WEEK 16: @ SQUEELERS (GameDey thread)

[Jamie_B]

Just now, spicoli said:

Is he not supposed to? 🤷‍♂️

 

Trey Hendrickson is a f’ing beast…he’s still behind TJ Watt. 

 

I don't expect that TJ isnt going to get his. But it should not be a reliable thing that he gets it every game we play against them. 

 

This is the thing about this division.

 

The Ravens lead the league in sacks.

The Steelers have TJ Watt

The Browns have Myles Garrett

 

We have not won a single game in the division (and Ill be surprised if we do) 

 

You don't have to look very far to wonder why.

[Jamie_B]

4 minutes ago, stryker57 said:

for me its the constant shotgun formation ,  the Stealers have always ran an aggressive defense  and a shotgun offense is not the way to beat it. under the center, run game and play action to compliment it.  our tackles always get burnt because we set them up to get burnt, their outside rushers strength is to spread wide and make the tackles play angle out,   draws and screens dont work cause the backers sit in a zone and cover that..  sad offensive  gameplan .

 

 

They got away from doing this this week, and it showed.

 

Joe and Zac have a lot of work to do to get Joe comfortable under center. It's the one thing they can do to get us to win more football games.

[Cricket]

3 hours ago, AmishBengalFan said:

So, y'all would rather tank than fight?

 

Or, at least, Cricket and Jupiter and Duluhose and Jamie.

 

How much I fight has zero impact on the way the team plays or the outcome of any games.  I would rather see THE TEAM fight.  But we didn’t see that, did we?

 

I have plenty of frustrations in my life…that I can control to some extent.  
 

Being a fan of this team often adds even more frustration that I have no control over (the uninspired play of this team; disappointing drafts; and stupid play-calling).  I think as a self-preservation measure, I will (and do) detach myself from the team a bit after a shitshow like we witnessed today.  Yes, we still have a shot at a post-season birth, but we FAILED to take advantage of a golden opportunity to greatly improve our post-season standings..with a pitiful display.

 

So, while I do admire you hardcore fans and can appreciate your “we still got a chance” stance, for the betterment of my own health I need to push away a bit.  
 

If that makes me a lowly bandwagon fan, so be it.  If that bothers you enough that you feel the need to call me out, then I would suggest that you put me on “ignore”.  

[claptonrocks]

57 minutes ago, spicoli said:

In other words…injuries finally caught up with them. 
 

 

Yes.but that could be said for every team.

Attrition is a bitch..

[stryker57]

14 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

They got away from doing this this week, and it showed.

 

Joe and Zac have a lot of work to do to get Joe comfortable under center. It's the one thing they can do to get us to win more football games.

sadly the announcer even commented during the 1st drive on how we started playing under center more and it had been working well for us, so i guess our awesome offensive gameplan was to switch back to what wasnt working? 

[claptonrocks]

7 minutes ago, Cricket said:

How much I fight has zero impact on the way the team plays or the outcome of any games.  I would rather see THE TEAM fight.  But we didn’t see that, did we?

 

I have plenty of frustrations in my life…that I can control to some extent.  
 

Bring a fan of this team often adds even more frustration that I have no control over (the uninspired play of this team; disappointing drafts; and stupid play-calling).  I think as a self-preservation measure, I will (and do) detach myself from the team a bit after a shitshow like we witnessed today.  Yes, we still have a shot at a post-season birth, but we FAILED to take advantage of a golden opportunity to greatly improve our post-season standings..with a pitiful display.

 

So, while I do admire you hardcore fans and can appreciate your “we still got a chance” stance, for the betterment of my own health I need to push away a bit.  
 

If that makes me a lowly bandwagon fan, so be it.  If that bothers you enough that you feel the need to call me out, then I would suggest that you put me on “ignore”.  

Good post Cricket.

Understandable..

 

Until they're totally eliminated I'll ride with them.

This has been one crazy NFL season so anything is still possible.

 

[Jamie_B]

1 minute ago, stryker57 said:

sadly the announcer even commented during the 1st drive on how we started playing under center more and it had been working well for us, so i guess our awesome offensive gameplan was to switch back to what wasnt working? 

 

 

I like Zac for what he has done to build a culture here, and he should be commended for even keeping us in this when Joe went down.

 

But he really makes me scratch my head sometimes when it comes to game plans and playcalling.

[Cricket]

1 minute ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

I like Zac for what he has done to build a culture here, and he should be commended for even keeping us in this when Joe went down.

 

But he really makes me scratch my head sometimes when it comes to game plans and playcalling.

As a bandwagon fan, I agree.  😎

[stryker57]

5 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

I like Zac for what he has done to build a culture here, and he should be commended for even keeping us in this when Joe went down.

 

But he really makes me scratch my head sometimes when it comes to game plans and playcalling.

yep.  his love of screens gets annoying,  his commitment trying to continually fit players into his scheme rather then tweaking his scheme to the strengths of the players he has is something else.   

[claptonrocks]

1 hour ago, AmishBengalFan said:

 

And I'm having difficulty understanding why certain folks are complaining about me for this.  If I had stated that if I let go of a hammer it will fall to the ground, would that get the same response?  My quoted post is a statement of fact.... if we want to make the playoffs, we gotta win out and get help.

 

Are y'all denying that as a fact or are you saying that you hope it doesn't happen?

Just different points of view as expected on the board.

You view is valid.

[TigerJ@w]

The Stealers knew how to game plan against us, they always do.  They watched the tapes on Browning and learned from them.  Did Zac look at any Rudolph tapes from the past?  I am willing to bet, no.  We always get beat by a QB that either is new or has not played in a long time.  We couldn't even take advantage of their beat up secondary.  Browning throwing into coverage and Zac sticking up for him saying he was trying to throw that one away that was picked off is BS.  If he was trying to throw it away, our player was wide open on the sideline, and he overthrew him and had it picked off in the EZ.  He could've thrown it out of bounds.  I was believing in Browning from listening to him talk but, now he just looked like how a backup actually should look like and that is mediocre.  Don't get me wrong, the D was horrible and has been for many games.  Play calling today on both sides was not that good.    

[TigerJ@w]

[HavePityPlease]

I would argue actually rooting for a loss isn't really what a fan should be about - not for the sake of the football team but for your own mental health.  Everyone can admit a higher draft pick is preferable if you end up not winning the actual Super Bowl but there's always a hierarchy and arguably you end up where you should in the draft order in comparison to the rest of the league.  Think of it this way - some team is shittier than us, and their fans want a better draft pick too.  Let them enjoy that little bit of solace.

 

How many years (and years) of us getting high draft picks and it having zero impact on our winning - let alone playoff chances - should it take for people to realize that draft picks almost never have that type of impact?  Joe is our recent exception and you can throw Chase in there too (but the level of his impact required Joe as a prerequisite).  Marvin actually said it once himself, something like outside of the top 5 or so picks you're just not going to get a guy that has a "force of nature" effect on your team.  If it happens with any pick below that it's usually a lot of dumb luck or some super talented but secondarily "suspect" player sliding, but ending up fine. 

 

The evidence of what we actually need should be obvious (IMO) because we've already seen it with the exact same coaches and almost the same personnel on the field.  Losing our two safeties has made our defensive positioning ragged at best and the defense is not playing as a unit.  Nearly everyone wants to point to single players not being there or individual on-field play meaning the entire defense collapses but that is frankly nonsense.  We've seen this exact same result, from Lou, in the recent past.  What fixed it, almost immediately?  Bringing in HIS OWN free agents, hand-picked, to not just play in, but run his scheme.  Does nobody remember Lou going from completely hated to "definite HC material" after just one offseason + season? 

 

This past offseason they admitted that they really thought they'd get Vonn back and thus getting Scott was clearly a scramble, and look at the result - the guy is completely lost out there and is a terrible fit.  Stopping the run is much more than just one guy holding his ground in the middle of the line, it takes the unit acting as one.  Reader sets the tone often with his sheer will, but that didn't have Scott getting into proper position.  So what do we need?  We need a QB in the secondary, simple as that.  Is that going to come from the next draft?  Almost zero chance.  Can Battle become that?  Maybe, but you probably shouldn't bet on it.  I will agree we need a tone-setter (or two) on the DL but that does NOT need to come from a high draft pick, at all.  Just get a couple wood-choppers who love to grind and let it show - you know, football players.  Free agents are probably best for both - like the last time Lou solved these problems.

 

And just to show some solidarity with Amish, he's one of the few fans that actually DOES make a direct difference, however slight, to the team's success because he actually attends games and makes noise.  If everybody wanted to tank the stadium would be empty - except for opposing fans - and I'd imagine that's been frustrating over the years.  At the same time I don't think it's incumbent on fans to root-for-a-win-no-matter-what but you'll probably be happier if you root for a win and simply accept whatever positive result comes from losing.  With that said, just like you can't control what the team does, you can't control what fans say, do or feel, either.  Just accept it - all of it - and find what's enjoyable about the team yourself.

[I_C_Deadpeople]

The lack of effort this week was what was ultimately the most disappointing. And that is boith from players and coaches. Given the absolute need to win the game, there is truly no excuse to lay an egg like they did. The other team had more injuries then we did so that is NO excuse. Just plain out played, out hustled and out coached. Have fun looking yourselves in the mirror tonight fellas. 

[Jamie_B]

1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

 

I don't expect that TJ isnt going to get his. But it should not be a reliable thing that he gets it every game we play against them. 

 

This is the thing about this division.

 

The Ravens lead the league in sacks.

The Steelers have TJ Watt

The Browns have Myles Garrett

 

We have not won a single game in the division (and Ill be surprised if we do) 

 

You don't have to look very far to wonder why.

 

 

Protect the franchise. 

 

[texbengal]

Watched it on a plane so I had to hide my frustration. Just a really disappointing effort.

 

Jake made some really bad decisions, OL gave up too many pressures and the D was positively atrocious. Couldn’t get off the field on some long 3rd downs, gave up too much on early downs. Chido might need to go to a burn unit for therapy… he was brutally bad. Just… super disappointing. Hilton has not played well generally, save for a few games.
 

This D needs a lot of work. While I have high hopes that the young DBs will gel, the LB play has been subpar all year and other than Tre and DJ Reader (and occasional good play from Hill and Hubbard), they blow chunks up front. Pass rush is pretty lame and the explosive plays they routinely give up…. It’s worse than when Lou got here with the Bledsoes and BW Webbs of the world. Yikes. 
 

I’ll be cheering them on and hoping for 2 more wins, because you never know  - and I know teams lay eggs sometimes. But for a critical game, this was a freaking disaster.  Outplayed, out hit, out coached… you name it. 

[A Rock]

Feeling pretty damn bitter. I never used to understand when people would post about management and ownership, but I get it now. Ultimately, that's where change starts. Like many of us, I entered this season with high hopes. We're supposed to be among the cream of the crop in the NFL now. We're not there. Some bitter observations (and these are true with or without Burrow, and sometimes they're even worse with Burrow). We cannot manufacture a yard on demand. We absolutely telegraph our intentions on offense (this is actually worse with Burrow). Our defense can't get off the field when we have an opponent in an obvious passing situation (3rd and long, etc.). Whenever we get some serious momentum on offense, Zac just kills us with some inexplicable play calling. These things have been true win or lose. They've been present even the last couple of years when we've had great success. We came up one play short on either side of the ball in the Super Bowl, and one play short on either side of the ball in the AFCC game. A lot of magic went our way with timely turnovers though, and that is not something to build a defense around. Without Bates and Bell, our D is starting to break before it can bend. If nagging issues with coaches and players persists and serious change isn't at least attempted, that's on management and ownership.  

[Spotto]

4 hours ago, Jamie_B said:

 

I like Zac for what he has done to build a culture here, and he should be commended for even keeping us in this when Joe went down.

This is the part my belief is waivering.

 

Good culture has a team turning up to play.  We often don't.

 

Good HCing doesn't make excuses that you can't run against the Squeelers.  

 

We have an below average offensive scheme, this needs to change because our money is on that side of the ball and our defence will always be undermanned as such.

 

Zac & Duke, over to you. You have 1 more year......

 

[|High School Harry|]

[UncleEarl]

12 hours ago, Jungletiger said:

Jake Browning has far exceeded our expectations.  Disappointment is to be expected, the out rage is ridiculous.

The Bengals got their asses whipped on both sides of the ball.  Pittsburgh is a physical team.  The Bengals are soft as baby shit and it starts with Taylor.  They have a high dollar offensive line that can’t run against the #22 run defense. As it stands the Bengals are significant underdogs in 6 games a year.  
 

I am not outraged at Browning.  I am tired of this team being soft and the HC that enables it. 

[UncleEarl]

10 hours ago, stryker57 said:

sadly the announcer even commented during the 1st drive on how we started playing under center more and it had been working well for us, so i guess our awesome offensive gameplan was to switch back to what wasnt working? 

Bad OC.  Been a problem for years. 

[UncleEarl]

Fans bitching at each other because they aren’t the kind of fan they think they should be is some of the lamest shit ever. 

[Cricket]

 

…on the good side, they did keep Freiermuth (sp?) under wraps.  Did he even have a catch?  
 

Apparently the scheme to cover the TEs leaves top-quality WRs practically uncovered. 😕

[Cat]

Is it me or has Pratt looked like shit? He's not a good coverage LB. Wilson isn't great at it either, but seems like Pratt gets beat a lot.

[|High School Harry|]

42 minutes ago, Cat said:

Is it me or has Pratt looked like shit? He's not a good coverage LB. Wilson isn't great at it either, but seems like Pratt gets beat a lot.

he's all or nothing

I thought he was falling over his own feet or bumping into his own players.

 

I also wanted to see McCarron. 

no