Bengals/Texans Playoff Game Thread

[UKFlounder]

Either 2009 when they swept both Baltimore & Pittsburgh, or early 2010 when they beat Baltimore at home. I think those games are usually "big games" for the Bengals, even early in the season.

I think it was the Chiefs game late in 2009 that they needed to win in order to win the division & they won it. The Chiefs weren't contenders, but it was a "big game" for the Bengals.

I'm having a hard time remembering the last time the Bengals won a big game. Like, any game where there was a week's worth of anticipation leading up to it. Maybe somebody can refresh my memory?

Marvin looked more scared than Dalton out there yesterday. I wanted Marvin gone years ago, but I suppose this organization is still scarred from the Pre-Marvin era that they'll settle for mediocrity over pure ineptitude.

[traderumor]

[B]

They lost the game due to personnel. Mike Brown is in charge ofnpersonnel- oh yeah, and his brother.

They hadn't won a playoff game in twenty years, well lo and behold they were playing a playoff game yesterday.

Football isn't played in a vacuum- what we saw yesterday is as much a product of the way this organization has been run as anything.

And really, nothing has changed- they can't beat a winning team. They only got there due to their schedule.

I'm sorry if you feel it wasn't the time and place. I couldn't think of a better time and place. It's not like I interrupted play by play- the game was clearly out of hand.

But thank you, Mr Message Board.

and as a Bengals fan, the incessant complaining about Mikey has grown just as old. Honestly its all been said.

[Hoosier Red]

What worries me is that Mike will sit on his hands.....and low ball, stall on getting Atkins (BIG Need) and Dunlap (Looks like a legit pass rusher since Edwards)...just like Joseph.

Do the Bengals know how to use a TE or i Dalton enamored with Green so much that he fails to look for him?

And again.... can this organization not understand that Guards are essential to an OL?

He didn't stall on Joseph. He offered him a lot of money. J JO wanted to get the hell out of dodge. Hard to blame him really, but I don't think it's fair to say the Bengals didn't do their best to keep him.

[Hoosier Red]

Your first point here is terrific- they have no idea how to use a TE.

I'm not as high on Dalton as everyone else. He didnt fall on his face, which given the supporting cast is truly saying something, but the last part of the season he was truthfully uninspiring.

This offense still needs a RB and needs to figure out how to use a TE, as Tony said.

I agree that Dalton needs to progress rather than regress. Other teams caught up to him in the second half of the year. But to be fair, he played 11 out of 17 games against a top 10 defense and 6 games against a top 6 defense.

So his struggles would probably be more exagerrated than the average QB. Really would have been nice to see what he could do with Jordan Shipley in the lineup as well.

[MWM]

[B]

and as a Bengals fan, the incessant complaining about Mikey has grown just as old. Honestly its all been said.

It's impossible to have a relevant conversation about the Bengals, unless its a conversation about a specific game, without talking about Mike Brown. Now, I don't know that a thread about a playoff game is the place to have it, but any conversation about the future prospects of the organization, holes needing filled, or anything else that has to do with getting to where the team needs to be pretty much HAS to center around Mike Brown.

Having said that, I disagree with Dom about why they lost this specific game. I don't think it was because of personnel and such. The Bengals had the players to beat the Texans. I thought they outplayed them in the first half, but were completely lost from a scheme perspective in the second half. They seemed to know what was coming on both sides of the ball. They had the right D called for the Bengals offense and the offense figured out how to move it against the Bengals D. They were outmaneuvered in the second half. It wasn't about the players in this specific game.

[Hoosier Red]

It's impossible to have a relevant conversation about the Bengals, unless its a conversation about a specific game, without talking about Mike Brown. Now, I don't know that a thread about a playoff game is the place to have it, but any conversation about the future prospects of the organization, holes needing filled, or anything else that has to do with getting to where the team needs to be pretty much HAS to center around Mike Brown.

Having said that, I disagree with Dom about why they lost this specific game. I don't think it was because of personnel and such. The Bengals had the players to beat the Texans. I thought they outplayed them in the first half, but were completely lost from a scheme perspective in the second half. They seemed to know what was coming on both sides of the ball. They had the right D called for the Bengals offense and the offense figured out how to move it against the Bengals D. They were outmaneuvered in the second half. It wasn't about the players in this specific game.

This is a discussion about a specific game. Title Bengals/Texans Game Thread kinda gives it away.

[Yachtzee]

The real key to the game was Arian Foster. He's just better than what the Bengals had and the Texans could just keep pounding him in there until the Bengals got tired. He has the power to go up the middle and the speed to get outside. He made good cuts too. I think the Bengals need to focus on OL and RB in the draft to complement Dalton. If they can't get someone who is a good all-round back, I think they need to get complementary backs in the style of the James Brooks/Icky Woods tandem and have them on the field at the same time so that Dalton has both an inside and outside threat. Benson and Scott seem too similar to each other.