Low Positive

I have watched every Bengals game this year, and their problems on offense go back to when Burrow is playing. Their offense is based upon downfield passing to their stud WRs, but their OL isn't nearly good enough to hold up until the they can get open downfield. The funniest part is that they didn't adjust their offense AT ALL for Browning. He, like Burrow, holds the ball FOREVER. When it works, it's a thing of beauty. But with Browning, it results in 3 picks a game to go with the multiple sacks.

At least he could run away from all the free rushers.

Mike Brown went all in this year. He is demanding that they keep trying to compete. Also, Browning is playing like Peterman back there and Chase is starting to chirp. Something had to be done. But why this and not Russell Wilson?

OK, I take it back. But choosing an immobile QB to play behind that line is an interesting choice by the Bengals.

We make an assumption that is probably not true. We assume that an OC calls plays and the offense runs those exact plays. But Josh audibles A LOT. And from what I'm seeing, he audibles from downfield passes into runs and screens based upon the coverage he is seeing.

Flacco can't move anymore, and the Bengals OL is horrendous. They play at Green Bay next week. Maybe Parsons will FINALLY end Flacco's career. You want a reason for a healthy Joe Burrow to return and play against the Bills in December. Merry Christmas, indeed.

Their huge mistake was choosing to sign Cooper Rush as the backup QB. He can't run Lamar's offense becuase he is no threat to run himself. They should have stuck with Snoop Huntley, who's only productive NFL role might be Lamar light.

I wouldn't count the Ravens out yet. They have the Rams at home this week, but then they have a bye. After that, they should start getting guys back including Lamar, Hamilton, and Van Noy. Out of the bye, they have: Bears @ Fins @ Vikings @ Browns Jets Bengals Steelers @ Bengals Pats @ Packers @ Steelers They could easily be on a 6 game heater by the time they get to the Steelers. The AFC North might come down to that Week 18 game in Pittsburgh.

I keep watching this play over and over, and I just can't get past the RG's hold on Logue. It's really blatant, and the whole play doesn't happen without it.

One of many like that, but I'm done talking about it.

Not exactly. The Bills defended the play well. They didn't bite on a fake handoff to Stevenson, who had motioned in from the WR position. Daquon blew that play the heck up, and drove Maye backwards. He threw the ball falling down backwards. It was all arm. Here is what Maye threw to. DIggs found a spot in the zone and just hung out there. As Maye scrambles, Diggs comes back to the ball. Shaq Thompson was near him, but takes a poor angle if you want to blame a Bills player, but that was a great play by Maye.

No. Ball is out and his knee is still not down. Heck of a play.

I 100% agree, although the Bengals offense got rolling at the end of their loss to the Lions and that gives me pause. If Browning could stop turning the ball over, they might be able to get to Burrow's return still in the division race. It's funny how much better we all are at rationally assessing every other team's potential outcomes and how we're willing to allow injuries to be an explanation for losses. We could all use a bit more of that when talking about the Bills.

My conspiracy, as I have posted before, is that they want a bunch of teams all bunched up at the end to make the last two weeks exciting. Last year, they got a bunch of meaningless week 18 games. The big embarrassment was that they got a situation where Cincinnati needed a Broncos loss to complete a fairytale comback, but because the Chiefs had nothing left to play for, they handed the game, and therefore the playoff spot, to the Broncos. People here in Cincinnati were really angry that the Chiefs were able to tank a game in order to keep a team capable of beating them out. I also remember that back in 2021, the Bengals tanked a game against the Browns to drop a playoff seed to try to avoid Jonathan Taylor and the Colts, which ended up being a moot point becuase the Colts lost to the Jags and missed the playoffs. You have to think that the league doesn't like teams throwing games to try to game the system. They want a bunch of "win and in" situations in the final weeks, thereby getting an extra two weeks of playoff ratings and attention.

The Ravens aren't trading anybody. The worst-case scenario for them is a late-season run to try to make the playoffs, just like Cincinnati did last year.

I guess. The Bills should trade for Jermaine Burton. He and Keon can be late together.

My daughter got a blue Fitz jersey at a thrift store in Cincinnati

Truck drivers, especially those that work in urban areas, get held up all the time. They usually carry weapons of some sort. Sanchez is lucky that this guy chose pepper spray and a knife and not a gun.

I think he was late on gameday.

I don't think anyone is saying that. But it's hard to dispute that they called a different game for the Pats OL than they did for the Bills OL. If you're going to call holding tight, then apply the same standard to both teams.

If they didn't fear our WRs and TEs, then why did the Patriots play with a 2-deep shell for the majority of the game?

The teams they beat were the JJ McCarthy-led Vikings, who looked inept, and the Commanders, who were missing Daniels and McLaurin. You never know what is going to happen, but if you don't think the BIlls win this game then you think they will end up a 6-7 win team.

I have been over this game left and right so that I can get my feelings out of my analysis, and here's what I got. I know everyone is mad about the defense and that's become the narrative, but they played well enough to win that stupid game. They held the Pats to 23 points (only 2 TDs) and forced 4 punts and a turnover. We had 3 turnovers and 2 punts. Equal number of stops, but one of their stops was a fumble and a gift of 3 points. Those 3 points were the difference in the game. This loss was on the offense and general sloppiness. Just don't turn the ball over 3 times and have crushing, drive-killing penalties, and we'll be OK. For example, the Bills were driving on their first drive and were going to score. FUMBLE!. On the second drive after the Pats fumble, Ty Johnson ran off the right edge for 8 yards, setting up a 2nd and short in Pats territory. All negated by an illegal formation penalty. And it was a penalty because Palmer was a yard behind the LoS. If Josh just takes the sack instead of throwing that pick in the 3rd, we get an almost certain 3 points and win the game. So for this week, here are the goals: Don't turn the ball over! Line up correctly! Keep contain when the QB scrambles!

Example. 2-8. Second play of the game. Here is what Josh is looking at. That's, as far as I know, Cover 2 Man. A DEEP SHOP IS CALLED BY BRADY (TRIPS TO THE LEFT), BUT JOSH AUDIBLES INTO A WR SCREEN!!!!

Back when they were winning, they were declared “one heck of a WR room” in this very thread. What a difference two hours makes.