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Random Thoughts About Week 1...the Colts


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What Worries Me:

Andrew Luck.  When healthy, he's one of the best QBs in the league.  He's never had a good O-line or a good running game and he's still elite.  He's a big guy, so like Ben, if you don't wrap up he'll extend the play and make good things happen for his offense.

 

Malik Hooker:  I think he was hurt a lot last year, but he's fast and covers a ton of ground in the secondary.  Andy will have to be careful when throwing downfield b/c Hooker covers more ground than most safeties making those deep throwing windows a little more dangerous than usual.

 

The O-line:  Everyone knows this is our weakest position group and without a good o-line the QB has no time to throw and running backs have nowhere to run.  The pass blocking has been ok in the preseason, but how will look with teams actually scheming towards the right side of the line?  The run blocking has been terrible so I don't expect that to change unfortunately.  

 

Quentin Nelson:  I'm interested to see how good he is.  During the draft people were saying he's a generational talent and if that's true that would probably make Geno/Billings less effective.  Now, I don't think a rookie would be able to totally stop Geno in his first regular season game ever, but it will be interesting to see if this kid is any good.

 

Why I'm Optimistic:

Our weapons.  AJ, Gio, Boyd, Eifert (Mixon (unproven), Gio (depending on the line) and Ross (unproven)).  I think we have enough weapons to score one anyone provided the line can be slightly below average...and slightly below average would be a major upgrade from last year.  

 

Preston Brown: This is a weird choice.  I think he'll help make the Colts abandon the run and allow our D-line to tee off on Luck and the Colts O-line.  Having a sure tackler in there on running downs will be nice, as long as they don't take advantage of his covering skills and start throwing a bunch on early downs. 

 

WJIII:  It's time to see if he's for real.  He had a great season last year and expectations are through the roof.  If he can take away one receiver that will help out Kirk on the other side where we can roll the coverage.  I don't think it's realistic to always just leave WJIII on an island, but if we can get away with that 40% of the time, we should be in a good spot.  

 

 

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When was the last time we played a team back to back like this?

 

Granted this past week was the B team, but even so I thought it was an interesting thing.

 

I think we're the better team on paper to be honest. Luck is coming back from injury so I'm interested to see how he does but really he is the only worry I have.

 

I am interested to see how Bates does taking over for Illoka, going against Luck will be a good test (assuming we get the top tier Luck and not the guy who's injury effects him)

 

 

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56 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

When was the last time we played a team back to back like this?

 

Granted this past week was the B team, but even so I thought it was an interesting thing.

 

I think we're the better team on paper to be honest. Luck is coming back from injury so I'm interested to see how he does but really he is the only worry I have.

 

I am interested to see how Bates does taking over for Illoka, going against Luck will be a good test (assuming we get the top tier Luck and not the guy who's injury effects him)

 

 

Jets...at the end of I believe the 2009 season....that didn't turn out well....

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1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

When was the last time we played a team back to back like this?

 

Granted this past week was the B team, but even so I thought it was an interesting thing.

 

I think we're the better team on paper to be honest. Luck is coming back from injury so I'm interested to see how he does but really he is the only worry I have.

 

I am interested to see how Bates does taking over for Illoka, going against Luck will be a good test (assuming we get the top tier Luck and not the guy who's injury effects him)

 

 

We are not starting all the guys we just cut and neither are the Colts.  To say we are playing them back to back is simply not true.  Not the same teams. 

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33 minutes ago, SF2 said:

We are not starting all the guys we just cut and neither are the Colts.  To say we are playing them back to back is simply not true.  Not the same teams. 

Hardly what I meant (In fact my post says we went against their B team this past week). Don't be contrarian.

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5 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

John Ross will have one catch and drop three other balls he should have had before leaving the game early with an injury.

no ninja.

 

Please don't say that.  John Ross will stay healthy all year and contribute positively to Andy Dalton's career year and unexpected Super Bowl MVP.  

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15 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

John Ross will have one catch and drop three other balls he should have had before leaving the game early with an injury.

no ninja.

 

That one catch will be amazing however.

 

If I were game planning it from the other side, I'd keep my back 7 in coverage on defense other than a few edge blitzes on early downs & make our D run and tackle at the sidelines.  Keep the Bengals in 3rd & longs and wait for the D to get tired.

 

I expect every team to play us this way until our offense proves it can do more than quick 3-step drop passing & converts some 3rd downs.  

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18 minutes ago, WRAPradio said:

 

Please don't say that.  John Ross will stay healthy all year and contribute positively to Andy Dalton's career year and unexpected Super Bowl MVP.  

I like your optimism but I am not sold on Ross.  Hope you are right and I am wrong.

 

18 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

That one catch will be amazing however.

 

If I were game planning it from the other side, I'd keep my back 7 in coverage on defense other than a few edge blitzes on early downs & make our D run and tackle at the sidelines.  Keep the Bengals in 3rd & longs and wait for the D to get tired.

 

I expect every team to play us this way until our offense proves it can do more than quick 3-step drop passing & converts some 3rd downs.  

Agree with this, too, especially about the one amazing catch.

But as I said to WRAP, I'm not really sold on Ross and do hope I am wrong.

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Luck is fragilli. He's a Geno/Dunlap/Billings tea bag away from being sidelined again. 

 

All we can do is pray about Ross, but I have to defend him on that drop last week since Munoz didn't and hadn't heard anybody else either. That was PI. The defender was early and pulled an arm back. Turnovers and drops seem to follow him around, but that wasn't his fault. With that said, again, hope and pray.

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7 minutes ago, Hooky said:

Luck is fragilli. He's a Geno/Dunlap/Billings tea bag away from being sidelined again. 

 

All we can do is pray about Ross, but I have to defend him on that drop last week since Munoz didn't and hadn't heard anybody else either. That was PI. The defender was early and pulled an arm back. Turnovers and drops seem to follow him around, but that wasn't his fault. With that said, again, hope and pray.

Agree about the pass interference.

 

Collinsworth talks about his beloved Squeelers, Munoz talks about himself.

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53 minutes ago, Hooky said:

Turnovers and drops seem to follow him around

 

He's 5'11, 190lbs & has that runner build to him.  I also think he's still playing like he's worried about getting hurt.  Either way, he's not going to win many contested catches.  Maybe he could beef up a little but that would come at the cost of the speed his game is built around.  I think he can be productive enough if he puts the work in, but right now he just doesn't look like an every-down WR to me.

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3 minutes ago, SF2 said:

John Ross will fail because I auto drafted him last night.  My team name is Bad Luck Schleprock.   Ross is doomed. 

 

He'll probably earn you a few TD's, but half of them will be in one game before he disappears for as many weeks.

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42 minutes ago, schotzee said:

They cut Michael Johnson only to resign him back at pretty much the same price as I recall reading . Why would they cut him for no apparent reason if they didn't have somebody ahead of him.? Are they just doing shit to try to look crafty? Honestly, I'm confused.

You need to read Dehner's article. They did it to be crafty so they could in essence get 54 through before they could start putting people on IR. By trusting Johnson, they were able to cut him and preserve a roster spot (apparently for Core and/or Tate) and then get Johnson back when they could IR someone (Harris I think) on Sunday. They actually agreed to pay Johnson the same as his contract had called for. Basically, Johnson allowed them to cut him to help them manage the roster. And they trusted Johnson not to leave when they did so. Johnson is a good dude. 

 

Here's the piece:

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2018/09/03/why-cincinnati-bengals-cut-and-re-signed-michael-johnson/1184457002/

 

 

 

Quote

The questions were obvious for fans watching the roller-coaster of Bengals cutdown weekend.

 

They cut Michael Johnson? Wow.

 

Wait, they re-signed Michael Johnson?

 

But, I thought …

 

Why would the Bengals do that?

 

In short, they did it so they could have a 54-man roster instead of a 53-man roster. Call it a weekend of risky roster gymnastics. I’ll explain.

 

The Cincinnati Bengals were in a bind with their host of young players they didn’t want to expose to the waiver system. For one, they didn’t want to lose injured fifth-round pick Davontae Harris for the season. They want to put him on injured reserve, with the ability to return in eight weeks. With questionable depth behind the starting three corners, that was imperative.

 

That meant he had to go through the cut to 53 before going on IR and clearing a roster spot. So, it’s not hard to see who ended up in the crosshairs: Fan and front office favorite Auden Tate. The team didn’t want to keep seven receivers but didn’t want to cut Mr. Reliable Alex Erickson or special teams asset Cody Core.

Yet, the future for Tate is bright and his talent so clear on tape this preseason, some receiver-needy team would likely pluck him through waivers. Teams were active on the waiver wire Saturday. Four receivers were picked up by three different teams. Not hard to believe any of the young players the Bengals kept – including Tate – would have been claimed as they had been receiving trade inquiries for them in recent weeks.

 

If you are a young player instead of a vested veteran when you are cut you have to go through waivers and be available to be picked up by all 31 other teams. That is not the case for a vested veteran like Johnson, however, he goes directly to free agency and can pick to sign with any team he’d like – including the Bengals.

The plan on the Bengals end was to cut Johnson, then put Harris on IR-return, then re-sign Johnson. They essentially agree to pay a 54-man roster, instead of 53, but they have accounted for that in cap space. Not to mention all the space cleared from the release of numerous other veterans over the last month, including H-back Ryan Hewitt on Saturday.

 

Why Johnson? Well, if you are going to do this risky move you want it to be with someone you trust and know can understand the situation rationally.  

 

How much of this was about trust? 

 

"Probably a great deal," Marvin Lewis said on Monday. As for how many current players Lewis would trust enough to even attempt such a swap and expect them to follow through. 

 

"Maybe three or four," he said. "That's about how many veterans we have."

 

There might not be a more trustworthy, rational individual in the NFL than Michael Johnson. He also plays a position where young talent is overflowing with Sam Hubbard, Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson in the rotation along with recently extended Carlos Dunlap. If he left, this wouldn’t be devastating, but his presence during the week and on Sunday was clearly valued as he was voted a team captain again on Monday. 

 

Even with the most trustworthy, it is still bringing a ton of risk into play. It only takes one team jumping in with an offer and he could choose a different home. When the move hit the headlines on Saturday, there were multiple calls from teams to Johnson’s camp with significant interest.

 

Another element of this was the Bengals previously had Johnson in the final year of a contract that had a cap hit of $6.11 million, ninth-most on the team. They could have asked him to take a pay cut considering his role has changed since he signed the deal in 2015.

 

Yet, there is as much respect between Johnson and the Bengals as any player and team in the league. It’s a big part of why he chose to return to Cincinnati in 2015 after a year away in Tampa Bay. The Bengals didn’t want to treat Johnson like that, so they essentially gave him the same deal they terminated on Saturday. Johnson, in turn, passed on other opportunities and took this one-year contract to return to the Bengals.

 

These transactions were made official Monday morning and the weekend of roster gymnastics stuck the landing. 

 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, membengal said:

You need to read Dehner's article. They did it to be crafty so they could in essence get 54 through before they could start putting people on IR. By trusting Johnson, they were able to cut him and preserve a roster spot (apparently for Core and/or Tate) and then get Johnson back when they could IR someone (Harris I think) on Sunday. They actually agreed to pay Johnson the same as his contract had called for. Basically, Johnson allowed them to cut him to help them manage the roster. And they trusted Johnson not to leave when they did so. Johnson is a good dude. 

 

Here's the piece:

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2018/09/03/why-cincinnati-bengals-cut-and-re-signed-michael-johnson/1184457002/

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, Katie threatened to send him her naked dick pics for a year straight if he signed with another team. She even sent him a pair of Crocs to show she was serious.

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3 hours ago, Hooky said:

Luck is fragilli. He's a Geno/Dunlap/Billings tea bag away from being sidelined again. 

 

All we can do is pray about Ross, but I have to defend him on that drop last week since Munoz didn't and hadn't heard anybody else either. That was PI. The defender was early and pulled an arm back. Turnovers and drops seem to follow him around, but that wasn't his fault. With that said, again, hope and pray.

I'm not so sure that as of right now their backup isn't better than Luck. He's pretty good. We don't want Luck knocked out and have Jacoby Brissett come in and beat us. That would be demoralizing.

 

I think the Colts O line is their weakness and that matches up well with our strength. This is a game we should win

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