Are we as good as we think we are?

[ArmyBengal]

Where does all this P-Burg had an easier schedule come from ??

OK they had NE and Philly at home, but we had Philly's 2nd and 3rd string.

We had Buffalo at home and lost, we had Tennessee and lost.

Anyway, we had the chance to be better last year and blew it (Thanks run-D)..

We had losses we shouldn't have had and I'm hoping this year will be different.

WHODEY !!!

[Irish Bengal]

So your going to tell me that playing a team at home isn't an advantage?

They had :

NYJ

NE

Phil

wash

oak

at home

We had:

NYJ

NE

PHI

WAS

TENN

Away

I'd say Home field advantage against better teams is a huge adv not to mention a seemingly easier schedule

I'm not being a homer just my OPINION.

:player: :player: :player:

[BengalByTheBay]

And now, the Ravens fan dose of reality:

******

But, i'm off topic. If the Bengals won the superbowl, I would be surprised, but not shocked.

Sorry for the delay -- it took me a few minutes to clean off the coffee that I blew onto the screen reading that last comment. Surprisingly objective post Zona. I know, I know, you're always objective -- we are just sometimes wearing the orange colored glasses.

Anyway, as for the topic -- who the heck knows? I mean it's nice to think of what this defense can be, but you gotta build in some learning time if we're gonna start two rookies and a new d lineman. Balancing that is that I think we've got the most favorable schedule I can remember. 57 days and counting.

[The Big Orange]

I'm off to Disneyworld...I'll see you guys in a few days

[jditty47]

last year the steelers had the 3 spot on schedule and we had the 2. this year we have the 3 spot and they have the 1. the 2 games out of the division that we have are gonna be easier than theirs...i believe theres is NE and SD...ours is KC and Tenn.

[Kazkal]

but the D is a big question mark. 

~Sounds like ravens O

It's all good though but I really see the nfc north going to anyone but the browns.

[AMC]

The whole division may come down to a handful of plays against those in the division. It's about making big plays in crucial games. The top three teams are pretty even. It's all about having playmakers. I think the Bengals have more than enough playmakers and confidence to make it very interesting.

:player: :player: :player:

[ArmyBengal]

So your going to tell me that playing a team at home isn't an advantage?

They had :

NYJ

NE

Phil

wash

oak

at home

We had:

NYJ

NE

PHI

WAS

TENN

Away

I'd say Home field advantage against better teams is a huge adv not to mention a seemingly easier schedule

I'm not being a homer just my OPINION.

:player: :player: :player:

I'm pretty sure this is to me, so I will comment...

Never said it wasn't an advantage... I know full well that it is...

Just commenting that we played the same teams, they beat them, we didn't...

How did we lose that game to Tenn ?? We should have won at the Jets.

Bottomline, regardless of who and where you play, you are either up to the task or not. Playing with a rookie coming off the bench and putting up those numbers was nothing less than incredible. Us losing to Tenn, Cleveland, and Buffalo was nothing less than irritating.

Oh yeah, I agree with whoever said, we are always better than we think we are.

WHODEY !!!

[Kazkal]

So your going to tell me that playing a team at home isn't an advantage?

They had :

NYJ

NE

Phil

wash

oak

at home

We had:

NYJ

NE

PHI

WAS

TENN

Away

I'd say Home field advantage against better teams is a huge adv not to mention a seemingly easier schedule

I'm not being a homer just my OPINION.

:player:  :player:  :player:

I'm pretty sure this is to me, so I will comment...

Never said it wasn't an advantage... I know full well that it is...

Just commenting that we played the same teams, they beat them, we didn't...

How did we lose that game to Tenn ?? We should have won at the Jets.

Bottomline, regardless of who and where you play, you are either up to the task or not. Playing with a rookie coming off the bench and putting up those numbers was nothing less than incredible. Us losing to Tenn, Cleveland, and Buffalo was nothing less than irritating.

Oh yeah, I agree with whoever said, we are always better than we think we are.

WHODEY !!!

Palmer was starting for his first time in the NFL,

He started out what 5TD's /10 Int's?

[CantStop85]

It's all good though but I really see the nfc north going to anyone but the browns.

Really? I see the NFC north going to the packers...

[Kazkal]

It's all good though but I really see the nfc north going to anyone but the browns.

Really? I see the NFC north going to the packers...

Dammit you know I men't afc lol

Brain farts = the suck

[ArmyBengal]

I get sick of all the quoting others quotes that are quoted three times before, so I will say this...

Pittsburgh was and is still a better team until we prove otherwise... If that was because of an easier this or that I think is BS, we didn't come to play last year. Pick your reason: new QB, beat up O-line, (my personal fav) we got ran the F**K over, or whatever else, we lost games we shouldn't have and if things don't improve in the run stopping department, there will be a bunch of disappointed fans here eating alot of crow (yes, I'm in that group).

We are improved, no doubt about it and God knows I've been waiting for this for a long long time. (I'm NOT a bandwagon fan) I'm just sick (and a bit concerned) of all the hype prior to the start of the season. I like the write ups, but would rather our rookies not have to worry about expectations of a Superbowl before they even take an NFL snap.

WHODEY !!!

[BengalByTheBay]

I get sick of all the quoting others quotes that are quoted three times before, so I will say this...

Sorry....I just had to do it Army.

Other than busting your chops -- I pretty much agree. D is suspect, highly suspect until proven otherwise. The fact that we've got a bunch of new guys and vets at new positions isn't necessarily unequivocally good news. These guys have to adjust. While I think that adjustment is a little easier, for rookies at least, in the front 7, we shouldn't kid ourselves that there won't be growing pains.

However, just because we all focus on the pencil heads that are putting us in the playoffs already doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of them that see us just ahead of the clowns too. Opinions are everywhere this time of year. And I heard that opinions are just like ___________.

[Kazkal]

/shrug steelers are going to rely more on their passing game this year which is unproven without a heavy amount of run attack.

[derekshank]

Pittsburgh was far and away better than us last year... not even close. I think they take a step back this year with the loss of Plaxico, Ben's favorite receiver, and I think Ben overacheived last year. He will come back to earth, if only a little bit. I also see the Ravens taking a step forward, with their offensive additions. I know Boller sucks, but he won't lose games for them sitting on the bench. Wright can keep them from losing. The Bengals taking a fairly large step forward, making for 3 pretty even teams.

Our offense is in good shape, and our defensive secondary is in pretty good shape (in coverage anyway). The question is stopping the run. Robinson will help, but Thornton wasn't ever really the problem. The big help with Robinson is that Thornton moves to the left a spot, so we have two guys who can stop the run in the middle.

The real problem with out run defense was that right side that couldn't stop anybody. Smith moving to RE will help dramatically... and even though he's a rookie, Pollack is an upgrade from Hardy, so he shouldn't be a liability in the running game. Herring's (or whoever plays as SS) effectiveness is yet to be seen, but whoever plays SS isn't going to be an in-the-box guy anyway, so we're really going to have to see Smith and Pollack do the job well.

If they succeed, we win the division. If they struggle, we might finish 3rd. I'm not generally into simplifying things like this, but the more I think about it, the simpler it seems. If those changes help us contain the run, we will add 2-3 wins. If we keep getting run over, we finish no better than 9-7.

[TecmoFever]

I got this via email from my subscribing to Joe Bryant's "Football Guys" Fantasy newsletter. The articles normally say what newspaper they have come from, but this one said "commentary", so maybe Joe actually wrote this himself.

A lot of people around here can't wait until football season, but maybe that's not the right approach. Maybe they should hope it never arrives.

Because it doesn't get any better than it is right now for the Bengals. I mean, right now, they're in the playoffs for sure, and possibly - almost certainly, if you listen to the radio - the Super Bowl. Right now, Carson Palmer has more options than a Chinese menu. Right now, the Bengals could sell out a team meeting.

They're so good on paper that they ought to resurface their field with it. Mostly, it's the offense. On defense, the Bengals are counting on the energy of youth, the advantage of speed and the recent roster of the University of Georgia, all of which should put a little more bulldog into their bite. On offense, there's not a guy who touches the ball who couldn't take it to the Pro Bowl, except for the tight ends, whom Marvin Lewis says not to worry about because, what, do you want them taking catches away from Chad Johnson?

If you play fantasy football, you love this offense. If you don't, you just fantasize:

How good can Palmer be - and before he hurt his knee late last year, he was dang good - behind the readiest line the team has had in years, with Rudi Johnson to take the ball, tirelessly, and Chad and T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Peter Warrick and Chris Henry and Tab Perry and Kelley Washington to throw it to?

For Lewis' third edition, circa June, the issues are things like these:

If Warrick comes back healthy, does he push Houshmandzadeh? We all know what he can do. But does he even make the team?

If Chris Perry, last year's top draft choice, gets over the hernia thing, does he play in the same backfield as Rudi? Does he add another whole dimension?

When sophomore Landon Johnson is ready to go, does he take over the starting middle linebacker spot - where he played so stunningly well last year - from rookie Odell Thurman, who has shown no signs of giving it up?

Or maybe the better question is this:

Are the Bengals as primed and talented as Cincinnati thinks they are, or is that the desperation talking? Have the years of playoff deprivation (and watching the Reds) so clouded our judgment that we're dazzled by cubic zirconia?

I thought it was interesting reading that made me sober up just a little bit. I've said all along that I think a 10-6 record seems probable. I'd be more surprised if we went 12-4 than if we went 8-8, though.

[HoosierCat]

Hobson lets his season prediction slip in his latest letters column: 9 or 10 wins for the Bengals (and Baltimore and Pitt), with only 1 team from the AFCN going to the playoffs.

http://www.bengals.com/press/hobsononline....age=0&ho_id=221

Palmer and Bresnahan have closed the AFC North gap. Only one play-off team is coming out of there as the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers, all grind to edge each other out at 9-7 and 10-6. The Steelers are going to miss Plaxico Burress more than they think, and more teams are going to take a page out of the Pats’ playbook and take a shot at their cornerbacks. In Baltimore, defense is still king but the Ravens can’t truly rule until quarterback Kyle Boller figures it out.

[HoosierCat]

I got this via email from my subscribing to Joe Bryant's "Football Guys" Fantasy newsletter. The articles normally say what newspaper they have come from, but this one said "commentary", so maybe Joe actually wrote this himself.

It's a Wheeler column from the post...

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../506200326/1022

[schweinhart]

The "Paper Bengals" column by Wheeler is good to read if only to get that jolt again that the team hasn't been to the playoffs or even had a winning record in 14 years....With a drought like that it's a wonder anyone's left to give a sh#t.

But I gotta say, I'm psyched outta my skull already for the season to start because of the talent and direction the Bengals have now. Much more so than last year, which was still a good buzz going into the season in its own right.

[Kazkal]

Browns on paper looks like it needs to be flushed.

[joshh967]

I hate to jinx us but i have this bad feeling that were going to have some bad injury that will be on a big player of ours...things seem to perfect right now lol

[jditty47]

last year we had enough injuries to cover us for this year. stop the negative f**king talk.

[ArmyBengal]

I hate to jinx us but i have this bad feeling that were going to have some bad injury that will be on a big player of ours...things seem to perfect right now lol

That S**T ain't even funny to bring up in a thread, go choke yourself !!!

Oh yeah, welcome to the Zone...

WHODEY !!!