Week 4: Bengals @ Titans Game Thread

[HoosierCat]

Oilers week again...this one feels like a coin flip to me. Titans have no offense but a decent defense, which could also be said of Cincy right now. I'll say the Bengals gut out another close win and get to .500. 

[AMPHAR]

Key to the game is the OL.  Titans have o-line issues.   13 sacks, 19 Tackles for loss, 25 QB Hits through 3 games.      The Bengals line going up against a tough front 7 will need to out perform the Titans OL going up against the Bengals front 7.

If that can happen there might be some opportunities to throw for some passing yards. 

[ArmyBengal]

I'm hoping for a win and getting this team back to .500.  That would feel pretty big in getting this win on the road as well.

If the concern is with the Titans' front 7, maybe see some jumbo packages in there to help that concern.
I just feel like a win here for some reason or another.  I think the team has to be more relaxed in getting the win last night as well.

[HoosierCat]

Roster shuffle ongoing in Tennessee:

Quote

The Tennessee Titans announced five roster moves on Tuesday, one of which included the promotion of offensive lineman Justin Murray from the practice squad to the active roster.

Murray, who has experience playing guard and tackle, was with the Titans during the offseason but didn’t make the team after final cuts. After being released, Murray was brought back on the practice squad and has been elevated twice this year.

Placed on IR: RB Julius Chestnut, S Mike Brown

Chestnut suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of Week 3 and had to be helped off the field. He was ruled out immediately, which was a sign the injury might be serious. He’ll miss at least the next four games and leaves Tennessee with just two running backs on its active roster.

Brown was a standout during the offseason before making the 53-man roster out of training camp. It isn’t clear what injury he’s dealing with but he’ll miss the next four games, at least. Tennessee signed safety Dane Cruikshank to the practice squad on Monday, so he’s a candidate to be promoted to take Brown’s spot.

Signed to practice squad: LB Otis Reese, WR Shi Smith

A 2021 sixth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers, Smith has 28 catches for 400 yards and two touchdowns over 23 games. He also has experience as a returner, with 23 career punt returns at 6.2 yards per, and one kickoff return.

https://titanswire.usatoday.com/lists/titans-roster-moves-justin-murray-shi-smith/

They also worked out a bunch of receivers Tuesday:

https://titanswire.usatoday.com/lists/titans-workouts-four-receivers-tuesday/

[HoosierCat]

Smith (hammy) and Jones (thumb) day to day. Burrow full but it was just a walkthrough today.

[volcom69]

I’m happy to hear Burrow and the coaches realize they have a problem on offense, and not just Burrows calf. We have been saying it now all season so far, they just seem so far off that nothing is clicking. No way in hell a team with all this talent should rank at the bottom of the offense stats. 
 

I think they did a really good thing with Chase this past week, hopefully that can keep up, but also make more changes to this offense.

[HoosierCat]

Can't have multiple false starts. Can't drop balls that hit them in the hands. Can't have the QB and the WR on different pages.

All these things are going to happen, sure, but they've been far too common so far this season. I put a lot of it on lack of reps. The offensive starters barely played in preseason, and have struggled to stay on the field now that the real deal is here. Last weekend was the first time the won TOP all year.

With that said, this is hardly a new crew. Yeah, there's always some rust to bang off, but something is in some of their heads, too, imo. Higgins dropping passes left and right isn't rust. An oline full of vets having back-to-back false starts isn't rust.

Players need to stop reading their PR and get their heads in the game. The other guys get paid too, and after the success of the last two years, the Bengals are now a target. They aren't going to surprise anyone or catch the other team sleeping. Every opponent is going to be up for the game.

Finally: they need better out of Taylor and Callahan. Can't take the first half to figure out asses from elbows anymore. We need production out of the gate.

/rant

[AMPHAR]

Game 1 - offense was lost playing what is the league's best Defense in a rain storm.  With a hurt QB.

Game 2 - decent not great offense performance.  Defense really couldn't get off the field.  Punt return and redzone Int stunted their out put stats.

Game 3 - another lost showing.   Execution errors.  Really left points out on the field.   Given 2 TOs and several other defensive stops they should have approached 25+ points.

This week the OL has to keep the Titans rush in neutral.   There should be opportunity to throw the ball, so hopefully the QB/WR mental errors are corrected.

 

[ArmyBengal]

I'm suspecting our defense will have another above average game against the Titan offense.
I expect multiple sacks and a turnover or two.  Their offense just isn't as solid as it was even a couple seasons ago.

The Titans defensive strength is in their front 7, but the secondary isn't something I think will hold up against our WR's.
That is if the offense can perform like it did in the 2nd half of the Rams game.  Move guys around, getting the running game going, and play action.

I don't know why this feels like a win to me, but it does.  I think this team is far from peak performance, but the 2nd half Monday was nice to see.

[Stripes]

I think the Bengals "should" win and will expect as much. I'm with Army in that the most promising factor might be that the Titans offense is so ripe for exploitation. Tannehill has been worse than ever so far this season, and I think the defense can prevent Henry from just devouring the game (at the least, he hasn't done so in any of the last three matchups).

Frankly the two teams are nearly clones so far. Burrow needs to take another step forward. Otherwise it's liable to be a 10-9 kind of game.

[HoosierCat]

Burrow full go again 

https://www.threads.net/@bbaby41/post/Cxv62mAObfQ/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[ArmyBengal]

Apparently Joe has been speaking to Aaron Rodgers about his own experiences with calf injuries and Rodgers had some good thoughts for him as well.

Whatever helps him get back to throwing the ball better. You can tell it’s affecting not only his mobility, but his accuracy.

I think that makes the drops by WR’s more glaring. You know he’s struggling to make the throw so when the ball hits the WR’s hands, they need to come down with that shit.

[ArmyBengal]

Well Irv Smith Jr. Is still injured.

Additionally Chuck Sizzle hasn’t practiced in a couple of days due to a thumb issue.

[AMPHAR]

If Smith is going to be injured that really places into question not taking Sam LaPorta in the draft.    See how it plays out but a significant piece for the Bengals offense to beat two deep coverage is to dump the ball short and get YAC.   Although Hudson might be a decent/cheap option.

Really hope Smith is able to get back on the field because I think he can produce at a decent level.

 

[TJJackson]

I hope Rodgers advice doesnt involve 3 days of solitude in a pitch black hut

[ArmyBengal]

Smith is more than capable and I was excited for the Bengals to add a "healthy" version of himself. While it's only been two games, injuries obviously continue to be a concern for Smith. Whether that's just dumb luck or something he's just going to continue to struggle with, it's a problem. Ask any Vikings fan.  While they loved what he brought when healthy, that just didn't happen very often. He's like a less talented Tyler Eifert, but I got excited when I heard how excited Burrow and Chase were to bring him in. Needless to say, I was expecting FAR more at this point than what we got.

[ArmyBengal]

6 minutes ago, TJJackson said:

I hope Rodgers advice doesnt involve 3 days of solitude in a pitch black hut

If the black hut helps heal his calf, I will drive him there and pick him up !!!
But yeah, I don't want all the stupid rubbing off on him either.

[HoosierCat]

Smith and Jones still out today per Baby. Doubt we see either Sunday.

[HoosierCat]

During the off-season I read Smith described somewhere as “where potential goes to die.” Sadly accurate so far.

[ArmyBengal]

Maybe this is where the one year TE deals die and the 2024 draft sees a more permanent solution.
God knows some stability there for a 4-5 year rookie wage deal won't complicate matters.

Too early to ask for Brock Bowers in the first next year ??

[HoosierCat]

Yeah it’s past time to take another shot at te in the draft.

Taylor confirmed both Smith and Jones are out Sunday.

[HoosierCat]

Burrow full go again, good for Sunday

[AMPHAR]

2 hours ago, HoosierCat said:

Smith and Jones still out today per Baby. Doubt we see either Sunday.

I believe they are both officially out now. 

[Stripes]

I wouldn't have said this two weeks ago, but right now I am not sure Irv Smith is actually better than Tanner Hudson.

[TJJackson]

Tanner Hudson has been a bit of a pleasant surprise so far