Next Day Thread (Same Day Edition): WFT vs. Cincy

[KDawg]

Offensive Summary:

-I feel like despite some questionable calls, the playcalling has been much better the last few weeks. Turner started to find his groove with Kyle Allen in at quarterback and now with Alex Smith at quarterback he seems to have hit his stride running. 

 

-Antonio Gibson has had a pretty strong rookie season. The way he kept his legs moving through contact and has improved his second level vision has been tremendous. He even did much better in pass protection today. The only glaring weakness still showing is his lack of seeing cutback lanes behind the LoS, though he's getting better at that, too. He is developing though, and nicely. That is a testament to the offensive staff.

 

-Cam Sims is pretty damn good on those screen passes. His length gives you an extra couple yards every play and he catches it and gets downhill hard. It's fun to watch and he's the perfect screen type of player. 

 

-Steven Sims had one of his better games, too. He was blocking and caught what he had to catch. Didn't get a chance to be a playmaker, which is his strong point. But a strong game from him. 

 

-McLaurin watch:

 

He had 5 receptions for 84 yards today.  On the season he now has: 62 receptions, 871 yards, 3 TD

 

That puts him on pace for: 99 receptions, 1394 yards, 5 TD

 

McLaurin started the game 35th in the franchise's history in receiving yards with 1,706.  He ended the day at 1790 yards and passes Vernon Davis and Chris Thompson and is now 33rd in franchise history in receiving yards.

 

His next targets: 

Clint Didier: 1815

Dick Todd: 1836

Charlie Malone: 1932

 

-The offensive line has played really well since the first QB change for the most part, barring the sloppy rain game that Smith came in and got pounded on for 35 minutes. Two free agents of Roullier and Scherff are going to force some tough decisions for this franchise especially with a lowered cap number and a great deal of needs across the board. 

 

Defensive Summary:

-Lack of Linebackers is Egregious

I have said it for years... But this offseason I was most vocal about it. To go into this season with Bostic as the only MIKE option is egregious and negligent. They tried playing Holcomb there a bit today, but we learned that Holcomb can't navigate traffic inside well enough to be there. Holcomb is much better suited as an outside backer. Either side. Strong or weak. If they believed Foster was the answer that's even worse. Foster after all of that time off could not be counted upon and if he panned out should purely be looked at as bonus rather than the plan. They brought in one new backer, a mentor, and drafted none. 

 

General

With teams loading up to throw quick passes, we are playing a ton of off coverage on the outsides. Why? Well, my guess is that Del Rio wants the corners in position to come downhill and make a play on the ball while at the same time preventing the deep ball. What that also does, however, is give receivers a clean release off the line and keeps the timing of the play totally in tact.

 

The quick passes neutralize the pass rush. 

 

It doesn't help that our backers don't play downhill and are lacking in coverage.

 

Shut Up About Young

Young is playing well for a rookie, and despite his lack of stat stuffing plays he made quite a few impactful plays in this one. The near pick, the shed and TFL, the triple team turned into a hustle play downfield to force a Burrow fumble. 

 

Darby's Day

Darby had his overall best day as a 'Teamer (Is that what we call our players? The Teamers? As right as I was in the preseason about our backers being a gaping hole, I thought our corners would be just okay. Darby today and Fuller for most of the season have shown they are better than just okay. 

 

Overall Summary:

-Tress Way. I need not say more.

 

-Not sure why we challenged the Green completion in the early portion of the game. 

 

 

Studs/Duds:

***- Chase Young

**- Antonio Gibson

**- Terry McLaurin

**- Ronald Darby

 -  Troy Apke - Solely for dropping a pass that hit him square in the hands.

  -  Linebackers.

 

Today I opted to give 3 2*s and only give a couple 1  for the team's play. It's not tradition, but today was an odd game. 

 

Season Totals:

12* - Montez Sweat

12* - Terry McLaurin

8* - Antonio Gibson

5 * - Chase Young

4* - Daron Payne

3* - Kendall Fuller

3 * - Ryan Kerrigan

2* - Alex Smith

2* - Ronald Darby

2* - Cole Holcomb

2* - Kendall Fuller

2 * - Jon Allen

1 *- Fabian Moreau

1 *- Jimmy Moreland

1* - Matt Ioannidis

1  - Steven Sims

1  - Secondary as a whole.

1  - Brandon Scherff

2  - Isaiah Wright

2  - Dustin Hopkins

2  - Landon Collins

2  - Kyle Allen

2   - Geron Christian

3  - Troy Apke

3  - Jack Del Rio

3  - Offensive Line as a whole.

3  - Wes Martin

3  - Steven Sims 

3  - Jon Bostic

3  - Jabril Peppers

4  - Dwayne Haskins

4  - Coverage Unit as a whole entire thing: LBs/Safeties

6  - Linebackers as a whole.

[Malapropismic Depository]

Other than the dropped INT, I thought Apke had a pretty good game.

So I'll consider that a punt-forcing PD

Even if you look solely at that one play and the cost of it, it only cost us some yards, versus the punt.

If I remember correctly, he also had a TD-saving tackle

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

Im still confused if we should re-sign Scherff for the money he'll command.

[SlinginSammy HOF '63]

You read it here first (and it's a pretty easy prediction), WFT will be in first in the East next Tuesday morning. (12/1)

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

23 minutes ago, KDawg said:

Offensive Summary:

-I feel like despite some questionable calls, the playcalling has been much better the last few weeks. Turner started to find his groove with Kyle Allen in at quarterback and now with Alex Smith at quarterback he seems to have hit his stride running.

 

 

Maybe there were other issues at play, but it felt like the Bengals D knew what we were doing until Burrow went down.  Then they lost some will.  Was it just failed execution that had us struggling offensively in the first half?

[Warhead36]

Hard to really evaluate anything. The entire game changed when Burrow got injured. But with that said, the D did force two straight 3 and outs WITH Burrow in the game to start the 2nd half so maybe we would have turned things around anyway. Unlikely though, most likely Burrow sustains more offense and its a closer game.

 

The D still can't sustain pressure or get consistent stops against actual starting QB/OLs. They certainly did feast against the tomato can backup again though.

 

The O is at its best when McLaurin and Gibson are given the ball. They are our only two playmakers. McKissic is okay but nothing special.

[Cooleyfan1993]

6 minutes ago, SlinginSammy HOF '63 said:

You read it here first (and it's a pretty easy prediction), WFT will be in first in the East next Tuesday morning. (12/1)

I wouldnt go THAT far.

 

IF we beat Dallas, we’ll be in first place. Again, IF. 
 

the giants could easily beat the bengals on Sunday, now that burrow is out. If that happens, the giants would be in first place, due to their sweep against us. We’d be in 2nd, by Tuesday morning (if Philly loses to Seattle, which I’m predicting they do)

[SlinginSammy HOF '63]

Yeah. I didn't even factor in Burrow

[Hdf561]

Burrow doesn’t get hurt we lose that game hands down and it ain’t even close. 
 

That being said the Division is winnable because it’s horrible. But the NFC East champ is a one and done in the playoffs so do you really even want it? Personally I don’t cause it’s a waste, it would mean nothing but give the ownership something to throw out there claiming “progress”. 

[RichmondRedskin88]

FedEx field is cursed 

[SlinginSammy HOF '63]

4 minutes ago, Hdf561 said:

 

That being said the Division is winnable because it’s horrible. But the NFC East champ is a one and done in the playoffs so do you really even want it? Personally I don’t cause it’s a waste, it would mean nothing but give the ownership something to throw out there claiming “progress”. 

 

That would be a damaging division title. At 6-10, or whatever, you're usually picking around 9 or 10. Win the division, even with a 6-10 record, you're getting dropped to 19 (I think 19)

[Jericho]

It seems like such a hollow win. Cincinnati is not good and really outplayed Washington until Burrow got hurt. And then they turned into what is probably the worst team in football. Even worse than the NY Jets. So yeah, you beat that hot mess, but that means little. The team is still not good. It still might somehow win the division, but what good does that do if you suck? It speaks more of the complete ineptitude of the rest of the division. The team will never really get anything solved until it gets something going at QB. It seems 99.9% that's not going to happen next offseason. So we're basically treading water for another 1.5 years before anything might change. Go team?

[Burgundy Yoda]

42 minutes ago, Alcoholic Zebra said:

Im still confused if we should re-sign Scherff for the money he'll command.

At 29.4 years old by the time FA starts, we probably really shouldn't. 

[Alexa]

We only won cause Burrow got hurt. Had he stayed in the game I highly doubt we win. 

[KDawg]

1 hour ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

Other than the dropped INT, I thought Apke had a pretty good game.

So I'll consider that a punt-forcing PD

Even if you look solely at that one play and the cost of it, it only cost us some yards, versus the punt.

If I remember correctly, he also had a TD-saving tackle

Catch the ball. 

2 minutes ago, Alexa said:

We only won cause Burrow got hurt. Had he stayed in the game I highly doubt we win. 

Why do people keep saying this? Who are you talking to? Did I mention winning in the OP? Why does no one use the quote feature? How come no one has answered my inquiry on if our players are called Teamers?

 

Please refrain from sTeamers jokes. I see them coming from 600 miles away.

[markmills67]

39 minutes ago, Hdf561 said:

Burrow doesn’t get hurt we lose that game hands down and it ain’t even close. 
 

That being said the Division is winnable because it’s horrible. But the NFC East champ is a one and done in the playoffs so do you really even want it? Personally I don’t cause it’s a waste, it would mean nothing but give the ownership something to throw out there claiming “progress”. 

Burrow got injured on a incomplete pass on 3rd down, we scored a TD on our next possession to go up 14-9, how are we definitely going to lose the game, the Bengals had 8 total yards in 3 possessions with Burrow to start the 2nd half. 

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Due to covid, this year’s paloffs have been rescheduled to Now.

[Burgold]

I’m not so sure the Bengals win if Burrows doesn’t get injured. For whatever reason, the Teamsters play so much better in the second halves. That’s been true on offense and defense every game of the year. 

[Warhead36]

37 minutes ago, markmills67 said:

Burrow got injured on a incomplete pass on 3rd down, we scored a TD on our next possession to go up 14-9, how are we definitely going to lose the game, the Bengals had 8 total yards in 3 possessions with Burrow to start the 2nd half. 

Actually I believe we were already leading when Burrow got hurt.

 

Burrow played two drives in the 2nd half and went 3 and out both times, which is why I'm not so sure about the "if Burrow stays healthy we lose" narrative.

 

Either way we'll never know.

[markmills67]

7 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Actually I believe we were already leading when Burrow got hurt.

 

Burrow played two drives in the 2nd half and went 3 and out both times, which is why I'm not so sure about the "if Burrow stays healthy we lose" narrative.

 

Either way we'll never know.

Bengals were leading 9-7 when Burrow got injured. 

[Vanguard]

Burrow was playing pretty well, he nearly threw a pick.  Game could have ended in a draw with the way these two teams are playing.

[Warhead36]

16 minutes ago, markmills67 said:

Bengals were leading 9-7 when Burrow got injured. 

Mm yeah you're right. Still, the Bengals offense went 3 and out twice in a row with Burrow in the game to open the 2nd half before he got hurt. Our D might have made some adjustments to play better.

[FootballZombie]

2 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

Other than the dropped INT, I thought Apke had a pretty good game.

So I'll consider that a punt-forcing PD

Even if you look solely at that one play and the cost of it, it only cost us some yards, versus the punt.

If I remember correctly, he also had a TD-saving tackle

 

 

I'm pretty sure it was Apke taking a decent angle that forced Burrow to step inside and get mauled by Young on the goal line.

 

So.... Improvement?

[NoCalMike]

Del Rio needs to come up with a better strategy for when the opposing offense uses quick passes to cut down on the effectiveness of the pass rush.  When Burrow was in the game it was the same story over and over, 3 step drop, ball out, completion....YAC.   I understand the strategy of limiting the offense to short passes by not letting the receivers behind you, but that isn't going to get the offense off the field if you aren't in position to make tackles once the completion is made.  When all a QB has to do all game long is throw the ball a few yards at a time, it becomes very easy for them. 

 

Gibson is getting better every week, in open space he is a terror and he is starting to get better at waiting for cutback lanes.  Still waiting to see how he can be utilized in the passing game since we heard a lot about him being a dual threat type of player.

 

O-line seemed to play better.

 

Hopkins misses another "easy" kick, while making the tough one.  He is fortunate the game didn't end up close enough for the missed kick to have mattered.  

 

McLaurin is still every bit as good as we say he is. 

 

 

[Vanguard]

7 minutes ago, NoCalMike said:

Del Rio needs to come up with a better strategy for when the opposing offense uses quick passes to cut down on the effectiveness of the pass rush.  When Burrow was in the game it was the same story over and over, 3 step drop, ball out, completion....YAC.   I understand the strategy of limiting the offense to short passes by not letting the receivers behind you, but that isn't going to get the offense off the field if you aren't in position to make tackles once the completion is made.  When all a QB has to do all game long is throw the ball a few yards at a time, it becomes very easy for them. 

I would suggest a coverage adjustment, not sure what kind.