Is it possible that our D will be good?

[BengalszoneBilly]

billybroome WTF CHANGE YER ICON! I don't post on a bengals forum to see cats fighting only bengal icons ALLOWED OK!?!?!?!?!

PS,dangit it is bengal related

Chill Kaz. FYI, Our teams mascot, the Bengal Tiger, is part of the Cat family, and house cats are related to them. The one cat just football tackled the snot out of the other cat in an open field job that half our defense was unable to duplicate last couple of seasons!

And what's more, it's more football related than ALL the Boobiemiesters Hotties I post up there regularly, and I didn't hear ya' whining about them did I?

So back off my cats, or you'll never see another hottie here again! They'll be gone in a day or two anyway.

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Billy, your avatar is one of the best I've ever seen!

[Stripes]

Billy, your avatar is one of the best I've ever seen!

Agreed, beyond all doubt, great avatar.

[ArmyBengal]

I love it as well, that is one hell of a hit !!! I can see hints of Boller and a pump-fake in there only to get destroyed !!!

WHODEY !!!

[derekshank]

But the Bengals offense is chock full of weapons. Those defenses you mentioned usually did pretty well against the rest of the league. Especially New Englands (again) against the "Oh So Offensively Powerful, But Not S**t On Defense" Indianapolis Colts!

Good point Billy, but there was only one truly dominating defense last year, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers. They allowed the least points of any defense in the league, and also allowed much fewer yards in the league than any defense. They allowed 839 fewer yards than N.E. and 981 fewer yards than the Eagles.

In fact, the average number of yards/game in the NFL last year was 316.6 yards... right smack in the middle of that were the Eagles (319.7) and the Patriots (310.8), who were respectively tied for 2nd in fewest points allowed.

So I guess when I say bend, don't break, I mean simply deny points. The Steelers were great at stopping teams from getting yards, but they didn't go to the superbowl (blame it on Big Ben if you will), but there were several teams that allowed fewer yards than N.E. and Phi. (i.e. Buf, Wash, Den, TB, Bal, NYJ, and Mia) that allowed many more points than them.

Granted, I would have loved to have been any one of those defenses last year, but a bend don't break mentality is not the end of the world. It's certainly better than our bend over and take it mentality last year.

Every defense is going to give up yards... especially against upper tier offenses. The bend don't break mentality is ideal for these situations, because yards don't equal points. A team that can stiffen up and deny points to better offenses in the league is a team that can win the superbowl. That is what I will be looking for out of Cincy this year.

Teams are going to get yards on us... it's going to happen. But to watch our team become resolute and deny a team to get in field goal range, or become a wall on the goal line is exactly what we need to get into the playoffs and beyond.

I'll be fine with being in the middle of the pack in the yards/game stat if we're in the top 10 in points allowed... but hey, that's just me. I've always kind of prioritized those things that really mattered (points), and not given too much concern to most other stat lines.