They've gone down 17-3 and 17-0 the past two weeks and forced overtime each time. They aren't a mentally weak team.
It's a flawed team, but they are resilient. That might be Andy Dalton's biggest plus actually. There's no quit in him.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
HeatherC1212 (11-13-2013),Yachtzee (11-13-2013)
No idea what that even means. This isn't college football, and we're not Alabama playing a Division 2 team. They're professionals getting paychecks just like our guys are. The Bengals aren't the only team to have bad losses you know. Last year's champion Baltimore Ravens team lost to the Eagles.
If you're even a little off one week anyone can beat you.
HeatherC1212 (11-13-2013)
sonny (11-13-2013)
bucksfan2 (11-13-2013)
I don't necessarily disagree that injuries, especially on defense, may have put a serious damper on our Super Bowl hopes, but I will say that injuries haven't been all that much crueler to the Bengals as they have to other teams, in what amounts to regular course in the NFL.
Yes, we lost Geno and Hall, arguably our two best players on defense. Everyone else has just been a nick or a bruise, and we have been fortunate to have virtually zero injuries to the offense (Baby Hawk nothwithstanding).
But think about the Packers, who lost their best defensive player, #1 WR, All-Pro TE, All-World QB and two of their RB for a few weeks. Or think about the Falcons losing Julio Jones (our equivalent of AJ). Or the Pats without Gronk, Wilfork and Mayo. Or the Colts without Wayne and Bradshaw. Point is, every team in the NFL suffers key injuries- you just have to withstand and bounce back. As amazing and important as Geno is, I'd rather lose him than Dalton, Green, Gio and maybe even Burfict. If the Bengals lose one of those guys, they drop out of playoff contention quickly. It does hurt a lot though, obviously.
Go BLUE!!!
Agreed that the inconsistent offense, not injuries to the defense, has been the problem with this team. And I put most of that on 3 things:
1. Bad playcalling by Gruden
2. Historically inconsistent play by Dalton
3. Critical (and almost pattern-like) miscues by two of my least favorite draft picks of the last 5 years: Mo Sanu and Jermaine Gresham
Dalton is an "average" QB in the NFL only because of the law of averages/expected value - he is either a Top 3 or Bottom 3 QB in the league every week, there is almost no in between with him.
Go BLUE!!!
Zeitler is in a boot and on crutches, so the o-lines about to get worse.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
If Zeitler is out for a while they might want to think about having Whitworth go to LG and Boling to RG so Collins can play LT, though thats a lot of shuffling.
It sucks that Collins can't play guard as they could use his pass blocking despite him not being that good of a run blocker.
With the injuries, I think a playoff appearance would be a successful season. You have to adjust expectations.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
They've been great at home and with the likelihood that a playoff berth will come via a divisional championship (and a home game), I will be disappointed if they are one-and-done this season. If they can grab the #3 seed they will get a mediocre at best team in the first round. Even if they are the #4 I like their chances against the Chiefs at home.
I think they could still win a playoff game. I don't know who else is going to win the division. The 2nd place AFC West team will be the 4 seed, so that means the Bengals would be playing at home against one of (most likely):
Jets
Chargers
Titans
Cleveland
Baltimore
Two of those teams will make the playoffs, which is how bad the AFC is. I'm assuming Miami is going to implode as they are also 4-5. The only other possibility would be one of the 3-6 teams get on a run and win 5 or 6 of their last 7 games. I don't see Bufalo doing that, so that leaves Pittsburgh. They've got baltimore and Cleveland left, but they still have Detroit and Green Bay (after Rodgers is back). I don't see the Steelers being good enough to go on that kind of run.
I don't see any of those 4 teams the Bengals couldn't, and shouldn't, beat at home in the playoffs, even with the team as is. The AFC is 3 deep with Denver, KC, and NE. Even with all the injuries, I don't see another team in the AFC that's better than Cincinnati.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
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