Bengal Billy

YEAH!!!!

Dang. Cmon Ravens,, stuff 'em

So happy the Panthers lost so I can root for them to go all the way.

Pressure is off for them now. They needed a loss IMO. I think they'll make it.

Cmon Ravens,, shake it off, get some points, BEAT THE STEELERS!!!!

Geez

WOW!! Unbelievable Damm

Steelers always have been cheap.

Agree. I've always believed that and seen many instances that back up that point of view.

Just 2 weeks ago,, a Steelers defensive player (can't ever his name, Mitchell maybe) speared Tyler Eifert head to head. He launched himself like a missile clearly intending to spear his head. Eifert's been out since. It's the Steelers way. They've always rolled like that.

Anyway,, Cmon Ravens, You got this!

Well, crap. Not a good last sequence.

But,, Yeah,, great half Ravens! Keep it up!

Screw Pitt

Redskins are about to going to blow the game because of that. Book it.

Wow, Gruden says Kirk Cousins was supposed to throw a fade but took a kneel instead. So Cousins made his own decision against the coaches decision. Interesting.

I think Cousins just had a big-time "brain freeze" on that sequence. It looked like a mess, and he was obviously confused about what he was doing. That may end up costing the Skins badly.

What a big mistake by Cousins, Wow.

Since I think the Steelers will win out and make the playoffs, I hope they play the Bengals. I need to laugh at one of these chumps come playoff time.

That's likely to be the matchup. But, I don't think you have to hope much that the Bengals go one and done. A playoff loss for Cincy was fairly likely even with Dalton at QB.

With AJ McCarron, it's not gonna matter if they play the Steelers,Chiefs,Jets,Broncos in their playoff game. He is nowhere near ready for a game of that magnitude. He's not even close IMO. Cincy's defense would have to play absolutely out of their minds, while the running game just crushes people. In other words, it's not happening.

Cincy will be the #3 seed. They're not gonna get a win in Denver next week. I know, "Any Given Sunday." But, not with McCarron at the helm. No way.

**I'm just hoping the Steelers don't run all the way into the Superbowl. The way they're playing, it's looking likely. Ugh.

I doubt it happens, but it could be interesting if the Super Bowl ends up being the Bengals vs the Cardinals. Palmer not only beats his former team during the season, but gets to be the one to keep them from becoming champions.

As a Bengals fan, I've accepted the fact that if the Bengals do indeed actually WIN a playoff game and somehow manage to get in the Superbowl, they'll fave the Cardinals against Carson Palmer and he'll beat them.

I guarantee that's what is going to happen if Cincy somehow manages to make it there (we all know that's a very big "IF"). Carson Palmer will take them down.

**Side note- I don't think Palmer has ever won a playoff game either. He lost 2 home playoff games in Cincy, and hasn't been back, I think. So, the odds of 2 QBs (Dalton, Palmer) who have lost every playoff game making it to the Superbowl are very low indeed.

I wonder if he will be afforded the same latitude as Flacco by our fan base given the lack of receivers,etc.

^Good post.

Schaub is not near as good as Flacco. So, it should be expected that the offense will look worse (though that is to be determined). However, Schaub is dealing with the same extreme lack of WR that Flacco dealt with. He should be afforded the same latitude.

If Schaub can remember how to be careful with the football as he used to be a few years ago,, he's a good backup caliber QB. That's just it though,, will he be careful or continue to play like the past 2 years? Idk.

The Bengals D went into complete Prevent Defense that last drive. Palmer made that look super easy.

Bengals play calling went into full choke mode at the end.

-Before the Nugent FG:

3rd and 2 deep in Ariz territory with under 2 minutes to play.

They throw the ball deep to Green,, which 1. stopped the clock

2. Just try and get the first down: if they get it, they control end of game; if they don't make it, they run the clock down deep. Really dumb IMO.

-On defense,, rush 4 with full-on prevent mode, seriously depleted in the secondary. Brilliant Gunther!

Ahh,, the Bungles in primetime, geez lol.

Tbh I think it'd be nice to see the Raiders make the leap. And while I appreciate the optimism towards us and wouldn't mind seeing us run the table and sneak into the playoffs (and, better yet, actually jag a win like we seem so good at), I'm honestly resigned to this just not being our season. Putting 30 on the Browns and still losing to them had me deflated enough about the fate of the season, and that was before Sr went down.

Injuries have just decimated you guys this season. Even still,, every game is a very close one that could go either way. That's impressive.

Half a season left. I think the WC race is only about 3 games back (counting HTH)?

Raiders/Jets 4-3 are current #5,6.

Steelers 4-4

A bunch of teams within 3 games of each other with 8 and 9 games left.

Even with all the injuries,, you guys beat the Chargers. And, most of those teams in the WC "race" don't look to be much better than one another (Raiders, maybe). Alot of football left,, stranger things have happened.

The way I see it, if we're going down and out to miss the playoffs, then I hope the Steelers come down with us. I love watching the Raiders this year (outside of our game of course). So yeah, I'm rooting for the Raiders this Sunday.

Lol! +1

We can agree that we always want the Steelers to lose but for our sake, we need the Raiders to lose. They would have the tiebreaker in H2H with that win IF and I mean a BIG IF it came down to it. So an extra loss would help us. We beat the Steelers, so we got the H2H and who knows how that December game will play out.

That's cool. Raiders would go to 4-4 I think. Personally, I think the Steelers will win, even though the Raiders have looked much better as of late.

BTW,, on topic to this thread:

How are you guys viewing the Steelers/Raiders game this week?

Which team winning/losing benefits Ravens the most do you think?

Personally,, I ALWAYS want Pitt to lose. But, would Oakland losing be more beneficial to you guys?

Who u rooting for?

He threw one against the Seahawks. I'm not sure if there's any against other opponents though.

Although he's only thrown 4 INT,, he really need's to improve there. At least 3 of those picks were when the Bengals were in scoring position.

Ravens - picked in the end zone trying to throw to Green (points turned away)

Steelers - picked in the end zone trying to throw to Jones (points turned away)

Seahawks - picked at the goal line trying to throw to Green I think (points turned away)

His INTS have been careless mistakes when Cincy is in scoring position. That'll come back to bite him if he keeps it up.

52^

Put Flacco with that Bengals offensive roster (O-line, WRs, Eifert, Bernard/Hill),,,

man, that would really be an "all-time" offense IMO.

That's the one thing that bugs me as a Bengals fan. As good as Dalton looks at times,, if that roster had a really good QB, it would be dominant.

They have to stick with Dalton right now though. It's really hard to find a top talent at QB (many teams have still been looking for years). They just don't grow on trees.

But yeah,, Cincy's offense with a Flacco, Romo, Rivers, Luck, Brees, Roethlisberger type of guy would just be outstanding. That's not even imagining a Brady or Rodgers with that roster.

They're stuck with Dalton unless a top QB prospect somehow falls in their lap in a draft (highly doubtful). They're winning games though,, so hoping Dalton keeps this level of play and even improves.

^Thanks McRaven. Yeah, every season is different. Even though the Bengals have made it to the playoffs the past few seasons, they really look like a team that finally belongs there this season.

The AFCN has been so good in recent years, the Bengals were just fortunate enough to be one of the three division teams that made it in. Last year,, injuries really did not give them a chance at that one (which stunk,, cause the Colts were beatable).

Anyway,, I think they'll get a win too. But, if they have to face an AFCN #6 seed, it's going to be tough. The Bengals usually struggle with PITT,, and Flacco in the playoffs is always a tough guy to beat (I still think you guys have a shot to get in as a #6).

We'll see though. Cincy @ Denver on MNF in week 16 could be a HUGE game. If the Bengals can get a win there, they could possibly get a "bye" and avoid WC weekend.

Still alot of games left to be played though.

Good luck the rest of the way,, and plz,, keep taking down those Squeelers!

Playoff Dalton is a different Dalton

Yeah,, as a Bengals fan, that's been a serious bummer.

But, Phil Simms said something about that tonight that made alot of sense. In the 4 playoff games Cincy has been in,, they've really only been expected to win 1 of those games (2013 at home vs the Chargers when Cincy won the AFCN and we're 8-0 at home).

The first game (Dalton/Green's rookie year),, they were just lucky to have been good enough to get in as a wild card.

The second game was when Houston was a heavy favorite that season,, Cincy gave then a good run but lost put to the better team.

Last season,, uumm yeah. Just about every one of their key players on offense and defense where out. They really didn't stand much chance.

There's still half a season left to play. Cincy has some very tough games left on the schedule. They'll most likely be the #3 seed hosting #6. They really need to win that one (assuming most if the team is still healthy).

#6 could very well be Steelers or Ravens this year. That is definitely NOT what the Bengals would want to see. PITT or BALTIMORE could go in there and easily be the victorious team.

Shout out to SSS.

That guy is the embodiment of a TRUE Football Player. There's only a handful of those guys through each generation. He's definitely been one of my favorite players in the league the past decade.

Grit, Toughness, Fire, Intensity, Talent

True Football Player.

Yep, that was in 2010.

To be fair though...Indy had a better record than us in 2012, and we got to host them in our first game of the SB run.

Well, even though a reseed in in that case would've gone against you guys, the colts had a better record I guess (I can't Remer that one).

Anyway, I don't think it would be necessary for a reseeding if it wasn't becoming frequent for poor division winning teams to get in. But, alas, it is.

Btw,, good luck tonight guys.

Didn't we have a better record as a wildcard than the Chiefs one season, and then we had to play in KC? We still won the game, but our organization and fans deserved to be rewarded with a home playoff game that season, when I think we were like 12-4 and lost a tiebreaker to Pitt.

Yeah,, I think I remember that one. Anyway, that's exactly the type of situation I'm talking about. A 12-4 team (even if they didn't win the division) still had an excellent season. A team like that shouldn't have to play on the road vs a team with a worse record (especially if it's a team winning the AFCS at 6-10 or so, lol).

Really, I can't figure any harm in at least switching the venue.