Bengals @ Patriots Game Thread

[cincyhokie]

WARNING: This post will sent princeton, volcom, hokie and TJ running screaming into the hills.

Bengals are 1-point favorites this week on the road against the Pats.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[skyline]

This is the NFL so who knows.

Remember how the Titans manhandled KC in week 1?

I'm nervous this week just like I always am.

[Earendil]

This is the NFL so who knows.

Remember how the Titans manhandled KC in week 1?

I'm nervous this week just like I always am.

This has definitely been a strange season so far.

[ArmyBengal]

Game plan, focus, execute.

If it helps, substitute or throw "kick the shit out of them" in there somewhere.

[TJJackson]

STOMP

ON

THE

NECK

[HoosierCat]

Grantland breakdown here:

/>http://grantland.com/the-triangle/new-england-patriots-kanas-city-chiefs-tom-brady/

tl;dr - Too early to say that Brady is done but the rest of the Pats offense is a dumpster fire.

[gregcook68]

Grantland breakdown here:

/>http://grantland.com/the-triangle/new-england-patriots-kanas-city-chiefs-tom-brady/

tl;dr - Too early to say that Brady is done but the rest of the Pats offense is a dumpster fire.

The more I think about the first 4 Pats games and the Bengals first 3, I think Army said it best and I agree. The ONLY way I see them losing is if they can't get over the primetime past,and wilt under the pressure with turnovers and stupid penalties.

If they don't wilt and play predominantly error free football, with Hue and Paul doing their thing, regardless of the Pats heart and determination, they just don't have the horses to out play the Bengals.

The only reason I say that is because of how the Pats have played the first 4 games, not just Monday night.

[HoosierCat]

Bengals still leading in the Super Bowl odds on FO...

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

Bonus: now at a 0.2% chance of 16-0!

[GapControl]

Quick Check in.... Been crazily busy over here in Japan... Key players so far who haven't received enough credit for our dominating start -George "I like a Iloka". Just really solid S play that we have needed since the eighties basically. Reggie Nelson as well. Clint Boling has been effective in the run game. That's very very surprising. Visible has outplayed Kyle Cook. Thank god. Rey M. has swarmed to the ball. Made one whiff that everyone remembers but otherwise has played greatly. Adam Jones... Remember the risk he was when picked up? He has helped make this defense one of the stingiest in the league, not only as a pass defender but also as a tackler.

[COB]

Hi GC. Japan? I wondered where you were. I hope you can catch the games over there, this would be a bad season to have to miss.

[GapControl]

COB , I have NFL Gamepass. It's awesome. Can watch live or on delay without commercials. The 1:00 pm games come on at 2 am Monday mornings so I catch them my Monday evenings. Been great so far this season. So glad Gruden is gone.

[GapControl]

A guy I meant to write about but failed to earlier, Gresham. He has been crucial in our running game. It is a totally selfless act by him. As Lewis would say, he is carrying his lunch pail to work everyday. Jermaine has saved us from the loss of Alex Smith while being enough of a worry in the passing game to make defenses account for him thereby helping to replace the injured Tyler Eifert. He deserves credit for this winning streak.

[HoosierCat]

Good points all around Gap, especially about Iloka and Gresham. I read a note somewhere, might have been Josh, that he's basically taken over as FS, playing only 2 snaps within 10 yards of the LoS. That's freed up Nelson to play close in and blitz more.

[ArmyBengal]

Hard to be upset with anything we've seen from Iloka.

Nice to see him really come on and take that position.

Same thing with Boling. He's taken a lot of grief, but I liked him coming out of Georgia and happy for him coming back from injury.

Not much talk about Bodine. I think that's a good thing though, because whenever you hear an interior lineman get mentioned, it's usually not for something positive. It looks like they got that call right in trading up for him at this point. If you would have told me after the draft that we were going to start a rookie 4th round center and Dalton wouldn't get sacked a single time through the first 3 games, I would have bet the ranch you were crazy.

[Scottishbengal]

COB , I have NFL Gamepass. It's awesome.

Gotta agree - much better streaming than from other "sources" no freezing, crisp picture, good sound, commentary in English .... well worth the £80 ($130) for the season

[volcom69]

COB , I have NFL Gamepass. It's awesome. Can watch live or on delay without commercials. The 1:00 pm games come on at 2 am Monday mornings so I catch them my Monday evenings. Been great so far this season. So glad Gruden is gone.

It's my first year with NFL game pass and I love it. I got it just for the bengals and paid like 30 dollars for it, well worth it. I also have the package where I can listen to games on game day.

[HoosierCat]

Not much talk about Bodine. I think that's a good thing though, because whenever you hear an interior lineman get mentioned, it's usually not for something positive. It looks like they got that call right in trading up for him at this point. If you would have told me after the draft that we were going to start a rookie 4th round center and Dalton wouldn't get sacked a single time through the first 3 games, I would have bet the ranch you were crazy.

On that note I was listening to M&M this morning on the way in to work and they were talking about how the Pats had tossed rookie C Bryan Stork out there Monday night because of all the woes on the oline, and how he was hampered by new CBA rules that limit practices and an injury during preseason. Contrast that with Bodine. Love him or hate him, the Bengals made nothing but vague media nods to competition at the spot. From day of minicamps he was taking all the snaps at center. I wonder how he will hold up over the course of the year, it's a long season, but right now he is justifying their faith.

[ArmyBengal]

Agree that most rookies seem to hit a wall further in the season. I recall Zeitler and a few others actually commenting on it.

The difficulty in going from a 10 game season in college to a 16 game regular season has to be pretty steep in regards to conditioning.

The thing I like is that I don't view that as a big worry considering Pollak can always come in to give a break if the team feels it's warranted.

Bottomline though is that Bodine has done very well to this point in time and I think he will continue to improve.

Hope he holds up as well.

[COB]

Bellisleaze has been promoting that narrative since last week - ie the new CBA limits our practice so much it is like we are still in preseason. An excuse.

They are victims of two things - 1. Bellicheck has a giant ego, and at times I think he almost goes out of his way to get rid of players. Its kind of like he wants to show everyone he can do it without this guy or that guy. 2. The incredible run they've had since 2000 when Brady showed up has absolutely destroyed their ability to draft. They consistently pick very near the bottom of the 1st and 2nd - for 14 years. They lack talent, and their normal compensatory move of getting quality vets on the cheap who are looking for a ring, well, that move is not working any more. Their roster sucks.

They'd have been a lot better off if every third year or so they sucked. They could then get a top five pick and a 33-38 pick every third year. See Cincinnati Bengals, 2008 and 2010.

[HoosierCat]

I thought Trent Dilfer had an interesting comment during the pregame show Monday night. He had an animated exchange with Steve Young about how there are always a handful of guys like him (Young) who come in and are naturals at the job, and then the rest of the QBs like him (Dilfer) who are just grinding to stay the starter. And that when a team gets one of those elite guys, they tend to take more chances -- whether its letting a key guy go in free agency or taking risks in the draft or trading picks or whatever -- because they think, "well, even if we make a mistake, our elite QB will save us."

But eventually those chances you take can catch up with you, and that may be the situation the Pats are in now. They went to the "Brady well" one too many times. Now the bucket is coming up empty.

[HoosierCat]

:lmao:

/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/01/bill-belichick-says-patriots-are-on-to-cincinnati-repeatedly/

Q: Your team has been successful for so long. How difficult is it to adjust to the adversity of Monday night’s game and get back on track? This team and organization hasn’t had these sort of issues in the past.

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: You mentioned Tom Brady’s age at the draft –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think having a 37-year old –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati. It’s nothing about the past, nothing about the future. Right now we’re preparing for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think the talent you have here is good?

BB: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think you’ve done enough to help Tom Brady?

Belichick: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati. That’s what we’re doing.

[ArmyBengal]

Wow. I guess they are getting ready for Cincinnati then huh ??

[gregcook68]

:lmao:/> :lmao:/> :lmao:/>

/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/01/bill-belichick-says-patriots-are-on-to-cincinnati-repeatedly/

Q: Your team has been successful for so long. How difficult is it to adjust to the adversity of Monday night’s game and get back on track? This team and organization hasn’t had these sort of issues in the past.

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: You mentioned Tom Brady’s age at the draft –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think having a 37-year old –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati. It’s nothing about the past, nothing about the future. Right now we’re preparing for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think the talent you have here is good?

BB: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think you’ve done enough to help Tom Brady?

Belichick: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati. That’s what we’re doing.

He makes Marvin's press conferences look exhilarating!

[COB]

:lmao:/> :lmao:/> :lmao:/>

/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/01/bill-belichick-says-patriots-are-on-to-cincinnati-repeatedly/

Q: Your team has been successful for so long. How difficult is it to adjust to the adversity of Monday night’s game and get back on track? This team and organization hasn’t had these sort of issues in the past.

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: You mentioned Tom Brady’s age at the draft –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think having a 37-year old –

Belichick: We’re on to Cincinnati. It’s nothing about the past, nothing about the future. Right now we’re preparing for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think the talent you have here is good?

BB: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati.

Q: Do you think you’ve done enough to help Tom Brady?

Belichick: We’re getting ready for Cincinnati. That’s what we’re doing.

I hate that cheater, but I respect the way he's handling this. He's not taking it personally, getting angry, etc. He's just go this mantra and he's sticking with it. He answers the questions he wishes they had asked, not the ones that actually get asked. Pretty good way to stay focused.

[HoosierCat]

So I was getting depressed thumbing through twitter at lunch. Bengaldom this week seems filled with a bunch of quaking, knee-knocking chickensh*ts who can't quit wailing over this, that or some other stat/trend/nugget about how the Great 'n' Powerful Pats are going to win because they are the Great 'n' Powerful Pats and we're not. I swear I'm about thisclose to swearing off the internet for the rest of the week.

Anyhow, I spent a little time looking at Brady's and the Pats' numbers and found a couple things I thought were interesting. One is just looking at Brady's topline stats for the last few years.

/>http://www.nfl.com/player/tombrady/2504211/profile

Whether because of the team around him or his own skills diminishing or both, Brady has been on a steady downward track since 2011. His completion percentage, average yards, TDs and QB rating have all fallen steadily since 2011 (and all but average yards since 2010). If you go through the game logs, in 2011 he had 4 games with a rating under 100. In 2012 he had 6. Last year he had 12. This year he's had 3 so far. That isn't to say he can't recover and have a good game on any given Sunday, but the long-term trend line is clear. As long as our defense doesn't completely forget how to play that shouldn't change Sunday night.

That led me to a second thought. OK, if Brady is slipping, how were they blowing out teams at the end of last year? Their last three wins in 2013 were against the Ravens, Bill and, in the playoffs, Colts. They outscored those teams a combined 118-49, but in all three Brady threw for only 458 yards, 2 TDs and 1 pick. NE's defense did play a role, but the real weapon was a guy playing in Pittsburgh now, Legarette Blount. The Pats averaged almost rushing 215 yards in those three games and Blount's individual numbers were stupid: 439 yards combined. Then they played Denver, Denver stopped the run, and that was that.

So far this season NE has only gotten more than 100 yards rushing once, against Minnesota. And so, crazy as it sounds, that seems to be the new key to winning against the Patriots: stop the run and dare Tom Brady to beat you. So far for him, that's been a tall order.