Commentary: How Excited Will You Allow Yourself To Be?
by Jason Garrison on Oct 6, 2011 12:05 PM EDT
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The Bengals made it through the first quarter of the 2011 season with a 2-2 record. They did that with a rookie quarterback, a rookie No. 1 receiver, a retooled defense, after the losses of Johnathan Joseph, Keith Rivers, Dhani Jones and Antwan Odom, a rookie offensive coordinator, a shortened offseason, thanks to a lockout, and offseason drama than all the drama from all other teams combined.
The odds were stacked against the Bengals coming into the regular season. That's the main reason why every analyst and everyone they know ranked the Bengals dead last in the first power ranking. But after a season-opening win on the road against a division opponent and a win at home against the only undefeated team in the AFC in week four, the Bengals have turned some heads.
So, now they're heading into the second quarter of the season and before their week seven bye, they play two very winnable games. How excited are you going to allow yourself to be?
The Bengals are heading into week five with the league's No. 1 ranked defense. They're going to going up against the 1-3 Jacksonville Jaguars led by rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The Jaguars have the second-to-last ranked offense and the 12th ranked defense. Jacksonville is favored by 2.5 points.
The Bengals then come back home to face the 0-4 Manning-less Indianapolis Colts, who are going to rely on either Kerry Collins or Curtis Painter to lead their offense. The Colts have the No. 25 ranked defense and the No. 30 ranked offense. Cincinnati will likely be favored to win that game.
After coming off a win over the Buffalo Bills it's easy to think that the Bengals could go into the bye week with a 4-2 record. If the Bengals top-ranked defense can stop Maurice Jones-Drew and force the ball into Gabbert's hands they can beat the Jaguars and if they can hold Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis at bay, they can beat the Colts.
They looked good enough in the second half of the Bills game to pull that off.
However, we can't forget the loss to the Denver Brocos in which the Bengals allowed Willis McGahee to run all over them and managed to make Kyle Orton out to be a superstar. Then we have to remember the 49ers game. The Bengals bottled up Frank Gore and the defense played well throughout the game but the offense couldn't move the ball. In those two games the, the Bengals only converted two of 21 third downs.
There are bound to be ups and downs with a team like this. That's just how it is going to be. So the question is, will you forget about the two losses and ride the victory over Buffalo and expect the Bengals to go 4-2 into the bye week or will you remember the losses and prepare for the worst?
Or maybe you'll just hope for somewhere in between.
So, how excited are you going to allow yourself to be?
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I'm always thinking positive Jason haha
ONE GAME AT A TIME!! WHO DEY?!
by whodeycommish14 on Oct 6, 2011 12:19 PM EDT reply actions
I think they can be 4-2 going into the bye week.
Just because I think it doesn’t mean it will happen though. I’m really hoping to just keep playing competitive football throughout the season. The more wins we get the more confidence we will have. Good start to a new era in Bengals football.
I also have confidence in the way we have been drafting as of late. If we keep building confidence this season and draft well again this year we could start contending for the playoffs again. This could come as soon as 2012, which would be nice!
Just keep banging Bengals!
4-2 no problem
unless Dalton regresses, the positives outweigh the negatives by a mile. AJ Green, Gresham and Leonard are all on fire. Bobbie is back. Rey Rey is in the zone. The team is very healthy (new medical staff for 2011…coincidence?).
Sure. Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth - Mike Tyson
We're built to beat the Jags, and the Colts are throwing this season away.
The Jags are nothing but MJD and we’re build to stuff the run up the middle. They have zero passing game. Their line can’t stop our pass rush. And their defense is marginal at best so as long as we’re able to score SOME points, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the D only give up 3-10 points. And the Colts…they’re just a disaster. As long as we can keep Freeney and Mathis at bay, it shouldn’t be that hard.
I think there’s a perfectly reasonable chance we go into the bye 4-2, but I don’t think that means all that much. The weird part is, we could easily be going into it 5-1. Still, at that point we still won’t have faced any real competition, unless you think the Bills are for real, which I don’t. Baltimore could and probably will just embarrass us, and even if Pittsburgh doesn’t look like the team they were a year ago, they never overlook us. Every one of those guys would love to be the guy to take Dalton’s head off. Tennessee and Houston are better teams, St Louis is going to rebound at some point. Even going into the bye at 4-2, looking at the schedule it wouldn’t shock me at all if we rattled off 7 or 8 straight losses. That’s not really a horrible indictment…those are all games that would be tough no matter what. I only lump the Seahawks in there because travelling to Seattle is notoriously tough.
Still, I think it’s possible we end up with 6-8 wins this year and before this season started I seriously considered the possibility we could go 0-16. 7 wins would be a pretty huge victory for a young team and would put us in shape to be a contender next year.
Not very excited about 4-2
We are about to play 2 bad teams. I expect to win both games, That does not mean I think we are a good team, yet. Of the teams we have played so far, I think that Buffalo is overrated, and had a let down after an emotional win, San Fran is slightly underrated, and Orton is a QB who can win when his running game and defense is working.
The games against Balitmore, Houston, Pittsburgh and Tennessee will be a real test. If we go 3-3 in these games, then I will be excited.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
I expect the worst..
But I fully believe they can win the next two games handily. They should have beaten Denver as well. We’ll see. I’ll tell you what does make me feel really excited..
Sticking with the O-line, many of the names atop our current offensive tackle rankings are not the usual suspects. Is there one in particular that you’d point to as a relative unknown to keep an eye on the rest of the way?
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Khaled: I’m guessing everyone else will say Andrew Whitworth, but I think he had his big year last year. I’m interested to see when Eugene Monroe gets back if he can keep his high level of play up. Consistency is so often key at the tackle spot and I want to see how he holds up against Dwight Freeney.
Neil: See 1) above. Tyron Smith is the name I think has the best chance to still be up there at the end. Obviously, Andrew Whitworth is playing the best at the moment but if this is new to you, you clearly weren’t reading us last year. As for the others I have doubts that all of them will mainatain their current form but I’d love to be proved wrong.
Sam: He’s not an unknown, well not really, but I’ve just decided officially that Andrew Whitworth is the best left tackle in football. I wrote an article a while back suggesting he was well on his way, and with the relative drop-off of Jake Long and Joe Thomas, Whitworth has assumed the crown 1/4 of the way through this season.
Ben: Tyron Smith has come in straight away and looked like a natural NFL tackle. He struggled a little with the Redskins’ pass rush but aside from that, he’s looked almost flawless. He looks like a keeper for the Cowboys and don’t be surprised to see them experiment with him at left tackle, perhaps this season if Doug Free continues to struggle there.
Nathan: I’ll be curious to see how right tackle Tony Pashos of the Cleveland Browns does from now on. In the first three weeks, the Browns rotated Artis Hicks and Oniel Cousins and it was a disaster. This past week, Pashos was a big improvement, and I’ll be watching to see if this can help Colt McCoy step up like I thought he would.
And he’ll retire a Bengal.
That was PFF 5 questions, this is PFF ReFocused BUF@CIN:
1) Andrew Whitworth is the new Jake Long
.
Jake Long had taken over for Joe Thomas as the best left tackle in football, but now there’s a new kid in town. Andrew Whitworth’s level of play has consistently improved since the day he moved from guard out to left tackle, and with the drop-off in play from Thomas and Long, he might just be the best blindside tackle in football at the minute. His +3.7 grade is a product of allowing just a single pressure from 40 snaps in pass protection, and also routinely locking onto Shawn Merriman and taking him for a ride in the run game. If Whitworth maintains this level of play – and there’s been nothing to suggest he won’t – we’ve got a new man atop the totem pole.
2) Carlos Dunlap is beginning to dominate
.
He’s certainly had the time to get himself ready, as the Bengals seemed incredibly reluctant to bench Robert Geathers for the clearly superior Carlos Dunlap last season. Even now, Dunlap has only actually started one game, this one, despite playing 135 snaps to Geathers’ 58 this season. Maybe they don’t want to disrespect Geathers, who has been a loyal servant to the Bengals for years, but players understand this is a business, and one driven on bottom lines, and the bottom line here is Dunlap is much better, and he’s earned it. Dunlap’s +6.1 PFF grade against the Bills was his best of the young season and came from five pressures, a batted pass, and a defensive stop. Given the pressure he’s been generating it’s quite remarkable that he has yet to notch himself a sack.
And the let down..
3) Pat Sims letting the side down.
.
The Bengals D has been in fine form this season but one player underachieving at the moment is defensive tackle Pat Sims. For a man of Sims’ … how shall we say? … dimensions, he really does get turned around and driven all around the point of attack at will sometimes, and there really shouldn’t be any excuse for it. Sims scored a -2.0 in this game from just 20 snaps on defense and the Bengals need him to up his game.
Bonus Tidbits:
• Much was made of the fairytale story of Jesse Holley, of reality TV fame, catching passes for the Cowboys. Andrew Hawkins was on the same show, and caught his first NFL passes in this game. Also got a +1.3 grade from his six snaps of action.
• Andy Dalton went deep (20+ yards in the air) six times in this game, completing four of them for 140 yards and a TD.
Game Ball
Carlos Dunlap, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
Disrupted Fitzpatrick all day long, maybe enough to finally get the starting gig?
by Cry on Oct 6, 2011 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm just excited that...
They’ve been in every game so far this year. I don’t have the greatest of expectations but you can tell the guys are playing with pride. I think 3-3 is a very realistic expectation.
Anything less than 4-2
Will be a disappointment to me. I absolutely see no reason they should not win these two games. I do expect them to both be close games though because if we get a lead Marvin will sit on it.— No matter how small that lead is.
"Next season will be better" circa 1990
Excited? LOL disappointment is a legacy of this francise
Win a playoff game, I’ll be excited then. Encouraged, hopeful, pleased with the progress they’ve shown YES. Excited? Not an adjective I use with that team.
I think they can win every game they have left if their defense keeps playing at this level and the offense improves, they could be the sleeper team of the NFL. BUT until they are in the playoffs I will hold my excitement. Too many Lucy pulling the ball away moments for this Charlie Brown to be excited.
This is 2009 2.0...
Our Bengals are going to play all their games tight this year. The defense is dominant and will keep them in all games. It will just come down to execution from the offense. A few tipping points going their way and I wouldn’t be surprised to see 9-7 or even 10-6 out of these underdogs!
We are in absolutely no position to expect to beat anyone
Dalton is playing very well. So well in fiact the we tend to forget that he is a rookie and will continue to make rookie mistakes at times. Our D is playing very well – I don’t really think they are the top D on football – top 5 probably. But they are still capable of a few subpar series. Anyone who reads my posts knows I am a rather positive fan, but my tentancy lately is to try to keep the atmosphere real and actually that is positive. This team still has let downs but I don’t see the same mistakes over and over. The are learning and getting better every game and as ML would say “That is a good thing”.
I have no expectations except that on Sunday I will enjoy the game and the prospect of watching a very young team grow together and prepare to bring in 2-3 players next year to set us up for not just a year of good ball but, with our youth, several years of competitive playoff contention.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
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