Bengals Predictions

[MWM]

How many games will the Bengals win this year?

I say another 8-8 or 9-7 season. My official prediction will be 9-7. I'd love to be more optimistic, but after watching the defense so far, and knowing the actual performance of the defense last year with little in the way of better players or coaching, I can't believe this is a playoff team.

The window for this great offense won't be open forever. It's definitely better now than it was for the decade pre-Marvin, but in a way it's more painful because they're so close yet they're not doing anything substantive to fix the defense. A little bit of pass rush, and this team could win the Super Bowl. But they do nothing. So while it's better than the 90s and early 21st century, it's the same in some regards and more tortuous in the process.

[paintmered]

Sadly, I agree with your assessment of the team from what I've seen the first two preseason games. I'd put the Bengals somewhere between 8-8 and 10-6. The good thing is, the schedule is less daunting than it was last year. What is worse is that the defense might have been serviceable if Odell and Pollack were still playing. David Pollack was starting to come into his own when he broke his neck. There's no excuse for Odell's problems, as he has only himself to blame.

I'm starting to think that if Marvin doesn't get to the playoffs this season, there will be rumblings for his job. Also, pray that Carson doesn't get hurt because Doug Johnson is quite possibly the worst backup QB in the league. He's looked brutal so far. I do like what I see out of the 3rd string QB, however.

[sonny]

In a way it is more difficult to be on the precipus of greatness, but not quite doing what it takes to get there. At least in the 90's losing 11-13 games made the 3-5 wins seem all that much better.

The D line seems to be the least of our worries on D. Our defense against the pass is horrendus. The little slant routes will kill us this year and opposing teams will exploit that.

The O did not look that great this last game, but I'm "not too worried about it." We'll put up some points, but teams who arte in constant shootouts rarely acheive greatness.

Sonny's official prediction: 10-6

[Degenerate39]

I think they'll be 11-5.

Here's their schedule for anyone interested or just too lazy to look, which would normally be me:

Regular Season
Mon 9/10 Baltimore 7:00 pm
Sun 9/16 at Cleveland 1:00 pm
Sun 9/23 at Seattle 4:05 pm
Mon 10/1 New England 8:30 pm
bye
Sun 10/14 at Kansas City 1:00 pm
Sun 10/21 NY Jets 4:05 pm
Sun 10/28 Pittsburgh 1:00 pm
Sun 11/4 at Buffalo 1:00 pm
Sun 11/11 at Baltimore 4:05 pm
Sun 11/18 Arizona 1:00 pm
Sun 11/25 Tennessee 1:00 pm
Sun 12/2 at Pittsburgh 8:15 pm
Sun 12/9 St. Louis 1:00 pm
Sat 12/15 at San Francisco 8:15 pm
Sun 12/23 Cleveland 1:00 pm
Sun 12/30 at Miami 1:00 pm

[BearcatShane]

I'll say 11-5. Obviosuly I have not been impressed by their play thus far in the preseason but I just feel the offence can carry this team to alot of wins. The schedule is fairly easy and I think once we get to the regular season the defence can be ok. Hopefully.


Here's how I see the season playing out:



BALTIMORE- Win
Cleveland- Win
Seattle- Win
NEW ENGLAND- Loss
Kansas City- Loss
NEW YORK JETS- Win
PITTSBURGH- Win
Buffalo- Win
Baltimore- Loss
ARIZONA- Win
TENNESSE- Win
Pittsburgh- Loss
SAINT LOUIS- Loss
San Francisco- Win
CLEVELAND- Win
Miami- Win

[sonny]

Originally Posted by paintmered

Also, pray that Carson doesn't get hurt because Brad Johnson is quite possibly the worst backup QB in the league. He's looked brutal so far. I do like what I see out of the 3rd string QB, however.

Doug Johnson is pretty bad too.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by sonny

The D line seems to be the least of our worries on D. Our defense against the pass is horrendus.

I think the bad pass defense is a result of the NON-EXISTENT pass rush. If they could get even a little pressure on the QB, I think the secondary would be pretty good, actually.

[cincrazy]

I want to be optimistic, but I can't. I'll go 8-8. Yeah, the offense has some pieces, but with no Chris Henry for a half a season, and no Willie Anderson or Levi Jones for who knows how long, this offense will be out of rhythm for quite a while. And everything I could say about this defense has already been said in this thread. It's sad really. Our stars are reaching their 30's, and we're really no closer today to winning a Super Bowl than we were two or three years ago.

[camisadelgolf]

I'm going with 11-5, but if they're as healthy as they were in 2005, I'll say 13-3.

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by sonny

Doug Johnson is pretty bad too.

Whoops. Doug is the Johnson that's actually a decent QB. I'll try to get it right next time.

[Reds Freak]

I'm going to go with 10-6. Obviously they looked bad against the Saints but folks forget the starters looked pretty sharp against the Lions in the first preseason game, their scrubs just gave up a bunch of points at the end. Besides, last year the Bengals went 4-0 in the preseason and looked unbeatable and we all know how that turned out. Don't lose hope after two preseason games...

[TeamSelig]

I think 9-11 wins is about right, probably somewhere near 10 wins.

[Screwball]

Originally Posted by paintmered

Whoops. Doug is the Johnson that's actually a decent QB. I'll try to get it right next time.

Almost. I think you meant to say Brad there.

Originally Posted by cincrazy

I want to be optimistic, but I can't. I'll go 8-8. Yeah, the offense has some pieces, but with no Chris Henry for a half a season, and no Willie Anderson or Levi Jones for who knows how long, this offense will be out of rhythm for quite a while. And everything I could say about this defense has already been said in this thread. It's sad really. Our stars are reaching their 30's, and we're really no closer today to winning a Super Bowl than we were two or three years ago.

It's tough to get much Bengals coverage out here in Oregon. What happened to Levi and Willie? If they miss a significant amount of time that could be a huge detriment to the team's chances this year.

[camisadelgolf]

Levi Jones has been having trouble with his knee, but it looks like things are finally getting better, so I expect him to be 100% (or very close to it) when the season starts. However, Willie Anderson's foot problem stems from last year. If the training staff diagnosed the problem correctly, Anderson would've had surgery immediately after last year, but only recently did they discover what the real problem is (and they're being very cryptic about it). The tried a procedure that Anderson described as some kind of shock treatment, and supposedly, Anderson has a 60% chance of being able to play on his foot the way it is. If the procedure is unsuccessful, he will probably miss a huge chunk of the year or more.