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Bengals @ Dolphins Pregame


Scottishbengal

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I'm looking forward so much to watching our Bengals on a national broadcast tonight. Especially with the way they're playing. Work and other duties have me so busy I'm not able to make a big deal out of it, but I would have loved to have put together a little party for this game, hoping lots of other Bengals fans are doing so.

Dolphins seem down both mentally and physically. We should take advantage and administer an atomic wedgie on national tv. Really hoping for Williams and Kirkpatrick to show well. Also, however they deal with middle linebacker, hope that guy or collection of guys can deal. Surely Dolphins O will try to isolate middle linebacker in coverage on TEs and RBs. Pressure, baby!

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It sounds like Miami is on the verge of a full-scale meltdown.

Offensive tackle Jonathan Martin has left the team to seek treatment for emotional issues and is expected to miss Thursday’s game against the Bengals, multiple sources have told the Miami Herald.

But that’s just the start of the Dolphins’ problems. There appears to be growing division within the team’s locker room, with teammates harboring resentments. Furthermore, coach Joe Philbin in recent days berated a fellow coach in front of his players, according to a league source.

And this all comes on the heels of Mike Pouncey being served a grand jury subpoena in connection to the Aaron Hernandez case in the bowels of Gillette Stadium on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

One league source plugged into the organization characterized the past few days in Davie as a state of “shambles.”

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I'm looking forward so much to watching our Bengals on a national broadcast tonight. Especially with the way they're playing. Work and other duties have me so busy I'm not able to make a big deal out of it, but I would have loved to have put together a little party for this game, hoping lots of other Bengals fans are doing so.

Dolphins seem down both mentally and physically. We should take advantage and administer an atomic wedgie on national tv. Really hoping for Williams and Kirkpatrick to show well. Also, however they deal with middle linebacker, hope that guy or collection of guys can deal. Surely Dolphins O will try to isolate middle linebacker in coverage on TEs and RBs. Pressure, baby!

Stupid Halloween. I'm not gonna be able to start the game until after 10 probably. Looks like a long night...

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I'm feeling a bit edgey about this game, short week and an away fixture, injuries, and I don't think the 'Phins should be underestimated - they did well against the Pats for almost 3 quarters.

Hopefully we can build a good lead on them, but if we are trailing then I hope we can still be in touch with them come the final quarter - and get them to implode again.

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Dolphins sound like a dumpster fire-in-waiting. Brutal beat down by the Bengals could be the match that ignites the whole dysfunctional mess. I'm thankful we have coaches and players who provide steady leadership and we avoid this kind of season-killing disharmony.

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It has all the markers of a trap game but again, I'm not getting that vibe off the team right now. They seem pretty focused.

What I don't like is the matchup of our defense versus the Miami running game. The d-line hasn't been anything special stopping the run, it's been good play by the guys behind them, and we just lost two cogs there in Mays and Maualuga. With Leon gone, Boley also iffy and the load getting shifted to PS guys and rooks, I see potential for getting gashed on the ground.

I think the Bengals win, but I don't expect it to be easy.

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More gossip on the looming (ongoing?) meltdown in Miami.

How has this Dolphins season, only seven games old, already been something of an embarrassment?

Consider:

We start with Mike Pouncey pictured wearing a cap requesting the release of suspected murderer Aaron Hernandez. The picture hits the Internet and causes a public outrage. When Pouncey wants to apologize for photo to quell the public indignation, as his brother Maurkice immediately did on the advice of his team the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Dolphins forbid the center from saying anything. They apparently think saying nothing will make those offended feel better.

They also forbid Pouncey from saying anything after is subpoenaed to testify in front of a Grand Jury in relation to the Hernandez trial. Glad to see the team learned a lesson. Not really.

Right tackle Jonathan Martin on Monday then goes AWOL from the team when he gets upset over a lunchroom prank by teammates. He hasn't been around for three days. But the Dolphins, who refuse to acknowlege the national story, list Martin as doubtful for tonight's game against Cincinnati.

Defensive tackle Randy Starks, upset he is demoted from his starting job after going to the Pro Bowl last year, celebrates a sack by shooting his bench a one-fingered salute. The player denies it publicly, but the gesture was aimed at the coaching staff.

It took receiver Mike Wallace one game to show his unhappiness with the Dolphins game plan when he wasn't targetted at all in the first half of the season opener and only five times all game. Wallace, by the way, has toned down his distaste for how he's being used publicly but not so much privately.

Other players are also questioning the approach of offensive coordinator Mike Sherman. Guard Richie Incognito is unhappy Sherman stopped calling running plays in the second half of the New England loss and has been public about the Dolphins abandoning that which was working.

"I think we should just keep running the football 30, 40 times a game," Incognito says. "That's our blueprint for success. We have to run the football for four quarters."

The dislike for Sherman's play-calling can be found throughout the Dolphins organization. One high-ranking person within the team is dumbfounded by Sherman's approach in some situations, saying the coach misses "101 stuff" -- meaning fundamental things.

Coach Joe Philbin's relationship with the media has grown tense and, earlier this week, even combative. It wasn't that way last year even during a 7-9 season. The difference this year is the increased influence of Executive Vice President of Football Administration Dawn Aponte, a member of the New York State bar and a Bill Parcells disciple. Aponte, originally hired to manage the salary cap underJeff Ireland, got from under the general manager's umbrella when the two clashed. She has become a close Philbin ally.

Aponte shadows Philbin during television interviews, radio interviews and press conferences. During one recent taping of Philbin's coaches' show, she stopped the taping to straighten the coach's tie.

The second-year coach meets with Aponte before every press conference and accepts advice on what to say to the media. Can you ever imagine Don Shula doing this? Aponte's typical advice is for Philbin to say as little as possible even though the mission statement from team owner Stephen Ross, Philbin's and Aponte's boss, was to have the Dolphins become a more transparent and fan-friendly organization after the Parcells departure.

Bottom line?

The Dolphins are trying to be just as insulated since the Parcells departure as before because Aponte believes in the approach. Except these Dolphins should probably concentrate more on improving their play than they do at honing their message. Except neither Aponte nor Philbin have any of Bill Parcells' credibility for winning anything, much less multiple Super Bowls.

And it doesn't look like that will change this season.

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Got a bad feeling about this one. Really should win, but we all know the Bengals history with games we should win! Working tonight so am going to have to try and avoid seeing the score and watch tomorrow morning. Have a great night, fingers crossed for another tough away win :cheers:

Jon

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Seems like a win to me. Team on a roll, won their last 4, faces a team imploding, lost their last 4. Depth guys on D could change it, but we should win this game definitively. I named our new water softener in our basement after Geno Atkins. He's a stud, and so is that water softener.

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