Week 11 “Three and Out”

[Arkansas Bengal]

Week 11 “Three and Out”

Posted by Mike Florio on November 15, 2014, 3:21 PM EST

 

As the postseason looms, scrums have developed in each conference for those six seats at the playoff table.  Sunday’s games will go a long way toward determining who gets in — and where they’re seeded.

So here’s a look at every Sunday game for Week 11, with three questions and answers for each one.

No matter how ready you are for the games, you’ll learn at least something you didn’t already know if you keep reading.

For example, did you know that the duckbill platypus can store as many as six hundred worms in the pouches of its cheeks?

To learn more stuff that has slightly more relevance to football, keep going.

 

 

Bengals at Saints

 

1.  Can Andy Dalton 2.0 rebound?

At this point no one knows.  Primarily because no one can understand why Dalton played so poorly in prime time against the Browns.

Dalton was inaccurate throughout the evening, completing only 10 of 33 passes for 86 yards, with three interceptions.  His passer rating was an abysmal 2.0.

And that was at home, where noise isn’t an issue.  In New Orleans, it’ll be harder for Dalton to do everything that a quarterback does.  Which doesn’t bode well for him or the Bengals, unless they’ve figured out what went wrong against Cleveland — and fixed it.

 

2.  Why are the Bengals practicing in the cold?

Currently starting a three-game road trip, they play at New Orleans, at Houston, and at Tampa.  Nevertheless, they were out in the elements on Thursday.  The last four games of the season — Pittsburgh, at Cleveland, Denver, at Pittsburgh — could each feature temperatures like the 23 degrees they endured on Thursday.

“I think one more time in it I think our guys will know what it’s about,” offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said.  “For the young guys it’s maybe different for them, but the veterans they know it, they know [the cold is] around the corner and it’s coming.”

 

3.  Will Mark Ingram continue to carry the load for the Saints?

He’d surely like to, given that he’s in a contract year.  But eventually Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas will return from injury, and Ingram will apparently see his touches reduced.

“It’s hot topic: philosophically when the backs are healthy, is he going to go back to rotating all three runners or keep giving Mark the ball?  I get it,” coach Sean Payton said this week.

But that doesn’t mean the Saints will ignore what Ingram is accomplishing in a contract year.

“Obviously we pay close attention to what Mark is doing right now,” Payton said.  “He’s doing real well. Shoot a year ago, there were a ton of people [asking] for his head, including a few of you here.”

Now, the folks who were asking for Ingram’s head are arguing that the Saints should keep him around.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/15/week-11-three-and-out/

 

[SouthPaw]

Week 11 “Three and Out”

 

 

Yep, I suspect there will be a lot of these for the offense tomorrow.

[T-Dub]

Week 11 “Three and Out”

 

 

Yep, I suspect there will be a lot of these for the offense tomorrow.