Time for some Bengal Talk

[Mackcat]

Bengals 31
Titans 23
Steelers go down again.
Bengals 5-1
Steelers 3-2
If the Bengasl can get the Steelers at home next Sunday that would give em the drivers seat in the division. A big if, i realize. No doubt about the playoffs imo.
Whodey!

[boomdaddy]

The Bengals, at 5-1, have knocked the "slow start" monkey off their backs, that has kept them out of the playoffs.

[BigBlue75]

Bengals-Steelers has always been a big game and this one will be no different. I'm kind of interested in seeing how Roethlisberger's knee is going to affect him. It might be a moot point by game time but ya never know. It'll be a battle for sure.

[Old Blue]

Definitely the biggest game of the year for Cincy, at least so far. I know Big Ben is going to give it a go because of the circumstances, but I'd be surprised if he is close to 100%. Even so, based on what Maddox did or didn't do last Sunday, an undercooked Rothlesburger is still a major improvement for the Steelers. Jacksonville is a very good team. They've now beaten both the Bengals and the Steelers. Whether they could do that again with both teams at full strength is debatable, but they did do it. That's the measuring stick for both. And it tells me they are pretty even. Both games were close, though, so I think this one is going to be as well. I'd give the edge to Cincy this weekend because it's at home and the new jungle is going to be rocking like it never has before. The keys will be if the Bengals can eliminate all the stupid penalties they've been having and if they can keep the Steelers from running all over the field. Pittsburgh loves to blitz, which the Jags really didn't do much at all. I think Palmer would have preferred that they had, that way he can go deep with Johnson. I think Carson could have a huge game this weekend. To win, he'll have to. Against Pittsburgh, I don't think Cincy can count on getting a bunch of turnovers like they have been so far, at least not if Ben is able to go.

[kauffman21]

seems like everytime we make a good 30yrd run or 40yrd pass, its called a flag. i dont know the sats on how many we get compared to the nfl, but it seems as if they always come at a big play...i got cincy 24-13



*edit*spelling errors

[TRexSmarts]

anyway you look at it, you will see if the Bengals are legit. Consider this game against Pittsburgh and New England their measure stick game.

TRexSmarts

[tauzreborn]

I had great seats at the game, but Jerome Bettis ruined em. That guy is such a beast.

i really didnt see anything that warranted overturning that touchdown. It completely changed the game and it was like 2 minutes in.

[RP_McMurphy]

Right now for the Bengals to be taken seriously they have to go from talking about beating up the good teams to actually beating them. Both times this year they faced good teams (Jacksonville and Pittsburgh) they talked alot but ended up getting punched in the mouth by more physical teams. However they have a great base of young talent that will continue to get better over time.

[TRexSmarts]

Right now, I would say that the Bengals are more of a playoff contender rather than a Super Bowl contender. They still have a little way more to go before they become a Super Bowl contender!

TRexSmarts

[cbc317]

The fact that the terms "playoffs" or "Superbowl" are even being used in the same sentence with the Bengals indicates how far this team has come. However, remember that this team has been just .500 over the past two season and still hasn't had a signature win.

Marvin has them playing much better football, but the defense is still at least a year away from being "superbowl" worthy. However, isn't it fun to see them actually getting some hype.....

[Missy]

I am not a football fan at all but, when since the Bengals been doing good , I been watching the games this season . :)

[PhatNastyCat]

For someone who grew up in the Cincy area when the Bengals were legit, I'd enjoy nothing more thanto see them become a serious contending team. However, my evaluation of the team is they may prove to be paper tigers in the end this season. The Bengals simply do too many things that you don't see teams like the Patriots and Steelers do and that is makemental mistakes. They kill themselves with stupid penalties inside the redzone, the defense is still young and big play prone, and the offense sputters under pressure.

The defense issolid at getting turnovers, but the Bengals do a poor job of turning those into points. It's great to lead the NFL in take aways, but you have to make opponents pay for those mistakes. Example, they picked off Favre 5 times and turned into points once. That has to change, especially against teams like the Colts and Steelers. You can't waste a turnover on a team like that or they'll not worry about taking chances. A guy like Manning may throw a risky pass if he knows it won't cost his defense. You change momentum and game plans when you cash in on turnovers.

Finally, I wonder about their schedule when they have yet to beat a playoff caliber team and have yet to really stroke an opponent outside of the Vikings. When you are a 9 point favorite at home against a Green Bay team that is desimated by injuries, you pick off their QB 5 times and yet have to hang on the 4th quarter to win by TD, you have to wonder just how good you really are. I hope this motivates the team to really dig deep and start to execute more consistently on offense. My prediction at this point is a 10-6. Yes, a big improvement, but I think this team can be better than that. They players are there, the schedule is there, now it's up the players and coaches to make it happen.

-PNC

[boomdaddy]

The Bengals are not a super bowl team. But, they are a legitimate playoff team and will amass enough wins to get to the second round of the playoffs ( ie. an easy 1st round opponent ). Their red zone scoring percentage is atrocious, for such an explosive offensive team. If they could fix that, maybe they could make itfurther in the playoffs.