Michigan Muskie

"Big time player" from the mouth of Gus Johnson. That's all I need to hear.

Hard to think about anything beautiful, good or bad when the ugly leaves such a bad taste... Ugly: Complete and utter failure to throw a flag on the Brown TD with a blatant penalty, while meanwhile flagging the Bengals for ticky-tack holding calls on both sides of the ball, twice on game-changing plays. From the official NFL rulebook: ARTICLE 4. OTHER PROHIBITED ACTS BY THE OFFENSE Blocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference. See 8-3-1 for exception for an ineligible offensive player. ***Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown. See 8-3-1-Note for exception for ineligible players.

Vegas would love that. As long as the Bengals are on the 9 side of that score, I'll take it.

Vegas would love that. As long as the Bengals are on the 9 side of that score, I'll take it.

Last time the Bengals played at Arrowhead they waltzed to a 28-6 victory (2012.) They have played the Chiefs only one time since then, beating them at home during their 8-0 start to the 2015 season. (That's all I'm going to say about that season.) Overall, the Bengals lead the series 15-13, but have enjoyed recent success, including 4 in a row and 8 of the last 12 dating back 30 years. So after dismantling the Stealers, I fully expect a victory and firm grasp on the 1-seed in KC the following Sunday night.

No, the Bengals did not convert a third down in the first half (but they did convert a 4th down via penalty.) However, they ran 11 plays on their first drive without even getting to third down, except for the final play of the drive (INT.) They also moved the chains multiple times on their next two drives before going 3-and-out twice. They didn't go 3-and-out again until the last drive of the game, up by 10 points with 90 second to go. The 3-and-out at the end of the 2nd quarter was super frustrating, especially since they were at 3rd & 2.

Not entirely true. Andy connected with AJ to convert a 3rd & long during the 3rd quarter FG drive. That was a huge play. I think if that play wasn't converted, the Bengals would have lost the game.

I don't think it means much to judge on a sampling of quarters, but I'll play along. Given the loss of Eifert in the Atlanta game that led to a series of unfortunate events, I feel the offense played exceptionally well. Especially when it mattered most. They did this without Mixon, too. In the Miami game, the offense moved the ball at will initially, but came to a grinding halt in the red zone twice, both because of a single play (INT and blocked FG.) Those isolated plays were not executed well, but otherwise the offense looked good getting them into a position to score. No, the offense was not clicking like we'd all hope to see for the Miami game, but without those red-zone snafus, would we even be talking about this? Fact is, they're not going to score on every drive. I wish they would, but it's just not feasible. These games all have different flows and momentum shifts, just like every other game. So in light of that, I think the offense has looked great. If you're looking for points of improvement, I believe the most glaring weakness on offense is play design. Our run blocking schemes seem to be ineffective and some plays just never have a chance to work. The Bengals put themselves into too many 3rd downs because they aren't running the ball and moving the chains with any momentum (until late in the game.) Pass protection was shaky at times against Miami, but generally speaking, the o-line has done a top-shelf job keeping Andy off his butt this season.

Well, I said they would *probably* have scored 14 points, just given the field position after the turnovers. Even then, though, you can't evaluate the offense on points scored alone. If the defense creates a turnover on the 1 yard line and the offense scores on the very next play, is that really a measuring stick for the offense? So either way, it emphasizes the argument that Points Scored alone is an ineffective way of evaluating the offense. Every offense encounters some in-game slumps. Even the Chiefs and Rams. We fans want to see the Bengals score on every drive, and when they don't it's a let down. I feel like we tend to harp on those failures more than the successes. Even the national "experts" who typically don't give the Bengals much love are seeing it. Compared to the rest of the league, the Bengals have an offense that is damn-near elite. Enjoy it while it lasts!

You can't just look at the points scored in a vacuum to evaluate the offense. When the defense scores touchdowns, it keeps the offense off the field. If MJ and Hubbard fell on the ball instead of returning for TDs, the offense would have probably scored 14 points. The offense is not a problem. The line isn't perfect, but after watching other NFL games, it could be a lot worse.

OT Antonio Garcia cut by the Jets. Was the 3rd round draft choice of New England last year. 6'7" 302 -- was being groomed to replace Nate Solder but then the Pats released him in May after some health issues (blood clots.) He's only 24. Worth a look? Another option is Chance Warmack from the Eagles. He hasn't been cut, but it sounds like Philly is dangling him as trade bait. 6'2" 323, former first rounder out of Alabama (#10 overall pick in 2013.) Not sure what Philly needs -- maybe a WR while Jeffery recovers?

I've been wondering about this. I feel like Fisher and Ogbuehi really can't perform any worse than they have so far, right? Is there any sliver of hope that one or both of them could actually improve? Is all hope lost on Cedric, or could a couple of years of NFL experience, new coach and new approach / attitude actually turn him into a capable lineman? (Same question for both Fisher and Ced.) Or ... are each of them destined for a role no better than average reserve at best? I know none of us is looking through a crystal ball, but the optimist in me doesn't want to give up hope entirely on either one of these guys turning into something of value.

The only reason the Bengals are still in the playoff discussion at all is because of the widespread mediocrity of the AFC. The brutal reality though has already been mentioned on this thread. The Bengals simply cannot run the ball. The unbalanced time of possession and inability to move the chains is a direct result of their anemic running game. They will score some points because there are playmakers on offense, and because the defense will occasionally flip the field with a turnover, but right now this team is not built to compete with a squad like New England, Pittsburgh, or even Jacksonville in the AFC. And some of those high-powered NFC teams like Philly, NO and the Rams would probably throttle Cincy by 3 touchdowns. If the Bengals continue to squeak by the bad-to-middling teams on their remaining schedule (Browns, Bears, Ravens, Lions) they could finish 9-7 and maybe sneak into the 6 seed. Maybe. It's so muddy in there that it's hard to even figure out who to root for because they all play each other. I personally don't see any way they beat the Stealers at home or win in Minnesota save for a fluke or some miraculous revival of the rushing attack. Any Given Sunday, I know ... but for this team it will take more than just one given Sunday. Letting Whit and Zeitler go was suicide for this year. The performance of 70 and 74 may seal our fate for the next couple of years. Unless we hit the jackpot in the draft and sign at least one capable FA lineman, I don't see how any of this improves in the next couple of seasons. If there was ever a time to overhaul, to me, now is the time. And I'm talking from the top down. In the meantime, we can't really look to the Reds yet to salvage that taste of post-season contention, so I'll leave you with this. Go Xavier!

Good: WJ3 continues to improve. His recovery skills are top notch. Defense played well as a unit, other than no answer for Doyle. Bad: Two fumbles, both leading to points. The score, once again, was not indicative of how the defense played. Ugly: I'll do this for you Numbers. The performance of the O-line isn't just ugly, it's critically putrid. I'm surprised Dalton is walking out of PBS under his own power. No need to line up a speedster like John Ross because there's no time for a deep route to develop. We knew the line would be a problem, but it's even worse than I imagined it would be. It's very hard to win an NFL game with a college line, but once again the D bailed them out.