of the D-line look like monsters as well. Thankfully we've got the sort of talent on that line that double teaming Atkins leaves another hungry player to hit/hurry/sack/bury the QB.

[skyline]

After this game against the Packers, teams may very well start to shift their focus to some of these outside guys...