What They're Sayin': Few Reactions But Fierce When They Did
by Josh Kirkendall on Dec 5, 2011 10:17 AM EST
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Monday morning was dreary. A soaking rain blotting out the sun with a piercing and disorienting alarm clock banging away like an uncoordinated drummer in a band that hasn't touched an instrument their entire lives. A little extra coffee in the morning should do the trick. And it does wake up the tired zombie that is myself, but it doesn't preach patience or the expectation that Monday is just going to suck no matter what.
Driving down death highway (aka, I-75) on my way into Dayton early this morning, traffic patterns change while others refuse to pay attention to the road, colliding in the fast lane and causing thousands upon thousands to be late for their own jobs Monday morning. iTunes on my computer keeps shutting down.
It's a grand way to start the week, especially after a 35-7 thrashing by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon.
During our weekly surf to find out what others are saying about the Cincinnati Bengals, we are slightly amazed at the cricket -- though some did react.
+ Peter King of Sports Illustrated offers this up during his introduction with week 13 opening thoughts:
4. If the playoffs began today, Cincinnati and Chicago would be in. That's why I'm glad the playoffs don't begin today.
On the other hand King is doing a feature for the magazine's weekly publication of the 1986 Cincinnati Bengals "and examined their mental and physical lives a quarter-century later."
The findings of our study will surprise you a bit, and I hope you take some time this week to digest our nine-page report.
+ Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes:
They played like children Sunday. No mistake was left unmade. They wrecked their impressive first drive with two penalties that took points off the board. Then they let that affect them the rest of the game.
+ Gregg Doyle, briefly a local sports radio host, of CBSSports.com write:
I'm not saying that for your benefit, but mine. I'm sitting here, staring at my computer, telling myself not to go off on the Bengals after this 35-7 loss Sunday to the Steelers. This isn't the same old Cincinnati franchise that people have grown to know and loathe over the years, a dislikeable team with idiots at receiver and a quitter at quarterback. This isn't that team. I don't need to be nice to the Bengals, but maybe I can avoid being cruel.
Though cruel seems like a plausible option, given what just happened here.
+ Reid Forgrave of Fox Sports Ohio says that the Bengals aren't for real:
This was a statement game. And at Heinz Field on Sunday, the Bengals' statement could be heard, loud and clear, all the way back in Cincinnati: No. These Bengals are not for real. They are not the comeback story of the year. Instead, the 35-7 shellacking to the Steelers only proved the 2011 Bengals have been a mirage, built by feasting on inferior competition.
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time for the national media to jump off the band wagon.
thank you sir may i have another
" Mike Brown is the owner that Cincy doesn't deserve, not the one it needs..."
The game was even worse than the score
The O line———-bad….we looked terrible….everyone did
Penalties————bad……( I will admit…some major missed calls) little home cookn
Secondary———-missing……started out ok….then just lost their mind…..Crocker and Jennings need cut TODAY…..and Reggie looked terrrible……..
other WRs and Rungame——-non existent……….I am bout done with Benson…..just about done
Once they are cut
Who do you expect to fill those spots.. Cause we don’t have the depth to be cutting three starters
by Toasted_Orange_Monster on Dec 5, 2011 10:35 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I dont really mean cut them today buddy
relax………………seriously…..cut them today……being sarcastic on how bad they played…….settle down buddy
by ticalcaldwell on Dec 5, 2011 10:36 AM EST up reply actions
I am all for
Not resigning Benson. Next year we need to draft accordingly … #1 Cb. #1 OG #2 Rb … Then just draft the best defensive players out there … I get your point but seemed like you were interested in cutting them now
by Toasted_Orange_Monster on Dec 5, 2011 10:39 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree with those draft choices
My exact choices as well….buddy….lol
by ticalcaldwell on Dec 5, 2011 10:43 AM EST up reply actions
This draft ordering does not solve the problem of
Jerome Simpson not being much of anything, and both Simpson and Caldwell possible candidates to be lost in free agency.
Given that this franchise loves to draft wide receivers early, and rarely drafts OG early, I would bet heavily against them picking a guard in round #1.
by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 5, 2011 10:43 AM EST up reply actions
and Can we finally call Jerome Simpson
a bust now? Two games against the Steelers -how many catches did he have?
by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 5, 2011 10:44 AM EST up reply actions
We'll pick up a free agent receiver to play across from AJ
I’m hoping for Colston or Meachum. Nicks wouldn’t be a bad choice either – he looked fantastic yesterday against Green Bay.
Also...
We drafted Steinbach and Whitworth in the early 2nd round. We’ve drafted as many guards early in recent years as receivers. You really do not enjoy this team at all, do you?
Whitworth is a Guard?
I’ve actually charted the draft picks going back 20 years, and you’re way off, receivers way outnumber guards in rounds 1-3.
by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 5, 2011 11:13 AM EST up reply actions
Linebacker is the most common position drafted early, incidentally
and it’s pretty clear that this franchise’s inability to grade linebackers in the draft has been one of its long term problems (arguably even before Mike Brown took over ownership of the team). In the 40+ years of Bengal drafts they have two home grown all-pro seasons at linebacker, the last of which occurred when Gerald Ford was President.
by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 5, 2011 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
Where do you think Whit played for his first 3 years?
We drafted him to play guard. He played tackle in college but was projected as an NFL guard. We only moved him back to tackle after Levi Jones crapped out on us.
even if you count him as a guard
and Steinbach it’s still 2 guards and 6 wide receivers taken in rds 1-3 since Lewis became HC (and even more lopsided before then). But both Steinbach and Whitworth can play tackle which is considered the more difficult position to find.
by occams_tiger_teeth on Dec 5, 2011 9:04 PM EST up reply actions
Steinbach was actually projected as a L Tackle
We put him at gaurd cus we had Levi.
"At the very end, somebody took a dump right where I stood in the dugout every day." Dusty Baker
If we lose Jerome and Caldwell in free agency,
Don’t we pick up draft picks if they sign with other teams? At this point, those draft picks are more valuable than these two….
I would draft a safety in the first
I think we can get a good corner in the second round. If you look at Pitt and Bal they have have play makers at safety. I think Barron from Alabama might fit that role.
by sgiridharan1982 on Dec 5, 2011 11:45 AM EST up reply actions
Its obvious the defensive problems stem from the cornerback issues
He seems like a bright, nice guy but, Jennings couldn’t cover a sleeping toddler with a blanket. Pretty much had to play nickel the whole game to cover up for this deficiency. Without Hall or Clements we were going to have problems regardless. The pass rush is good, great when Dunlap is in there, but not enough to make up for a clueless secondary. Anyone doing a draft and not including a cornerback in the first three picks is out of their minds. We don’t know if Hall can come back to the same level after his injury. Without at least one shutdown corner, Zims defense doesn’t work. I saw how good this offense really was against a great defense and it left me a little flat. Too much pressure up the middle. The inexperience showed on some of our receivers, after the play broke down they weren’t helping AD enough.( not talking to you Jermaine.) The big picture is I still love my Bengals. My best homer prediction preseason was 8-8. I still think we do better than that!!!! We have two guys that are being talked about for Rookie Of the Year. and next year, we get two of top 32 athletes available. So why not smile anyway?
love you post!
Yes, we definitely should draft a CB in the first (if not then the second or third, no later). We need a WR to come in and help Green and Gresham out, maybe even pick up a veteran, if were not too gun shy after the whole Antonio Bryant fiasco…
I agree with cornerback issues
But I think a great safety can vastly improve an average to good secondary.
by sgiridharan1982 on Dec 5, 2011 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
You start with cornerbacks
Then you add the good safeties. It all starts on the outside. Keithster is right – Zim’s defense needs at LEAST one shutdown guy. Leon’s one of the better #2 CB’s in the league, so when we had JJo and Leon didn’t have to match up against X receivers we basically had two shutdown guys. If we had the defensive front we have this year with the secondary we had the past two years, it could have been a top 3 defense. It’s why it was such a boneheaded BUNGLE on the part of the front office to let JJo get away. Look what it’s done for Houston.
What is the status of Dalton
I haven’t seen anything…Did we just take him out because game was over….or is he really hurt???
oh yeah
We saw how good Dalton was, when Gradkowski came in the game….Did you see his feet and passing stance…….holy moly he looked bad……..
by ticalcaldwell on Dec 5, 2011 10:33 AM EST up reply actions
I'd hope
Hes not or we are in trouble
by Toasted_Orange_Monster on Dec 5, 2011 10:36 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
he had to at least be in some pain
Both Harrison and Keisel landed their entire bodies on top of him. His hip went in to the ground pretty hard.
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
Looked
Similar to Leinhart’s injury… Thought he had hurt his collarbone
by Toasted_Orange_Monster on Dec 5, 2011 10:41 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
that was a solid 520 pounds plus
that landed on top of him…It didn’t make me cringe as much as Green on that touchdown in our last meeting, but I didn’t like seeing it.
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
It really is hard to say anything positive about this game........
other than when it was finally over and we have another game next week. Other than that, everybody contributed to this loss via poor play, penalties, etc.
by The Van Buren Boys on Dec 5, 2011 10:33 AM EST reply actions
The injuries are too much for us to handle
But injuries don’t give up over 100 yards in penalties in a half. For the life of me I can’t figure out what happened yesterday. That wasn’t the team that’s played up until this point in the year. They played scared the whole day. I don’t know how you fix that, and I don’t think they can this year, but Marvin better come up with something this offseason because yesterday was really disturbing. I dont’ even mind getting blown out every once in a while – it happens, just ask the Steelers – but you can’t EVER play like that if you want to be a serious contender.
I don't think they played scared "the whole day"
I can see it after the second drive turned into a punt after a penalty moved them way out of FG range. After that, both the offense and defense seemed to think they had missed their chance and almost give up.
We do need to get off to a good start against the Texans at home. After the snow ball against Pitt we need to start fast to get all that madness out of our heads!
Am I shocked?
No, the Pundicks (intentional) have been waiting with bated breath, no not waiting, DREAMING of this opportunity to go off on the Bengals and slam them. They were only pretending to be nice to us, they’re real feelings are now beginning to show…fuck them I say….
It is ridick-ulous alright
Any time you lose a game, douche bags everywhere are waiting to make themselves feel good by saying “see I told you so”. As you said…fuck them
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
Grain of salt
It’s hard to take what the pundits say seriously, as the start of the year they predicted the Bengals would go 0-16 or 1-15. They are trying so desparately to prove themselves right. However they are still WAAAAAAY off from their expert prediction. Yes, the Bengals played poorly – they had one of those games that Pitt had against the Ravens on the first game of the season (another 7-35 game). The pundits didn’t say the Steelers were not for real… give me, and the Bengals a freakin’ break!
Lol yeah they did man
Warren Sapp was the most vocal. All Steelers fans heard for that entire week was that they were done, too old, too slow etc. I don’t think I heard one positive word on tv about the Steelers that week.
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
I actually remember a lot of analysts saying
These are the Steelers and they will rebound. I remember because I was wondering if they were wrong simply because teams that have lost the Super Bowl over the last several years have done horrible in the next season.
There were some that slammed the Steelers, but NOTHING like this. It doesn’t matter anyway. If what the “analysts” think/say mattered then we’d only have 1 win right now.
This team was supposed to go 0-16.
Feasting on inferior teams is fine with me. Can’t wait for next year.
That's why the Bengals have 7 wins more
than they expected. I could easily compare these Bengals to the Atlanta Hawks. Beat bad teams, give a run for better teams, and a blowout here and there (winning or losing). A few good players and we’ll be forreal.
Feasting on Inferior teams
hmmmm…….How is that a knock by the analyst anyway? LOL, your supposed to feast on inferior opponents. If what they said mattered then we’d have only 1 win. Guess what? We have 7!
National commentary
It is all about past seasons… these are the same people who ranked them 32 out of 32 teams going into the season… these people don’t study rosters and watch games from start to finish… they just say " oh the Bengals, 1990’s, haha they suck, let’s make fun of them"… this is the first game all year the Bengals were not competitive, oh my god the sky is falling, bad journalism.
This is VERY revisionist, but...
Two freak penalties erase at least 3 points on the opening drive: 10-35.
Tate makes a stupid decision that basically gives Pitt 7 and erases a scoring opportunity for us, potential 10 point swing: 13-28.
Blatant block in the back takes Miles out of an easy tackle on punt coverage, hands Pitt 7 points they should have had to earn: 13-21.
And the lopsided score led to Dalton coming out early and not getting a chance at trying to even things. Three plays, three small mistakes, a MUCH different looking box score and different storylines today. Take it for what it’s worth. No excuses.
P.I. called on Crocker
led to 7 points too. It was a horrible call and they called a face mask when their wasn’t a face mask.
AMAS
Yes there was
But it was the defensive player that was on the receiving end.
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
Yeah when Reggie Nelson was flagged for that
I was wondering how the hell he grabbed a face mask when his hands were down around the defenders elbows…
And the block in the back that was missed on Brown’s return… ugh.
I know, those calls aren’t why we lost, we fell apart yesterday. Just saying it disgusts me when I see such blatant missed or bad calls.
by Oregonbengalsfan on Dec 5, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions
Well
I’ve seen somewhere that the reason a block in the back wasn’t called is because his hands were on the shoulder pads or something. I haven’t been able to rewatch the game so I can’t comment. All I can say is calls are missed all the time, and as hard as it seems to be to believe to fans of teams that aren’t the Steelers, bad calls/no calls happen to us a lot as well.
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
They happen to everyone
Not being able to overcome them is what loses you football games. But the block in the back was pretty flagrant. I’m sure that play is up on the Steelers website as a highlight. It’s pretty easy to see – just before Brown catches the punt, the gunner (I still think it’s Jeromy Miles) gets shoved from behind and takes a superman dive about 10 yards. It’s right on camera and right in front of the ref…You don’t fall like that unless you’re running in that direction and someone shoves you from behind.
Again, it didn’t lose the game. And it didn’t help that on the drive that led to that punt, a critical drive for our offense to try and get some momentum going, we did nothing but draw a holding penalty and throw 3 straight incompletions to totally lose even the field position battle. But you’re looking at going into halftime with a 14 point deficit vs a 21 point deficit. Big difference in terms of gameplan.
I don't even know how to find highlights on the
Steeler site. The problem is, On NFL .com, the quality is so bad, and the video is so small. When I have the game at home, I can slow it down and view it in nice quality. In that video though, it appears that he is on the dudes shoulder pad, but again, I can’t really comment on that. As far as the way he fell, what I was saying is that if he gets pushed by his shoulder pad, even if the guy is behind him, it’s not really a block in the back (again, what i’ve seen somewhere, I would need to look up the rule)
I do agree it was huge though, but at the same time, there is no guarantee that the Steelers wouldn’t have went those 55 yards in that 1:27
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Who the hell's interrupting my Kung Fu? - Black Dynamite
With two D's, for a double dose of this pimpin'
Oh yeah
I wasn’t saying that other teams don’t get them… they all do. Was just saying how much I hate the completely obvious ones.
And the block in the back, the guy shoved the in the back with his forearm. There was no debating that one.
by Oregonbengalsfan on Dec 5, 2011 3:17 PM EST up reply actions
The PI call on Crocker was all Crocker's fault
That ball was 5 yards long and couldn’t have been caught, and Crocker just panicked when he lost the ball in flight and ran right into Brown. Stupid, stupid play that should make it really clear to everyone in the coaching staff that Crocker is done. Considering everyone seems to readily admit that Crocker isn’t a cover safety and is really in there to defend the run, isn’t a little strange how often you see him running one-on-one with receivers and getting beat like a drum? That’s why you can’t put guys out there who can’t cover. Opposing offenses will find a way to pick on them until something like that happens.
Layed An Egg
Every team has a game where they lay an egg every season. Unfortunately for the Bengals they chose yesterday to lay theirs. The positive is that the Steelers beat us mentally more than physically. Mental mistakes can be corrected. Whitworth, Livings and Cook had terrible games. They looked like had never seen a line stunt in their lives.
Bravo to Anthony Collins for coming into a difficult situation and playing really well.
How little faith do the coaches have in Brandon Ghee when they preferred to play Crocker in the slot, or play zone rather than giving him a chance at corner?
We need to pick up a veteran #2 receiver over the offseason to replace Simpson. He simply disappears too often. I actually saw Caldwell open underneath on a couple of plays, Dalton didn’t see him. Although we don’t need him next year with Shipley coming back and Hawkins on the team.
We desperately need Sims and Dunlap back for the Houston game, if for anything to keep guys fresh to help stop the run.
Let’s regroup and beat Houston. We are still very much in the playoff hunt.
Also, I fully agree with you on the #2 receiver.....
Simpson has had a few good games for us (none against the Steelers (or Stealers)), but we need to give Dalton another legitimate target other than Green/Gresham….Simpson/Caldwell just have not taken advantage of when Green missed a couple of games, and neither has shown any upgrade over Shipley…losing Shipley was a big loss for us….
It is a good point
to show that most teams in the NFL this year have laid eggs……The Ravens lost to the darn Jaguars…..just sayin…
Strip the ball vs. make the easy tackle
There is plenty to be disappointed in yesterday’s game. Something I haven’t seen anyone else mention is the number of times I saw our defensive guys trying to strip the ball from the carrier instead of just making the tackle! Redman and Spindenhall turned out several big gains with our defenders looking like turnstiles of hands slapping at the ball. I know when it works it pays big dividends, but eventually someone has to make the tackle. Arggh!! Okay, I feel better now. Bring on the Texans!
To be fair...
With the hole we were in, the only way we were going to get back in it was with a turnover. I don’t think that’s their normal MO, I think when the game got to a certain point the coaches told them to start being more aggressive on the ball. It’s risky, but we had to try something.
I noticed it happening with a 7-0 lead
Maybe that’s part of where we fell apart after those penalties, but they were doing it well before the game got out of hand.
I agree to a point...
…but when it’s not being effective, you forfeit more yardage and eventually more points and the hole gets deeper. Again, I know when it works it pays off big, and you’re right it’s not their normal MO. I suppose it was a little disheartening to see it happening so much and knowing that we had reached that point of desperation. In the end, that’s probably what really bothered me….we looked a wee bit desperate to make something happen that would not have been necessary if we had simply played more soundly in the 1st two quarters.
As I posted above
I noticed it before the game got out of hand. When it was still a 1-2 possession game I noticed it happening.
Maybe it's time to call it for what it is............
We beat:
Cleveland (twice)
Buffalo
Jacksonville
Indy
Seattle
Tennessee
Lost to:
Pittsburgh (twice)
Baltimore
San Fran
Denver (pre-Tebow)
Definite improvement over last year (not tough to do), but still not quite ready to play with the Big Boys. If this is news to people then they haven’t been following close enough.
It's the same, only different
The thing is...
We hung in there with all of those teams until yesterday. The San Fran game was a weird one – neither team felt like they really wanted to win that one, but we didn’t get handled by them the way they’ve done to a lot of other people. Tennessee’s legit, and Buffalo was putting up 35 points on everyone when we played them.
We;re not there yet, but I don’t think we’re that far away. I really think a trip to the playoffs, even a VERY brief one, will do a lot for Dalton and AJ. Just give them a taste of what it’s like so that when they go (and hopefully keep going) in the next year or so, it won’t be a shock. They’ll have the pieces in place and the experience to make it work.
Agreed-Learning Curve
It's the same, only different
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