Patriots @ Bengals game thread

[volcom69]

Now if the defense can continue to play at that level every week, and the offense catch up I will feel really good.

Hopefully this win takes this team and puts confidence in them, unlike last week where they won a huge game, and then forgot to show up. This team needs consistancy and hope it starts now

[Earendil]

Now if the defense can continue to play at that level every week, and the offense catch up I will feel really good.

Hopefully this win takes this team and puts confidence in them, unlike last week where they one a huge game, and then forgot to show up. This team needs consistancy and hope it starts now

A lack of consistency is 100% on the coaching staff.

[HoosierCat]

If only we had drafted Blaine Gabbert instead of Dalton.

Lolololololololololololol

[volcom69]

Anybody else feel like they should sign Josh Cribbs, who is now ready to play, and cut Tate. I really think somebody like Cribbs could help this team with field postion

[skyline]

That INT might have been the single worst decision of his career so far though, it doesn't get much lower than that.

I beg to differ:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/miami-dolphins/0ap2000000257166/Dolphins-intercept-Flacco-and-return-for-a-touchdown

[ArmyBengal]

Yeah, I made the comment about the defense not hurting as much with MJ out as Nelson and today proved that.

It's not this is the first time Gilberry has had an impact on a game either. Nice option to have right there.

I would have zero problem with Cribbs and Taint being shown the way out.

I'm lucky to be 50/50 on my calls on certain players coming out for the draft, but I thought Gabbert was an easy future bust call.

There was simply nothing about his game that stood out. He was bland then and he's no better now.

Want to talk about ugly games ?? How about Palmer and Newton throwing a combined 6 INT's today ??

For as much sh*t as I gave Dalton last week, I still wouldn't take either of them over him at this point.

[volcom69]

That was actually Daltons first redzone INT, so he has taken care of the ball down there pretty good. Hope it continues!

[Sea Ray]

Dalton was fine today for the most part. That INT might have been the single worst decision of his career so far though, it doesn't get much lower than that. In any event, he wasn't a turnover machine today and he was mostly accurate. I agree that the throw to Marvin Jones was extremely important and probably helped instill some confidence in the man.

How about Wallace Gilberry? No MJ? No problem. If he can keep this up then MJ's replacement this offseason might not just automatically be Margus Hunt (who also did a pretty good job).

Looking at the replay, he had an easy completion to a guy at the 5, right on the sideline. It would have been a mucher easier pass. Aside from throwing it away, it's amazing that he chose the across his body throw rather than taking the easy yds

[Sea Ray]

Now if the defense can continue to play at that level every week, and the offense catch up I will feel really good.

Hopefully this win takes this team and puts confidence in them, unlike last week where they one a huge game, and then forgot to show up. This team needs consistancy and hope it starts now

A lack of consistency is 100% on the coaching staff.

I don't know if it's coaching or just dumb players.

I'm thrilled with the win today and all teams make errors but do you realize that we had 4 blatant mistakes where we were almost trying to hand victory to the Pats after we'd outplayed them so?

Consider:

1) Peko starts about 2 secs too soon on 2nd and goal from the half yardline. Such a mistake is often times a drive killer

2) We're dominating the line of scrimmage and doing serious damage to the clock and the only thing that can rerail us is a fumble and that's exactly what Gio does

3) It's 4th down and the Pats are through unless they get a first. It's raining like a monsoon. Brady can't grip the ball well enough to even throw it ten yds, let alone get a first and Crocker is blatantly off sides. How does that happen?

4) Once again, the rain is making it nearly impossible to complete a pass and we rough Brady

NE didn't make any of those kinds of errors yet still lost by a TD. Dalton and his issues aside, do you realize how good we'd be if not for dumb play?

[volcom69]

Now if the defense can continue to play at that level every week, and the offense catch up I will feel really good.

Hopefully this win takes this team and puts confidence in them, unlike last week where they one a huge game, and then forgot to show up. This team needs consistancy and hope it starts now

A lack of consistency is 100% on the coaching staff.

I don't know if it's coaching or just dumb players.

I'm thrilled with the win today and all teams make errors but do you realize that we had 4 blatant mistakes where we were almost trying to hand victory to the Pats after we'd outplayed them so?

Consider:

1) Peko starts about 2 secs too soon on 2nd and goal from the half yardline. Such a mistake is often times a drive killer

2) We're dominating the line of scrimmage and doing serious damage to the clock and the only thing that can rerail us is a fumble and that's exactly what Gio does

3) It's 4th down and the Pats are through unless they get a first. It's raining like a monsoon. Brady can't grip the ball well enough to even throw it ten yds, let alone get a first and Crocker is blatantly off sides. How does that happen?

4) Once again, the rain is making it nearly impossible to complete a pass and we rough Brady

NE didn't make any of those kinds of errors yet still lost by a TD. Dalton and his issues aside, do you realize how good we'd be if not for dumb play?

I agree this team could be really good, if they could stop beating themselves up. They need to take care of the ball much better, but it seems we are talking about this every week. Like ive been saying I just hope the offense gets caught up this year to the defense, that will make this team really hard to beat. Sounds to me like the bengals are really trying to get back to the 09 style of offense, or at least that how it sounds when Marvin talks.

[Scottishbengal]

I agree this team could be really good, if they could stop beating themselves up. They need to take care of the ball much better,

I'm not sure what the turnover ratio is but it may be a misconception that we're coughing the ball up more than the other teams - ie, Packers game 4 takeaways + 4 turnovers created, Patriots 1 INT given + 1 INT taken.

I'm not saying that we don't need to take care of the ball, of course we do, and of course any improvement in the turnovers department would be a great benefit, I'm just wondering how we stack up League-wise in terms of turnovers +/-

[GapControl]

Amazing defensive effort. Great win.

With NFL Game Pass I have the advantage to go back and look at each individual play in slow motion. Few things to note on the offense:

1. Probably BJGE best game as a Bengal.

2. Dalton moved the team against a very stubborn Pat defense. His scrambling extended drives.

3. The quick snap play on 3-15 where Dalton was throwing from his own endzone after a blown pass blocking sack by Zeitler put him there, was the play of the game. Marvin Jones beat single coverage on the outside giving a 28 yard gain when the score was still 6-3 Bengals. The throw by Dalton was championship calibre.

4. Jermaine Gresham is pass blocking and run blocking at an All-Pro level.

5. Gruden`s offense is much more effective when running the ball well. It sets up all his little Ohio River dink and dunk plays to the TEs and RBs.

6. Bengals cannot effectively block when running to the left. I think everyone knows that. One of the only plays to the left with decent yardage resulted in a Benard fumble. Unlucky. Just like the helmet hit which caused Sanus fumble in Chicago. Boling is the weak link in the offensive line. Every team knows it and game plans for it. Watch the games. You will see it, too. Whit doesn`t run block well, either.

7. Dalton proved that he can quarterback in the NFL in this game. His idiotic attempt at Tyler Eifert in the redzone shows that he and this offense are young and developing. Dalton seems that he will always have trouble throwing an accurate deep ball on fly or go patterns. Its ok. Montana couldn`t really do it consistently, either.

[princeton]

amazing, resilient defense

offense was constantly handed bad field position by the return teams, but did a terrific job of getting out of it.

touchdown was a gutsy call

Tom Brady looks depressed.

[ArmyBengal]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

[HoosierCat]

I agree this team could be really good, if they could stop beating themselves up. They need to take care of the ball much better,

I'm not sure what the turnover ratio is but it may be a misconception that we're coughing the ball up more than the other teams - ie, Packers game 4 takeaways + 4 turnovers created, Patriots 1 INT given + 1 INT taken.

I'm not saying that we don't need to take care of the ball, of course we do, and of course any improvement in the turnovers department would be a great benefit, I'm just wondering how we stack up League-wise in terms of turnovers +/-

According to profootball-reference.com the Bengals were 14th in the league in turnovers lost going into yesterday's game. So they are closer to average than anything else, but still it's not a stat you want to be in the top half of the league in.

After yesterday I think they are at 10 fumbles (not all lost) and 5 picks in five games. That has to be cleaned up.

@GapControl: great observations, thanks. I think I'm going to have to spring for game rewind.

[volcom69]

Amazing defensive effort. Great win.

With NFL Game Pass I have the advantage to go back and look at each individual play in slow motion. Few things to note on the offense:

1. Probably BJGE best game as a Bengal.

2. Dalton moved the team against a very stubborn Pat defense. His scrambling extended drives.

3. The quick snap play on 3-15 where Dalton was throwing from his own endzone after a blown pass blocking sack by Zeitler put him there, was the play of the game. Marvin Jones beat single coverage on the outside giving a 28 yard gain when the score was still 6-3 Bengals. The throw by Dalton was championship calibre.

4. Jermaine Gresham is pass blocking and run blocking at an All-Pro level.

5. Gruden`s offense is much more effective when running the ball well. It sets up all his little Ohio River dink and dunk plays to the TEs and RBs.

6. Bengals cannot effectively block when running to the left. I think everyone knows that. One of the only plays to the left with decent yardage resulted in a Benard fumble. Unlucky. Just like the helmet hit which caused Sanus fumble in Chicago. Boling is the weak link in the offensive line. Every team knows it and game plans for it. Watch the games. You will see it, too. Whit doesn`t run block well, either.

7. Dalton proved that he can quarterback in the NFL in this game. His idiotic attempt at Tyler Eifert in the redzone shows that he and this offense are young and developing. Dalton seems that he will always have trouble throwing an accurate deep ball on fly or go patterns. Its ok. Montana couldn`t really do it consistently, either.

I love how you mentioned Dalton running with the ball, I have been saying I want to see it more. He did it a lot at TCU, and when in trouble or can't somebody then run.

Nice write up here, and agree with all.

[TJJackson]

Game ball to the rain in the final 2-3 minutes

Thank you mother nature!

[ArmyBengal]

Yeah, whoever was praying for rain, they sure as heck got it and at just the right time.

Watching it come down in buckets like that was just crazy. The players couldn't do much of anything.

[Sea Ray]

6. Bengals cannot effectively block when running to the left. I think everyone knows that. One of the only plays to the left with decent yardage resulted in a Benard fumble. Unlucky. Just like the helmet hit which caused Sanus fumble in Chicago. Boling is the weak link in the offensive line. Every team knows it and game plans for it. Watch the games. You will see it, too. Whit doesn`t run block well, either.

7. Dalton proved that he can quarterback in the NFL in this game. His idiotic attempt at Tyler Eifert in the redzone shows that he and this offense are young and developing. Dalton seems that he will always have trouble throwing an accurate deep ball on fly or go patterns. Its ok. Montana couldn`t really do it consistently, either.

Boling was key on the 4th and goal TD run. He pulled and led the way through that right side with Peko right behind him. As for Whit, the sites that evaluate that kind of stuff showed Whit (prior to this game) as being a very good run blocker; a huge upgrade over Collins in that dept. Our run game did pick up after Whit came back

[Sea Ray]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

With that in mind, did you notice that the Pats had no penalties? They played nearly mistake free on the road. They lost because we dominated the LOS on both sides but they won the battle of mistakes and that's why it was so close

[HoosierCat]

Boling was key on the 4th and goal TD run. He pulled and led the way through that right side with Peko right behind him. As for Whit, the sites that evaluate that kind of stuff showed Whit (prior to this game) as being a very good run blocker; a huge upgrade over Collins in that dept. Our run game did pick up after Whit came back

The Bengals haven't had great success running to the left for a couple years now. That hasn't changed a lot this season per FO's figures. The right side of the line isn't doing so hot this year either.

/>http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

I did find it noteworthy that coming into yesterday's game they were No. 1 rushing up the middle.

[ArmyBengal]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

With that in mind, did you notice that the Pats had no penalties? They played nearly mistake free on the road. They lost because we dominated the LOS on both sides but they won the battle of mistakes and that's why it was so close

I did notice the zero penalties from the Pats. Did you see how many the Bengals had the yards involved ??

They need to clean that up as well.

[Earendil]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

With that in mind, did you notice that the Pats had no penalties? They played nearly mistake free on the road. They lost because we dominated the LOS on both sides but they won the battle of mistakes and that's why it was so close

That's because Belicheck's camera team has dirt on every ref in the league, so they don't get called for many penalties. /conspiracy

[kingwilly]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

Gio fumble was right when it started raining hard. Looked like the ball slipped out from water, hit wasn't super hard.

[ArmyBengal]

The poor timing with penalties is brutal and was no different than in the Chicago game with Kirkpatrick and Maualuga.

That being said, this week they overcame the stupidity. I would rather that not be the case, but I will take the win over the Pats any day.

Gio's fumble was simply a well placed hat on the ball. He had it tucked away and wasn't being reckless with it by any stretch.

Same thing when Dunlap forced that fumble. Well placed punch landing right where it was supposed to. It happens.

Dalton's INT was his first redzone INT of his career, but good God almighty.

If that wasn't the worst throw of his professional career, I don't know.

Gio fumble was right when it started raining hard. Looked like the ball slipped out from water, hit wasn't super hard.

I'm sure the rain didn't help matters, but the point I was attempting to make was that I don't really blame Gio for that fumble.

It was just a nice tackle, where the defenders helmet happened to hit squarely on the ball, forcing it out.