Wild Card Weekend: Ravens @ Bengals 2 Electric Boogaloo

[HoosierCat]

Meanwhile Jackson not looking good for Sunday.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/11/report-lamar-jackson-not-looking-good-for-sunday/

[membengal]

15 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

Meanwhile Jackson not looking good for Sunday.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/11/report-lamar-jackson-not-looking-good-for-sunday/

nothing about that is surprising. The idea that the ravens have been hiding a healthy jackson for the playoffs is pure fantasy. 

[ArmyBengal]

I don't care who their QB is.
The Bengals are a better all around team and if they execute, they win easily.
There was the slight overthrow of Boyd in the endzone, the slight underthrow to Chase in the endzone and another drop in the endzone if I recall.
I don't think last Sunday's score indicated how solid a game that was for the Bengals and how much worse it could have been.
Burrow and company don't usually miss those throws and catches.

If there is a concern I may have headed into this game, it's the right side of the o-line holding up.
However, like I said previously, I'm more comfortable with these backups, than the starters from last year.

[ArmyBengal]

No Tua for the Dolphins.
They will be starting Skylar Thompson again.
UGH !!

[Stripes]

Appears Tee Higgins isn’t practicing today. Hopefully his hip doesn’t become an issue.

[AMPHAR]

Huntley isn't throwing during today's Raven practice.    I just hope the defense doesn't sleep on this group of QBs this week.   

 

[Stripes]

Brown almost put up 300 yards. He made mistakes, but he might provide higher variance outcomes for the Ravens offense than Huntley (higher ceiling/lower floor). A lot of people on the Ravens boards want Brown again if it isn’t Jackson.

[Stripes]

Good news for Tee.

[ArmyBengal]

Once the Bengals got up on the Ravens Sunday, they weren't trying to do anything special by all accounts.
They went pretty bland with their play calling and didn't want to give anything away.
Seeing as how this isn't the same team from week 5, I don't disagree with that approach.

[AMPHAR]

If Brown is the starter,  I just hope the Defense doesn't sleep on him.   Brown could have thrown 10 picks in the game, very inaccurate.    

Brown's 2nd half numbers are at odds with Lou's reputation of 2nd half adjustments.  Mahomes gets shut down in 2nd halves?   I assume it was vanilla.   

I don't like the repeat match up out of fear of over confidence.   I think this team will bring the attitude to prove they are top dog in the AFC.

 

 

[HoosierCat]

Better late than never I suppose…

Quote

The Bengals today cleared S Tycen Anderson to return to practice by designating him for return from the Reserve/Injured list.

Anderson, a rookie out of the University of Toledo, has been on the Reserve/Injured list since Sept. 2 with a hamstring injury. Today starts a 21-day period during which he may practice with the team without counting against the 53-player active roster. He is eligible to be activated to the roster at any time during that period.

https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-roster-moves-tycen-anderson-return-to-practice

[membengal]

 

[AMPHAR]

Joe has requested a crazy atmosphere from the fans this Sunday.  

[HoosierCat]

No Lamar again, but Huntley back at practice and throwing.

[Stripes]

The line keeps scooting pro-Bengals (-9.5 or -10 now mostly) and the Ravens QB news worsens.

[AMPHAR]

Just need to avoid big heads and bring the A game.   There's no shame in the Bengals covering a huge spread.

 

[HoosierCat]

Higgins back full today. CTB limited (groin).

https://www.wlwt.com/amp/article/bengals-ravens-injury-reports-afc-wild-card-matchup/42478014

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Prob a good week to rest CTB if they need to.  Let him rest for the next game (assuming they win).  But it is the playoffs so who knows.

I guess Dobbins' back, assume the plan would be to do a lot of run/pass blitzing on an inexperienced QB and stop the running game,  make them beat you with the QB's arm generally speaking.  I don't see LJ playing (believe he said he was out yesterday?)

 

 

[membengal]

Jackson 100% said he cannot play this weekend. He's out.

[Stripes]

 

[membengal]

Confirmation officially

 

[HoosierCat]

Huntley went full today, officially questionable for Sunday. I expect he will start.

[COB]

I’d rather see Huntley than the other guy.  Huntley’s arm is horrible.

[Stripes]

I might agree, though I'm not certain. Anthony Brown's performance last week was very high-variance, in that he committed some bad turnovers and struggled to complete passes -- but he was also able to push the ball down the field (280 yards on 19 completions). I think their ranges of outcomes in terms of points scored look roughly like this (just educated guesses):

Brown --> 6 to 24
Huntley --> 13 to 21

Let's score in the upper 20s and make sure it doesn't matter.

[Stripes]

Between Lamar Jackson informing the world himself on Twitter that he isn't good to go, Sammy Watkins lamenting the mindset of his quarterback ( https://twitter.com/RussellStReport/status/1613966212341309441?s=20&t=Atth0T1bqGSZ09o0c1rUyA ), and John Harbaugh treating it all like the most irrelevant stuff on Earth ( https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1613960619182407681 ), it seems pretty evident that this nonsense is going to infect that organization the whole offseason. That's even true if Jackson legitimately wants to play in this game but can't.