SF2

He is so 2018.

Yep, I game isn’t much of a sample size.

I am sure it has more to do with the Dolphins playing almost the entire game against Baltimore in a base defense and letting Lamar Jackson throw all day on them. Obvious tanking doesn’t have to be that obvious.

Odell Beckham Jr continues to make everything about him. What a drama queen. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27601871/jets-dc-williams-teaches-cheap-shots

You really think that after 16 seasons, no playoff victories and 3 straight losing seasons Marvin deserved to stay? Why? And before you answer you can't use, "He was way better than what we had before". That simply does not fly in a league with a hard salary cap. After 16 years Marvin left a franchise almost nobody cares about or pays attention to. That is his legacy. The team played a pretty good game in Seattle and listening to the radio Monday you might have thought Seattle had a bye.

Damn, I could have warned him not to kiss any young girls from New Jersey.

If someone would have simply typed, "Dalton has a great game but the Bengals couldn't capitalize" that would have worked for me. "Career Day"? Nah, not in loss it isn't. 51 pass attempts is WAY too many but I realize that is not his fault, it was the only thing working. It is still the little things that bother me, something that was rampant in the Marvin Lewis era. The team plays very well overall but one or two little things cost them the game. Andre Smith holding on 2nd and goal from the 4, missing makeable field goals, blown coverage costs the team an easy TD, 3rd and 2 on the Seattle 16 and they take a delay of game penalty. At least the coaches figured out what was working and made adjustments instead of looking lost in the 2nd half.

He still looked slow, out of position and missed a few tackles. He also did a few things that were borderline but not egregious. He is still leading helmet first into tackles so it is just a matter of time. Dude, nobody is forgiving or forgetting Antonio Brown. Have you listened to sports radio or been to a sports site on ESPN lately? And the big different between the two is Burfict was trying to hurt other players on the field, Brown is simply crazy and is hurting himself.

Can we dispense with the Andy got screwed in the final drive. If that play had NOT been ruled a fumble, it would have been 2nd and 4 from the Bengals 31 with 9 seconds left and no timeouts. Call me a half glass empty type but I seriously doubt we score either a 69 yard touchdown or run a 35 yard play AND get out of bounds to set up a field goal in 9 seconds. No, not impossible but highly improbable and that game was lost long before the highly questionable fumble with 9 seconds left. And coaches screaming like idiots don't accomplish shit and cost their teams calls later in the game or season. As a referee we do it ALL THE TIME. Coach acts like an asshat, start looking at ways to shut his mouth by inventing penalties or missing calls. I love when a coach starts screaming at me, license to make his life miserable. Yeah, it is entertaining though and last time I checked the Reds were 14.5 games out of first place and had the 3rd worst record in the National League.

I am not trying to downplay it. I thought he played well but if that was a career day for Dalton, fumbling twice in the second half and only managing 3 points then he hasn't had many good games. Getting excited about 1 game Dalton and Ross played well in is kind of hilarious if you ask me. The offense didn't convert. It did a lot of good things except run the ball and score points. Not all Dalton's fault but some of it was. This discussion is an excellent indication of where we are as fans, praising a QB for throwing 51 times for a lot of yards in a loss. To put it in perspective, Dree Brees has attempted 50 or more passes 17 times in his career. The Saints record in those games is 4-13. Sure, it looked better than last year no doubt but I just ain't the participation trophy type. This team should be 4-4 by the bye worst case, so lets see how it goes. And I am sorry but I have seen this play before. Dalton has a good game then shits his pants against a team like Cleveland at home 24-3 (2014). Add in his inability to play well against the Stealers (3-12 lifetime) or at night or the playoffs. He will need to give me way more than one game before I get on the wagon.

I certainly think some point shaving has happened in the past. Probably some sketchy line ups as well. I just think the money involved now is WAY too much to do it. Dalton is making $16.2 mil this year. He is not going to risk that. An NBA ref can shave points far easier than an NFL ref so the bad guys are going to work that angle.

2017, on the road, week 17 vs Ravens, they are playing for a playoff spot Bengals are playing for nothing. Dalton takes the team 90 yards in the final 2 minutes of game and crushed their dreams. Green caught a whole 2 catches for 17 yards in that game and was pretty much a non factor. The starting tackles were Boling and Winston. Westermann, Bodine and Hopkins rounded out the offensive line. Dalton only got sacked 1 time. The Bengals scored 31 points and Dalton threw 3 TDs no ints. And don't forget, in the Seattle game all those yards equated to 3 second half points. Good game by Dalton but it was still a loss.

Mr Devil’s advocate here. No way I am buying that billionaire owners, almost all having made their wealth outside of the NFL are going to risk incarceration and loss of their money printing franchise and business to fix a few games. Not fucking buying it. I would even say it is difficult for a ref given the 8 cameras and the fact there are a lot of refs on the field and league officials watching. It’s not like the old days when there was no replay and you were not being graded every game. Don’t buy the league would be willing to risk the proverbial Golden Goose either. This isn’t the WNBA. The person with the best chance to fix a game in order (my opinion) is QB, coach then probably defensive back. Owners have WAY too much to lose.

I didn’t say he had a bad game but that was not a career game for him. He has had far better games. Knocking the Ravens out of the playoffs in 2017 on the road with a last second TD being one.