Random Thoughts on the Bengals Preseason Game

[hometeam]

QBs - Daniel looked middling, even though he threw a TD to Kelce, most of his other completions where underthrown and caught by desperate dives and scoops from the turf. Bray looked meh. Alex did nothing. I didn't see Murray play (if he did, it was after I left about 2 minutes into the 4th quarter.)

RBs - Sherman looked like his usual self, and had a nice block on Wilsons return. JC touched the ball a couple times and averaged like 7-8 yards, so not worried there. Knile didn't show anything great or anything bad. DAT took that punt to the house and I called that shit all day as soon as he lined up. DAT is now my GF's favorite player for quote " I like when people are small and good at things " I said it before and will say it again. We stole DAT, and we are going to reap the rewards in Reids offense, and with Toubs special team prowess really making him shine.

WRs - I am worried about the WR position. Nobody showed any real moxy or extraordinary, just meh overall. Wilson looks like he's making a push to make the team. Kelce showed a spark. He may end up being who we thought he was, but I'm not ready to crown his ass just yet~

OLine - Honestly looked messy. Starting O line had some issues, and both starters and depth problems where compounded because there where no WR's getting open. They all need LOTS of work.

DLine - Overall looked good, even the depth. If this performance up and down the line from starters and depth is what we can expect, our CB's will need to step up because I don't think much running is going to happen on this D.

LB's - First string LB's looked as projected, I liked the look from both Mays and JMJ, and I wouldn't be surprised if either one of them wins the starting job next to DJ. Dee Ford looked a little too aggressive at times, blowing past the RB on several run plays, but on passing plays you can see the explosiveness. That being said, he didn't make an impact in the pass rush this game. Nico Johnson is going to be cut~


CB's - Gaines and Bronson looked good out there for rooks. Gaines was our only guy able to run with AJ Green and broke up a pass intended for him, while Parker looked lost trying to defend him. Parker will be replaced by Smith before the season starts. Overall, I am pretty worried about our CB's. I saw Owens on the field several times but don't remember him doing any thing. Parker looked abysmal, Cooper didn't get much time. Smith played well when he was in there.

Safetys - I expect Berry to ball, so im not too worried about the safety position. I LOVED what I saw from Bronson, he may be a rook but he was ball hawking hard and not just on the pick 6. Abdullah had a single play but wasn't on the field much. Whoever the dreadlock safety was with so much hair that I couldn't read his name needs work. Seemed lost out there and wasn't really in any position to make impact plays. White boy safety (cant remember his name) didn't do much, but DID throw a nice block on the INT return.

Special teams - Dave Toub, DAT, Colquitt. #1 ST in the league? Maybe.

[CallMeSquidwad]

Originally Posted by hometeam

If this performance up and down the line from starters and depth is what we can expect, our CB's will need to step up because I don't think much running is going to happen on this D.

Does anyone else see this as a COMPLETE oxymoron? Did the Steelers ever have stellar corner play? No, can you name any of the 85' Bears corners? Other than Leslie Fraser, because we all know him as a coach? Secondary play becomes less relevant when you have the tanks we do rushing the QB, our DB's only have to be good for 3 seconds every play and we'll be solid; plus the fact that we'll mostly just rush 4 so our corners will have help over the top.
I'm sorry but this just infuriates me when people knit pick at our defense when it is this good; no team in the last 20 years has been outstanding on all 3 levels, it's just not possible within the modern salary cap.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

Does anyone else see this as a COMPLETE oxymoron? Did the Steelers ever have stellar corner play? No, can you name any of the 85' Bears corners? Other than Leslie Fraser, because we all know him as a coach? Secondary play becomes less relevant when you have the tanks we do rushing the QB, our DB's only have to be good for 3 seconds every play and we'll be solid; plus the fact that we'll mostly just rush 4 so our corners will have help over the top.
I'm sorry but this just infuriates me when people knit pick at our defense when it is this good; no team in the last 20 years has been outstanding on all 3 levels, it's just not possible within the modern salary cap.

The Steelers weren't playing in this era.

In this era, you can't succeed without a great secondary.

The Chiefs have four solid starters. Everything after that is a mess.

[CallMeSquidwad]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

The Steelers weren't playing in this era.

In this era, you can't succeed without a great secondary.

The Chiefs have four solid starters. Everything after that is a mess.

I'm not talking about the 70's Steelers, I am talking about 2000's Steelers, nobody knew who Ike Taylor was until he started talking in the top 100 players. Or how about the Niners the last few years? Their corners have been the consistent weakness and they've been 1 play away from the SB the last 2 years? Or the Giants? Don't give me that shit, you don't need a legion of boom to be a dominant defense, in fact a dominant d line is MUCH more important than secondary play and I will cite you the Seacox; their defensive line won them that game and intimidated the Broncos o line from the get go. D line wins championships in the 21st century, and that is a proven fact.

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

I'm not talking about the 70's Steelers, I am talking about 2000's Steelers, nobody knew who Ike Taylor was until he started talking in the top 100 players. Or how about the Niners the last few years? Their corners have been the consistent weakness and they've been 1 play away from the SB the last 2 years? Or the Giants? Don't give me that shit, you don't need a legion of boom to be a dominant defense, in fact a dominant d line is MUCH more important than secondary play and I will cite you the Seacox; their defensive line won them that game and intimidated the Broncos o line from the get go. D line wins championships in the 21st century, and that is a proven fact.

You're so cute

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

Does anyone else see this as a COMPLETE oxymoron? Did the Steelers ever have stellar corner play? No, can you name any of the 85' Bears corners? Other than Leslie Fraser, because we all know him as a coach? Secondary play becomes less relevant when you have the tanks we do rushing the QB, our DB's only have to be good for 3 seconds every play and we'll be solid; plus the fact that we'll mostly just rush 4 so our corners will have help over the top.
I'm sorry but this just infuriates me when people knit pick at our defense when it is this good; no team in the last 20 years has been outstanding on all 3 levels, it's just not possible within the modern salary cap.

This isn't 1985. This league is so pass happy it makes me sick. If your corners suck, and a team knows it cant run on you, what do you think is going to happen? So yes, our corners need to get better, because the ball is going to be in the air.

I mean, when was the last time a team with a great secondary won a superbowl on defensive performance? RIGHT GUYS?

Oh yea, it was last year~

[CallMeSquidwad]

Originally Posted by hometeam

This isn't 1985. This league is so pass happy it makes me sick. If your corners suck, and a team knows it cant run on you, what do you think is going to happen? So yes, our corners need to get better, because the ball is going to be in the air.

I mean, when was the last time a team with a great secondary won a superbowl on defensive performance? RIGHT GUYS?

Oh yea, it was last year~

You are a prisoner of the moment and I pity you. If you think corners win championships not linemen then go get that head checked. I will state it again, with our d line our DBs only have to be good for 3 seconds, I think they can do it..

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

You are a prisoner of the moment and I pity you. If you think corners win championships not linemen then go get that head checked. I will state it again, with our d line our DBs only have to be good for 3 seconds, I think they can do it..

I didn't say corners win championships.

I said our corner play sucks and it needs to get better if we want to win.

The **** is wrong with you boy. Do you even know what Defense we run? The ****ing D lines job is not to provide pass rush, that's for the LB's.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

You are a prisoner of the moment and I pity you. If you think corners win championships not linemen then go get that head checked. I will state it again, with our d line our DBs only have to be good for 3 seconds, I think they can do it..

[ViperVisor]

Smith doesn't hold the ball more than the average.

The only time he did was in 2012 when the team was winning in the 2nd half.
He will hold on and eat a sack if he doesn't see a good target.

His O-Lines have typically sucked balls at pass blocking.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/und...sack-deviation

2011 sacks
49ers
Anthony Davis 12 2.7 sec Median Sack Time
Chilo Rachal 4.5 2.7 sec Median Sack Time
Joe Staley 4 2.3 sec Median Sack Time

That is not holding the ball. That is crap blocking.

Eagles with Vick or Vince Young
Winston Justice 5 3.1 sec Median Sack Time
Nick Cole 4.5 3.1 sec Median Sack Time
Mike McGlynn 3.5 3.7 sec Median Sack Time

He holds the ball and makes the O-line look worse.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by hometeam

This isn't 1985. This league is so pass happy it makes me sick. If your corners suck, and a team knows it cant run on you, what do you think is going to happen? So yes, our corners need to get better, because the ball is going to be in the air.

I mean, when was the last time a team with a great secondary won a superbowl on defensive performance? RIGHT GUYS?

Oh yea, it was last year~

Remember its preseason. There is no game planning and you want to see these kids what they do in man on man. If Sutton is anything as a coach he will have some packages that doesn't leave our corners out on an island. I didn't see anything special in blitz packages so I am pretty sure Andy and crew got out exactly what they wanted to see.

Relax and hopefully we wont see the secondary look so bad in the 3rd game. If we do then worry worry a lot.

[CallMeSquidwad]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

Does anyone else see this as a COMPLETE oxymoron? Did the Steelers ever have stellar corner play? No, can you name any of the 85' Bears corners? Other than Leslie Fraser, because we all know him as a coach? Secondary play becomes less relevant when you have the tanks we do rushing the QB, our DB's only have to be good for 3 seconds every play and we'll be solid; plus the fact that we'll mostly just rush 4 so our corners will have help over the top.
I'm sorry but this just infuriates me when people knit pick at our defense when it is this good; no team in the last 20 years has been outstanding on all 3 levels, it's just not possible within the modern salary cap.

Is there any mention of a 3-4?

[Chief Roundup]

Originally Posted by CallMeSquidwad

Does anyone else see this as a COMPLETE oxymoron? Did the Steelers ever have stellar corner play? No, can you name any of the 85' Bears corners? Other than Leslie Fraser, because we all know him as a coach? Secondary play becomes less relevant when you have the tanks we do rushing the QB, our DB's only have to be good for 3 seconds every play and we'll be solid; plus the fact that we'll mostly just rush 4 so our corners will have help over the top.
I'm sorry but this just infuriates me when people knit pick at our defense when it is this good; no team in the last 20 years has been outstanding on all 3 levels, it's just not possible within the modern salary cap.

Hey DUMBASS!!!!!!! When you reference the 85 Bears, a team built and successful in the pre-salary cap era, you set the time frame for your Steelers comments as well since you didn't differentiate.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

2. Really thought Fisher looked really good on all of two plays. I watched him like a hawk, and his runblocking looked far stronger than it ever was last year. Carlos Dunlap is a very big passrusher, however (he's around 290, I think?), and gave Fisher fits on two pass plays, which tells me that the achilles heel Fisher had last year (struggling against strong passrushers) is still going to be a problem this year. On the strip-sack Fisher gave up, Trent Green argued that Fisher did a solid job on the play, but Smith held the ball too long -- which gives me some hope that Fisher is coming along.

But Alex Smith does hold the ball too long, and takes sacks rather than throw down field. That's always been Smith's game. If that's the case, than it's going to be yet another atrocious year in the game threads as folks on this forum cry (justifiably or not) about Fisher struggling to come along. As long as he blocks for Alex Smith, he's going to give up coverage sacks. Last year, however, he was just beat like a rug -- I only saw that once yesterday, when Fisher greeted a bullrush too high and got pushed back into Alex Smith's lap.

This wasn't Fisher's fault. It was a 3 step drop. Fisher should have never had the responsibility for holding the block that long.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by RunKC

This wasn't Fisher's fault. It was a 3 step drop. Fisher should have never had the responsibility for holding the block that long.

I was referring to a different play than the strip-sack he gave up.

Trent Green himself said that play was largely on Alex Smith's shoulders.

There was a separate play where Fisher was shoved back quickly because he was too high.