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2017 Play off Picture


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The Bengals are not struggling because they have players out with injury who might be coming back.  The Bengals have not lost a bunch of "fluke" games because of bad luck or bounces of the ball.  The Bengals are not "peaking" after a slow start of the season.  The ugly truth is that the Bengals are one of the worst teams in the league and getting worse instead of better. 

 

Our offense is dead last in the league in yards gained, first downs, rushing yards and rushing yards per carry.  We are 29th or lower in points scored, passing yards, rushing tds, and time of possession.

 

We have not beaten a single team with a winning record, and only two other teams in the league have played a weaker schedule than us.  Four of our remaining six games are against teams that are .500 or better.

 

Over the previous five games our offense has been held under 200 yards 3 times while our defense has not held a single opponent under 300 yards and allowed 400+ three times.  During that span we have been outgained by an average of 382 to 220.

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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!

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Last time our O-line was this bad was 2008. Palmer was getting beat up like crazy in preseason, and Chris Perry was getting 3 yards/carry and couldn't stop fumbling so we signed Benson mid-season. Our O-line actually ended up decent in 2009 with the Livings-Mathis platoon at LG, Cook replacing Bluto at C, and the Anthony Collins-Dennis Roland platoon at RT.

 

The main difference is that we don't have 2 solid pieces like we did before in Whit and Bobbie Williams. Boling looks to be our best, and he is only good, not great. Bodine looked like he turned the corner towards the end of last year, and then WTF happened this year? Andre Smith is still mediocre, and yet I feel reassured with him in there rather than Fisher. Maybe with a few new pieces in both the draft and FA, we can improve 2 or 3 positions, but 4 is asking a lot.

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We do have a chance at making the playoffs based on the horrific level of suck in the AFC.  This team would get obliterated by teams like Philly, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Carolina, LA Rams, Seattle.   Making the playoffs would only set us up for a loss to a shitty team or monumental beatdown in the division game.

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33 minutes ago, SF2 said:

We do have a chance at making the playoffs based on the horrific level of suck in the AFC.  This team would get obliterated by teams like Philly, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Carolina, LA Rams, Seattle.   Making the playoffs would only set us up for a loss to a shitty team or monumental beatdown in the division game.

I just don't see it this way and no way am I being a Homer, but you know football, much can happen.  We start hitting our stride, and perhaps injuries of the other team, or something happens where all of sudden we start clicking.  Anything is possible when it comes to professional teams.  Ok, maybe I am being a little homer but still, i am not giving up on this year. 

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1 hour ago, Jason said:

The pass blocking has improved.

 

The run blocking is still awful.

We looked much better giving Andy some time, and the ball was able to be where it needed to be.  Once Mixon starts tasting more yards other than 3 yard averages, I think he will find another step or two.  My outlook for this year is still a positive one. 

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6 hours ago, Marlon23 said:

We looked much better giving Andy some time, and the ball was able to be where it needed to be.  Once Mixon starts tasting more yards other than 3 yard averages, I think he will find another step or two.  My outlook for this year is still a positive one. 

Were you watching the same game I was?  The offense scored 13 points ( not counting Dre giving the O the ball on the one).  190 total yards offense.  49 rushing yards on 26 attempts.  Dalton played about as well as he could but other than AJ, he is surrounded by a few average players at best, the rest shouldn't be starting.  I have seen nothing from Mixon that would suggest he will be a great back. 

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9 hours ago, SF2 said:

Were you watching the same game I was?  The offense scored 13 points ( not counting Dre giving the O the ball on the one).  190 total yards offense.  49 rushing yards on 26 attempts.  Dalton played about as well as he could but other than AJ, he is surrounded by a few average players at best, the rest shouldn't be starting.  I have seen nothing from Mixon that would suggest he will be a great back. 

I did see the same game, lol we did look much better  Mixon, will get it together, I have that feeling and when the line holds Andy is much more accurate that was proven.  I am not saying super bowl champs here, but I am giving credit that we did look much better in comparison to the previous games.  I think the O Line will continue to improve.  Instead of much better, perhaps I should say we look better.  Hang in there cause this is going to be the year we actually win a play off game.  :Yes:  And No I am not being Denny, but my outlook is much more brighter than it was a few games in October. 

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The run blocking is near historically bad.

 

We're 32nd in both rushing yards and YPC. The next team is Arizona who is missing their star back and they also have the 5th passing YPG, so it's not like they need to have high rushing yardage. We're 27th in passing yards and 32nd in rushing yards...WTF?

 

The Saints have more rushing yards in the last 4 games than we have in all 10 of ours. The Jaguars have had 135+ yards is all but 1 game this year. Wouldn't it be crazy to have a run game like that? We never do, and this year is even worse than usual.

 

We have talented RBs too, Mixon and Gio aren't terrible, it's clearly an OL problem.

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13 hours ago, SF2 said:

  I have seen nothing from Mixon that would suggest he will be a great back. 

What, pray tell, could you possibly expect to see that you haven't? 

 

I see burst, determination, good vision, great agility. I've seen hands. I actually can't wait to see what he does behind a line that is interested in run blocking. I think he's going to be quite good.

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5 minutes ago, thezerawkid said:

What, pray tell, could you possibly expect to see that you haven't? 

 

I see burst, determination, good vision, great agility. I've seen hands. I actually can't wait to see what he does behind a line that is interested in run blocking. I think he's going to be quite good.

He looks just like Jeremy Hill did his first year. Sure, he will probably be a good back but he isn't Leonard Fournette or a guy like Todd Gurley as a rookie.  2.9 yards per carry is what it is. If you are an elite runner, you do better than that.

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3 hours ago, Marlon23 said:

I did see the same game, lol we did look much better  Mixon, will get it together, I have that feeling and when the line holds Andy is much more accurate that was proven.  I am not saying super bowl champs here, but I am giving credit that we did look much better in comparison to the previous games.  I think the O Line will continue to improve.  Instead of much better, perhaps I should say we look better.  Hang in there cause this is going to be the year we actually win a play off game.  :Yes:  And No I am not being Denny, but my outlook is much more brighter than it was a few games in October. 

You seem to think MY BAR is winning a playoff game against a shitty AFC Wildcard team.  Sorry to burst your bubble but I actually want our team to be GOOD and able to compete against the best teams in the league.  We are NOWHERE near good. We would get run off the field by the top 8 teams in the league. 

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