Bengals at Vikings Depth Chart Preview
Dec 15, 2017 15:11:57 GMT -6
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Post by Danchat on Dec 15, 2017 15:11:57 GMT -6
It's time for the Week 15 matchup between the Bengals and the Vikings, so let's see how coach Zimmer's old squad shapes up.
Injury Reports
-My thoughts-
Zimmer's old defense still has a few good pieces left over, but there are many problems. First off is the linebacker position - all three starters (Burfict, Vigil, and Minter (IR)) are all out and they'll be starting Vincent Rey, Jordan Evans, and Hardy Nickerson/Carl Lawson. The Bears simply ran over the Bengals last week as they had no ability to stop the run, and that'll be the key to victory on Sunday - keep running the ball. Evans started his first career game last week and was thoroughly embarrassed, and now they're down Kevin Minter.
Their defensive line is stocked with pass rushers with Dunlap and Atkins as the stars and 4th round rookie Carl Lawson as a passing down DE. Outside of those three, the rest struggle to run stop or pass rush. Meanwhile, in the secondary, the Bengals have spent 3 first round picks on CBs in the last 6 seasons - Jackson, Dennard, and Kirkpatrick. Jackson, in his first full season, has emerged into a top 10 CB and he's even been able to shut down Antonio Brown. He'll probably shadow Diggs, but I don't know how they plan to cover Thielen. Their safety play has been just alright but they should be doing better than that.
The Bengals offense is a mess... and with Mixon likely out with a concussion, the Bengals have one focal point on offense - A. J. Green. The Vikings have the perfect weapon to combat him, and yes, that's Xavier Rhodes. Green has struggled against good CBs (the Bears kept him quiet last week, the Colts used Rashaan Melvin to silence him, etc), so the Bengals will have to get the ball to their secondary cast. LaFell has struggled to catch passes and Tyler Boyd has fallen into their doghouse. They've spent most the season without Tyler Eifert, a great redzone TE, and Tyler Kroft has been mediocre in his stead. Giovani Bernard has shown a little burst the last couple weeks in place of Mixon, so the Vikings will need to shore up the run defense and stop his pass catching.
Of course, the Bengals' biggest issue is that their offensive line has been terrible. Only Clint Boling has been a passable NFL starter as they let Kevin Zeitler and Andrew Whitworth go. LT Cedric Ogbuehi reminds me of T. J. Clemmings with his athletic strength and zero technique - the former 1st rounder has been a massive bust. They tried Jake Fisher at RT and he's hurt, so former Viking Andre Smith is playing there... yup, the Bengals put zero effort into fixing their O-line this offseason. Russell Bodine has always been bad at C but they've never tried anyone else there. They did try their backup C, T. J. Johnson, at RG, and he flopped. So now Trey Hopkins, a 4th year UDFA, is starting at RG with unsurprisingly poor results.
The Bengals have a similar conservative style in roster building like the Packers - they rarely sign FAs and develop their own guys. That'd explain why they have 11 rookies on the team. But why the heck are none of them on the O-line?! Unlike the Packers, the Bengals haven't been very good at developing their own players, which is why their team has been playing so poorly. They spent a 1st round pick on an ultra-fast WR who only gets hurt... he touched the ball once this season and he's on the IR now. Neither of their 5th round picks made the team - they drafted K Jake Elliott just for him to get scooped up by the Eagles where he's been near-perfect... nice job, Cincinnati.
Any thoughts?
Injury Reports
Vikings Friday Injury Report
Out- Alexander
Doubtful- Reiff, Rudolph
Questionable- Lamur
Cincinnati Bengals
Out- Alexander
Doubtful- Reiff, Rudolph
Questionable- Lamur
Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals Friday Injury Report
Out- Burfict, Kirkpatrick, Minter, Vigil
Doubtful-
Questionable- Mixon, Williams
Out- Burfict, Kirkpatrick, Minter, Vigil
Doubtful-
Questionable- Mixon, Williams
-My thoughts-
Zimmer's old defense still has a few good pieces left over, but there are many problems. First off is the linebacker position - all three starters (Burfict, Vigil, and Minter (IR)) are all out and they'll be starting Vincent Rey, Jordan Evans, and Hardy Nickerson/Carl Lawson. The Bears simply ran over the Bengals last week as they had no ability to stop the run, and that'll be the key to victory on Sunday - keep running the ball. Evans started his first career game last week and was thoroughly embarrassed, and now they're down Kevin Minter.
Their defensive line is stocked with pass rushers with Dunlap and Atkins as the stars and 4th round rookie Carl Lawson as a passing down DE. Outside of those three, the rest struggle to run stop or pass rush. Meanwhile, in the secondary, the Bengals have spent 3 first round picks on CBs in the last 6 seasons - Jackson, Dennard, and Kirkpatrick. Jackson, in his first full season, has emerged into a top 10 CB and he's even been able to shut down Antonio Brown. He'll probably shadow Diggs, but I don't know how they plan to cover Thielen. Their safety play has been just alright but they should be doing better than that.
The Bengals offense is a mess... and with Mixon likely out with a concussion, the Bengals have one focal point on offense - A. J. Green. The Vikings have the perfect weapon to combat him, and yes, that's Xavier Rhodes. Green has struggled against good CBs (the Bears kept him quiet last week, the Colts used Rashaan Melvin to silence him, etc), so the Bengals will have to get the ball to their secondary cast. LaFell has struggled to catch passes and Tyler Boyd has fallen into their doghouse. They've spent most the season without Tyler Eifert, a great redzone TE, and Tyler Kroft has been mediocre in his stead. Giovani Bernard has shown a little burst the last couple weeks in place of Mixon, so the Vikings will need to shore up the run defense and stop his pass catching.
Of course, the Bengals' biggest issue is that their offensive line has been terrible. Only Clint Boling has been a passable NFL starter as they let Kevin Zeitler and Andrew Whitworth go. LT Cedric Ogbuehi reminds me of T. J. Clemmings with his athletic strength and zero technique - the former 1st rounder has been a massive bust. They tried Jake Fisher at RT and he's hurt, so former Viking Andre Smith is playing there... yup, the Bengals put zero effort into fixing their O-line this offseason. Russell Bodine has always been bad at C but they've never tried anyone else there. They did try their backup C, T. J. Johnson, at RG, and he flopped. So now Trey Hopkins, a 4th year UDFA, is starting at RG with unsurprisingly poor results.
The Bengals have a similar conservative style in roster building like the Packers - they rarely sign FAs and develop their own guys. That'd explain why they have 11 rookies on the team. But why the heck are none of them on the O-line?! Unlike the Packers, the Bengals haven't been very good at developing their own players, which is why their team has been playing so poorly. They spent a 1st round pick on an ultra-fast WR who only gets hurt... he touched the ball once this season and he's on the IR now. Neither of their 5th round picks made the team - they drafted K Jake Elliott just for him to get scooped up by the Eagles where he's been near-perfect... nice job, Cincinnati.
Any thoughts?
