are you guys worried/Pitt=No Good

[Bwestbrook36]

i think the bengals are a playoff team, but i really think that it will be hard to get out of the division. I hate the ravens and steelers, in fact i am from syracuse newyork and i bought two tickets to watch the bengals and steelers game..but anyways what are your thoughts?

[Stripes]

I'm more worried about the Bengals than I am the Ravens or Steelers. If Cincy plays up to it's ability, then we'll be in the playoffs. If Cincy fumbles out of the gate (again) and starts badly, then that will be the only deterrent.

[Bwestbrook36]

your right, but i am just worried that the ravens/ steelers might have 12-13 wins and the bengals are cappable of that but who knows. in my mind though i think that boller will keep the ravens out, but the steelers i dont know. i think the bengals will start great, but may lose to the division teams

[7/11]

your right, but i am just worried that the ravens/ steelers might have 12-13 wins and the bengals are cappable of that but who knows. in my mind though i think that boller will keep the ravens out, but the steelers i dont know. i think the bengals will start great, but may lose to the division teams

i think if we start great, we'll be okay. the team will only get better (barring injuries) as the season goes on.

but, i worry about the ravens and steelers, too. i think we're a good football team, but we're in a tough division in a tough conference and that's what will keep us out of the playoffs if we don't end up making it.

[BengalszoneBilly]

i think we're a good football team, but we're in a tough division.

IMHO, the AFC North will be the toughest. The only division that might be tougher is the AFC East. As far as conferences, it's easily the AFC.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

i think if we start great, we'll be okay. the team will only get better (barring injuries) as the season goes on.

but, i worry about the ravens and steelers, too. i think we're a good football team, but we're in a tough division in a tough conference and that's what will keep us out of the playoffs if we don't end up making it.

I'm definitely worried, since both those teams currently have better defenses than the Bengals, though not the offenses to go with it. Winning the division will be tough because of that. With the AFC as it is, I think there's a good chance that a 10-6 team sits home during the playoffs, so the wild card will be tough too.

I think the Bengals can top the Ravens. For the Steelers, much woill depend on their aging running game, and how many mistakes Roth makes if they ask him to actually be a QB this year.

If the Bengals were in the NFC, I'd be planning my playoff party now.

[semiotter]

i think we're a good football team, but we're in a tough division.

IMHO, the AFC North will be the toughest. The only division that might be tougher is the AFC East. As far as conferences, it's easily the AFC.

No doubt about that...Thats the biggest understatement of the season..NFC doesn't even compare with AFC.

[jbengals1]

SWEET another NY bengals fan , I'M from Amsterdam NY and go to syracuse yearly to watch them play - I saw D Mc nab play there and was hooked on syracuse ball ever since :player: .

As for our division, yes its 1 of the hardest but winable if we have a good start.

[schweinhart]

It's gonna be a brutally intense season.

[Bobcat Bengal]

SWEET another NY bengals fan , I'M from Amsterdam NY and go to syracuse yearly to watch them play - I saw D Mc nab play there and was hooked on syracuse ball ever since :player: .

As for our division, yes its 1 of the hardest but winable if we have a good start.

Amersterdam AND New York?!?

Sounds like you got the best of both worlds there.

Debauchery and Decadence at its finest.

[skyline]

Yes, we're in a nasty division. I like it that way, though. Now, when we finally break our playoff drought, nobody can say we got in by default due to a weak division or conference. It's not like we're going to skate in on an 8-8 record due to lousy competition.

[HoosierCat]

Well, it ought to be a nasty division. OTOH, if the QBs in Pitt, Cincy and Balti don't get it together, it may turn out to be a richly comedic one.

Palmer, as we all know, has been struggling. Cheeselisburger hasn't done much better; he was something like 5-11 for 54 yards and a pick this weekend. Kyle Blower did manage to go a respectable 10-15, but for just 88 yards, and he coughed the ball up not once, not twice, but three times. Shoot, at this point Trent Dilfer is looking like the best starter in the division.

[HairOnFire]

Shoot, at this point Trent Dilfer is looking like the best starter in the division.

At this point I'd agree.

[Redlegs]

The Steelers are still the team to beat, IMO. I think Pitt and Balt are scared to death of Cincy. The Bengals have the weapons on both sides of the ball. The biggest thing is getting off to a good start. I see them going 5-1 out of the gate.

Baltimore has to show me they have a quarterback before I believe in them. Boller may or may not develope into a quality quarterback, but right now he hasn't shown any signs of it, IMO.

[HoosierCat]

Shoot, at this point Trent Dilfer is looking like the best starter in the division.  

At this point I'd agree.

Don't worry, I'm sure this agreeing thing won't last!

Just for kicks, I went and tallied up the numbers for the AFCN starting QBs so far...and yup, Trent's about the best, tho his numbers are far from anything for Browns' fans to get excited about...

Dilfer: 11-18, 152 yards, 1 TD

Palmer: 16-35, 189 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Boller: 15-24, 145 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 1 fumble (lost)

Roethlisburger: 9-14, 65 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Ick.

[MacD BengalFan]

The key is if Cincy gets off to a good start. A 1-5 start will obviously spell doom, but I don't think that will happen. CP is riding a good finish from last year (before his injury) as Rothlisburger started to decline. Boller we all know is as streaky as it gets. He showed that last night. Anthony Wright actually played better. But the defense is having problems learning the different defenses Rex Ryan has implemented. They switched from the 3-4 to the 4-3 then to the 4-6 and the players were a little confused. Brian Westbrook scored on an screen play when he crossed the entire field unaccounted for. No defender picked him up crossing the middle thus he was wide open with lots of room to run. Pitts defense is still pretty good as expected. The defense will keep the Steelers in games. I think if Big Ben struggles early, TD Tommy will become the starter. So should we really be concerned with both the Ravens and Steelers? Not really as long was the Bengals get off to a good start.

[membengal]

That's 2 TDs for Palmer Joisey...the shovel pass counts as a forward pass.

And, to underscore again that its preseason and meaningless...the thesis that Dilfer looks to be the best QB in the division. Shadows and rumor signifying nothing.

Pats D, 'Skins D, Eagles D is a stout wake-up call for Palmer and the O. Hell, they may not look like they have hit their stride until week 1 in Cleveland. Decidedly unconcerned at this point.

[obrien775]

Ben Roethlisberger and the starters were shut out for a second consecutive game.

I Personally am not worried.

They aren't going to amount to much this year.

[Scottishbengal]

I am cautious about the upcoming season. Cincy have a scarey offence but have an equally scarey defence. My granny could probably run for 100 yards against the D (slight exaggeration but you get the picture).

I don't think we will or can overhaul the Steelers this year, and I expect to see more of the high scoring shoot-outs like we did in last seasons 58-48 match against the Browns.

Still, forever the optimist I'll be cheering for (dreaming of) a perfect season until that's not a possibilty, then I'll be going for the next possible best season achievable until the days are done!

[HoosierCat]

That's 2 TDs for Palmer Joisey...the shovel pass counts as a forward pass...

...Decidedly unconcerned at this point.

I stand corrected. I was just going by the stat sheets on yahoo. Hey, it's preseason for stat-keepers, too, I suppose.

And yeah, I'm not too concerned right now, either. I mean, the division right now is...

Cleveland 2-0

Pitt 2-0

Cincy 1-1

Baltimore 0-2

Anyone who thinks that's indiciative of the regular season is probably smoking way too much crack.

That said, what is worth noting now that we have a couple of trial runs in the books...

...Baltimore looks shakier than expected. As MacD noted they seem to be struggling to get the new defense down -- and frankly I always thought there was less to the big 46 change than met the eye. Buddy Ryan's real innovation was moving linebackers around a lot at a time when that wasn't done much; now it's done all the time, no matter what defensive scheme you're running. Too bad we don't play them until late in the year, by which time they should have worked things out.

...Cleveland will win some games. I said this months ago and I still stand by it. Not a lot, but I still see 6 wins for this club, which makes them dangerous enough to be a spoiler in the division.

...Pitt still doesn't need anything more than adequate QB play to hang around. There are a lot of previews/predictions/forecasts that put Balti on top of the division with Pitt falling back after last year's 15-1 season. Well, whatever Baltimore does, Pitt doesn't seem to be in a mood to go away anytime soon.

[DontPushMe]

Depends, with Rudi Johnson starting, id say 8-8 is all we could do. But if Perry takes over the starting spot before RJ damages the season too much, the playoffs are a lock.

[foxtuba]

Depends, with Rudi Johnson starting, id say 8-8 is all we could do. But if Perry takes over the starting spot before RJ damages the season too much, the playoffs are a lock.

Teh most absurd statement evar!

[membengal]

Depends, with Rudi Johnson starting, id say 8-8 is all we could do. But if Perry takes over the starting spot before RJ damages the season too much, the playoffs are a lock.

Teh most absurd statement evar!

Simply put DPM on your own personal "ignore" when he is talking about Chris Perry and you will be much happier.

Welcome to posting.

[Spain]

I think these teams are very close and two of them are staying home! So hell yes Im worried. Baltimore loks to be the waekest of the three. Pitt seems to be the best. Where does that leave us at 9-7 and no playoffs! One player is seperating us from the playoffs and thats Randal El if he goes down the steelers could go 6-10! PS Pushy Perry would make the diffrence but Rudi is capable! Playa hater he isnt that bad!