jletha

Not saying it wont happen, as they are very talented like you say, but they are abysmal on offense right now. Burrow is playing bottom-2 level QB right now. Almost across the board Zach Wilson has better stats. I know he is injured, but there are limitations to that offense beyond Burrows calf. They actually lost some real talent in FA (both starting safeties and Hayden Hurst). Also Burrow really relied on the defense to win key games. The Patriots, Buccaneers and Ravens in the playoff game come to mind just from last year. TLDR I dont expect the Bengals to come back this year.

The excuses Burrow is receiving from the media over this calf is insane. Like hes the first QB to play injured. Injury or not he STINKS! If he is the second best QB in the league, like many fans and media believed, you dont play this bad over a 4-game stretch ever.

I agree that stopping the run will be a huge key in this game. We have had good success stopping the run at the LOS but we struggle with tackling when they get into space like on second level runs or screens. We NEED to clean this up against Miami.

The last two seasons we beat the Chiefs in the regular season. Those games were circled in red right when the schedule came out. We can win big games in the regular season and still fade in the playoffs. Obviously a win here is huge for the division title, but it doesn't nullify our chances in February.

I could see him being activated but not playing significant time. He hasnt even dressed yet. You dont go from street clothes to starting without an injury or injuries. But I could see on the seldom blitz, where they NEED man coverage at the line you bring him in for a few plays.

I also feel better about McD in control, being able to use the NE game as a template for a scheme. Last year Frazier just did what he always did. It was so aggravating that SF and LAC essentially stopped Miami and then they came to Buffalo and looked explosive again (even though we won).

This sentence gets repeated so often nowadays. Its becoming like when people would describe how to guard Curry back in 2015-16. "Just pick him up at half court, get up in him". Its much easier said than done. But I would expect, if anyone can do it we can. While the secondary isnt fast they are disciplined and experienced. Thus far our D-line has held up against the run and pass by rushing only 4. That should allow us to drop 7-8 all game without worry. As YPP said on twitter, we need to ensure we load up on the short side of the field. That is where they primarily look to throw.

https://x.com/PFF_Steve/status/1706129510037368978?s=20

We need someone that is in between Murph and Brownie.

Ran a poor route on the 3rd int against the Jets too.

Obviously putting up 70 is insane but a few things: - Their first two games came down to the last play. NE was 1 foot away from converting that first down and having a real shot at winning. NE really slowed them down in the second half. They can be slowed down. - Last season their offense was on fire (as was ours) in the beginning but things change, defenses adjust. Our defense is playing as good as any right now and I like our offense against their defense more then Their O against our D. This is going to be a tough game for both teams

That run of games: SF, Denver, NE, Mia (I know the Pitt game was in there too) was the most impressive display of quarterbacking Ive ever seen and probably will ever see. Allen was completely unstoppable for those games.

I think Morris will be more than serviceable in a spot-start as the Knox replacement. He can handle more of the blocking duties that Knox does and we will just rely a little more on Kincaid in the pass game. Morris has proven to be an effective pass catcher as well at times. We have good TE depth.

https://x.com/pathammer/status/1704805206708703468?s=20 Pat Hammer says the storm will be gone

I feel like Buffalo under McD doesnt often fall victim to trap games. We generally beat bad teams down handily. Its usually a talking point that our stats are inflated against bad teams.

Allen also had times where he looked lost with Daboll. The 2021 season had several stinkers (Pitt, Jax, Indy). It was on Daboll then to work it out and we had the best Bills team Id ever seen in my 35 years going into the playoffs. Now the same task goes to Dorsey.

I felt like Josh took the easy throw almost the entire game last night (and was very good at them) except for basically 3 throws. Look at his spray chart. https://x.com/NextGenStats/status/1701441061560934432?s=20 It was just that the three times he didnt it was a pick. On the int that was to Davis he had Kincaid underneath that would have likely been a first too. But this idea that he was reckless all night isnt accurate. He took the easy stuff most of the night, I think he almost gets bored though.

One x-factor is scheme. Were so used to Frazier being here but we dont know what the McD defense will look like.

Can you imagine any team without their Franchise QB? What are we even saying here? We have better skill position players than the Chiefs FWIW. What are the Bengals doing without Burrow, how is their O-line? Burrow was sacked 41 times last year (6th in the league) and they beat our brains in in the playoffs. Every single fan base hates their O-line. Josh runs out of clean pockets all the time.

Continue to neglect that...by having a top 3 offense in the league every year? 29 other teams are envious of our offense I really dont see a path for our offense to be worse than last year. Status quo I can comprehend but not worse than having to sign Brown/Cole late in the season. And that offense was top 3 in almost every metric. The defense has many more pathways to being worse statistically than last year (No Edmunds, aging secondary, Von out for significant time, change at DC). Im not saying it will happen but the pathways are there more-so than the offense. That said I will take that if they can situationally show up when it matters in the playoffs. End of the day ill take improved offense and worse defense any day.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1696880451481223324?s=20 Remember when Roseman drafted this guy one spot before Justin Jefferson...Im sure they are calling for his head in Philly

Thats why I said its more important to have individual game wreckers than regular season statistics.

Now do all the other teams...

To me the nail in the coffin was that the Bengals were starting 3 backups or backups-of-backups on the O-line still bullied our line and Burrow dices us up. It wasnt even a stalemate, we had nothing. And then the Chiefs, who were statistically a worse defense, handled them. It doesnt matter about regular season stats its about handling the team in the moment and having individual game wreckers.

yea hitting on the most important position in all of team sports is usually pretty important. Many GMs have been fired for missing on QBs, I dont get how youre using it as a knock on him. Edmunds was also a very good 1st round pick.