Enemy Fan Forums: Cincinnati Bengals

I always take preseason with a grain of salt in expectations of the regular season. That is the time to test players for making team. Now that has been solidified this weekend against the Vikings is going to see if we are going to have yet again another long year or turn the corner and see the beginning of something special.

I do not want to see "We competed" or we lost but it was "respectable". This team is either going to be competitive and win the important close games(unlike every other year in the ZT era) or continue to look like they will get better at some point...just not now.

Will this Sunday's game define the season? Of course not, but it will be a true preview of what to expect from this team. All this offseason talk and speculation has come to an end, now is the time...or not.

Let's hope its not another long year boys and girls we've had enough of that.

Good football teams expect to win
Poor football teams hope to win.
The Bengals since ZT took over are hoping
To win. I hope that mindset changes.come Sunday

According to the Vikings board, if they win we aren't a playoff team, if they lose we are...... The old Dalton/Green era test we knew so well.

I think it is a good matchup for us to start off and hopefully get a win and gain some confidence with these young
players. This is one of the youngest rosters in the league but we also have some good vets in their prime, Boyd, Mixon, Reader, Trey
Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, Jessie Bates, Von Bell etc.

We have leaders to go along with the youth. We will see how this roster that Taylor has finally built will hold up.

I have a quiet confidence going into this game, something I haven't had in years. Put or shut time for Zac Taylor and company.

The trenches on both sides look significantly upgraded. No excuses.

This is a young team with some big pieces coming back from injury. If we stay healthy this should be the bottom of our curve. As the season progresses and the young team gets more experience and cohesion we should progressively get better.

I expect a rough start and for things to improve as the weeks tick by.

Like others have stated, the first game or even several games in no way indicates how the rest of the season will go. You see every year where a team comes out hot the first 4-5 games then falls apart. Or vice versa. Obviously we want to win and will definitely feel better if we do so but it's not the end of anyone's season after 1 game. Especially this year with there being an extra game on the schedule, our QB coming back from injury, rookie WR, and OL that hasn't really played together.

I think the Vikings will really test this team.
Especially for this 200 billion dollar defense the
Front office has spent.
Minnesota can move with chains on air
Or ground. You have to keep them in 3rd and long
Anything less Cousins can eat them up on checkdowns
I think the Bengals can move the ball on the Vikings
But 60-pass attempts is not the way to go about it
This game will show alot.
The Vikings have one of the better offenses they will face
In the 1st 4-weeks

They will have to block our guys well though, and they have Rashod Hill at LT playing against Hendrickson and company and their
interior doesn't look great right now either. In order for that Offense to flourish they will have to run block well and shut down our
guy's pass rush. Think we have really improved where the Vikes have degraded, we will see come Sunday if this is true or not.

They definitely have the skill players though no question.

I think Vikings D is vulnerable, and their offense is hit and miss. Hopefully miss come Sunday.

Hope our OL is blocking well in the run game to take pressure off of Burrow early so he can
get in a rhythm. I said it before that I think the key for our Offense will be if we can play with discipline. No false starts or TO's.

On Defense it will be to shut down Dalvin and the running game to get them into 3rd and longs so we can pin our ears back and
get after Cousins. I think this is where we could run away with the game, what you say is where they could run away with it.

If they start fast and score TD's we could be in trouble.

I really have high expectations for this defense. I think we have assembled a good group of players on defense and all the news from training camp and how they looked this preseason. I'm really expecting the defense to keep the game manageable. I know the Vikings have some talent on offense and they'll certainly score some points. But I think the defense plays good enough to win.

My concerns are that we have some turnovers and give the Vikings some short fields or we start to string multiple 3 and outs together and the defense starts to break.

This will be a major test for the Bengals run defense.

If Bengals can manage to limit the Vikings rushing attack then very good things will follow.

Think this is a very formidable task but believe the Bengals rise to the occasion if the coaches can just stay out of the way.

Our number 1 pick looks like crap. We have no idea what our QB will be because he has a whole ten games under his belt, he’s coming off a major injury, and two handoffs and a screen are the entirety of his pre-season. Our head coach is a joke, and there is no rational reason to think he’s any better this year. There’s that irrepressible hope of fans, but there’s no real basis.

Did you watch the trenches this Preseason? I know it is only PS, but still. This is where it helps every neg you talk about here.

Chase and Burrow will get it together, you want to bet otherwise?

The basis of hope is in the trenches. If we sucked in the trenches all PS I would be right there with you but I saw not only
improvement but CONSIDERABLE improvement in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Coaching is the question but adding
both Pollack and Hobby could help out Zac and Lou big time.

Why am I so damn optimistic?

I could have said "Bullish", I guess.

Here's why:

Heading in to 2020, with COVID protocols, no preseason, and a rookie QB (that we were all very excited about), here were the people that we were relying on to help lead the team:

AJ Green was finally going to be 100% healthy. It was widely rumored that he could have played the end of 2019, and instead of risking an injury on worthless games, he was held out to be completely healed for the 2020 season. He was in what was essentially a contract year, getting a one-year prove-it franchise tag and a salary of $18 million. We figured he would be out to show the world what he can still be capable of. We also thought with Burrow that he might be even better. Andy Dalton might have been holding him back.

There was hope that the light might finally go on for John Ross.

Geno Atkins was declining but now we have DJ Reader to free him up to rush the passer. This would be the best pairing the Bengals have fielded in ages.

Carlos Dunlap was still a big pass rushing threat, and he finished 2019 very strong.

The Bengals moved on from the enigmatic Dre Kirkpatrick to sign a CB to a high-dollar contract. Trae Waynes was also thought to be a massive upgrade in tackling.

The offensive line would be better with the free agent XSF to help shore up the interior of the offensive line. Mike Jordan would be better in his second year in the system.

Joe Mixon got paid. Now, he will get played. More involved in the passing game. Fewer depressed sideline jogs on third down.

Joe Burrow is coming to the Bengals fresh off the greatest single season in NCAA history.

Of what was just listed as 2020 breakout/standout hopefuls (AJ Green, Geno, Dunlap, Waynes, and Mixon most specifically) that represented the greatest allocation of your monies as well. And we all know how essentially every single one of them performed in 2020.

Fast forward to 2021:

Your shiny new toy at WR is coming off (with a year off) his record-setting performance in the SEC, at just 19 years of age. Chase has had some drops, but Tee Higgins had 9 drops in 2020 and was a huge addition to the WR corps. Chase offers a dimension that we have not had here for some time. He will be used in screens, and sweeps, as well as threatening deep. He represents a huge upgrade at the position and joins an already-solid WR corps.

The offensive line has added veteran Riley Reiff to shore up the other tackle position. Talented rookies in Smith and Carman will push for playing time at Guard position if either XSF or Spain don't perform. Fred Johnson and Isian Prince played well in preseason and are quality backups.

The defensive line has been bolstered by adding Hendrickson, Ogunjobi, Hill, Sample, and Hodge.

The secondary added Owuzie, who appeared to be the best defensive player not named Bates in camp. They also added Mike Hilton, weakening a division foe as well as bolstering the slot CB position not to mention his blitz abilities. Perhaps most importantly for the secondary is the added depth that is already being tested with Apple and Allen. If former starter Darius Phillips is now your #5 corner, that is quite an upgrade in depth.

The following players are still in their prime and will be returning following injuries that forced them to miss significant time in 2020:

CJ Uzomah
Joe Mixon
XSF
Jonah Williams
Trey Hopkins
DJ Reader
Sam Hubbard
Trae Waynes (fingers crossed)
Josh Tupou (opt out)

There is not ONE of those additions or those returning from injury that anyone would describe as "old" or ready for a massive drop off like we saw in Dunlap and Green (and Geno, but I think his was largely due to injury). The biggest turd in the punch bowl (Jim Turner) is gone, replaced by a guy that everyone seems to respect and appreciate.

The biggest issues last season where depth was sorely lacking (DT, CB, Offensive line) has been MASSIVELY improved.

Oh, and just one other thing.....

One small detail...

Joe Burrow is back in his second season as QB. The man who was showing us what he could do with an average at best offensive line and Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd as his top weapons. 200 yards passing at the half against a WFT that gave up an average of 200 yards passing PER GAME. He may not have quite the mobility he had last year. That's fine, although I wouldn't count him out of being mobile just yet. He has worked on his core, to improve his velocity. He has worked extra all offseason to perfect the one thing really missing from last year: The deep ball. Covid restrictions have lessened and he has been able to work extra with his receivers and coaches. He will have a healthy Mixon, a better line, more weapons available at both WR and TE and a second year in the system. What are his goal for the season? Well, two of them are to win the AFC North and to make the playoffs. People doubted him when he said his goal was to win a National Championship at LSU. He won. He's back, friends, and he is ready to make some noise.

Ya I feel like at the beginning of last year it was “let’s see how this rookie plays.”

This year it’s “let’s win some games and make the playoffs.”

There’s just a greater expectation behind this team than in the last few years and I’m really really hoping stars align and we have a winning season.

Only real concerns for me are coaching and the Oline depth. Outside of that I believe we have a very good football team this year.

I think biggest improvement will be on defense. I think Lou has his players for most part. Losing Ossai hurts. Hopefully Hodge is a blessing. I think Burrow will be on a mission and be his old self by game 4.

This is ZT last year if they do not put a winner on the field. No more excuses or moral victories.

It's shades of 2005. We had a franchise QB and weapons around him to score with anyone. The only difference is the o-line was years better back then.

Not me.

Even if Burrow is a good QB who is to say that he'll be better(he needs to be)... or better yet... even the same post injury.

I think Chase will at least be better than Green last season. So that's a plus. Not panicking from pre-season.

I expect to see great production of Higgins and Boyd.

Joe Mixon and the run game... hmmmm... not sure but it should be better. Doesn't mean it will be good though.

If the D line can stay healthy they should be most improved.

Same with DBs overall.

LBs... jury is still out for them.

Kicking game, let's hope Mcwhoever is who we think he is. Whomever that might be. Tongue

The rest of special teams is usual the only constant here for the most part.

Zac doesn't impress me, but doesn't call a bunch of dumb plays either.

Players like him, but they'd like a winner just as well even if he was an ass.

What I really want to see is the run game get established. Use of TEs in the offense. Improvement of both lines all season.

If Zac can put up some wins and improve all of the above I think he should get some more time.

Now if this team looks like a patchwork quilt and doesn't uptick then they should fire him end of season.

I believe they will improve this season. I question how much they will improve ?

I feel Taylor has to win 9 games or it's time to move on. My heart wants to believe he can, my head says he/they won't.

I fear we're gonna start out slow, 1-3 maybe 2-2 so we're gonna have a hole to dig out of from the jump. If we don't come out and fall flat on our face I'll start getting a little excited myself.

It really does look winnable. I watched some of the vikes/chiefs game, Zimmer’s guys looked uninspired. Unfortunately, he has the ability to get the best out of guys, especially the defense.

That we are even looking at this game as winnable is a step forward for our Bengals. Now they need to go out and do it.

Random interlude thought from me...wonder how much Reiff will be able to help the offense in prepping for this one - seems like it should be quite a bit, right?

In other words, anyone who says they have a clue what this team will look like this year is wrong.

So we’re 3.5 point home dogs right now. Think I’d take the Bengals and the points there. Given that neither team’s offense got much work in preseason I would expect a low scoring game. Wouldn’t be surprised if it came down to our rookie kicker making a clutch kick late…

Listening to KFAN this morning, obviously lots of talk about the Bengals/Vikes game. Here is a synopsis

1) they are worried about the Rashad Hill/Trey Hendrickson matchup

2) they think we are vulnerable in the secondary and they think Jefferson and Thielen are going to feast (kinda laughing about how bad Awuzie was in Dallas...I think they are in for a rude awakening on that score, personally)

3) They think their secondary is prime for some INTs because Burrow has accuracy issues (??)

4) They think Chase is going to be a non-factor

5) They are worried about Hilton blitzing and their ability to pick it up

6) Nick Vigil will likely start :) because Barr is not quite ready to go.

7) the offense is going to run through Cook (duh) and they will use early success with Cook to open stuff up deep for Thielen and Jefferson

8) no confidence in their TEs may run FB at least early on. Sounds like a lot of 21 personnel, a return to '90s era football.

Here are my thoughts.

1) on early run downs I expect to see Reader and Shelvin to open stuff up for the safeties, Hilton and the LBs to make plays, their interior oline is pretty inexperienced and their Center as been a disappointment since being drafted in the first round

2) Cousins does not react well underpressure we have to attack him early and often.

3) Eli Apple better be better than he has shown elsewhere in his career or we may be in trouble. I have faith in Awuzie.

4) The Vikings are not deep at virtually any position, any attrition in their starting 22 will have adverse affects

5) Breshad Breeland and Patrick Peterson are their starts at CB, I like a Breeland/Higgins matchup for the Bengals and I like a Peterson/Chase matchup if Chase can get some early success to bolster his confidence. No clue who is matched up with Boyd but we have an advantage there as well.

6) Vikes dline is much improved over last year, it will be a test for our rebuilt oline. Hunter is an x factor.

Yeah the Viking dline vs. our oline matchup worries me as well, it it is what it is at this point, just have to hope it wasn’t all talk.

I’m fine with them sitting their TEs given how the Bengals never seem to be able to cover the TE

Burrow has accuracy issues…okaaaaaay… I will grant he had trouble hitting on the deep ball last season so maybe that’s what they’re talking about. Still seems like wishful thinking.

I think its as simple as Cook vs. Mixon.

If we let Cook have a solid game we'll probably have a frustrating under 7 point loss. If Mixon matches/exceeds Cook then I think its a 3 pt. Bengals win.