Game Thread: Preseason Week 1: Bengals vs. Giants

[Tubbs1518]

First chance to see how bad they are.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Defense looked very good. Dunlap made a great play and Kirkpatrick had good coverage.

 

[Tubbs1518]

That was a beautiful first offensive possession. Run game looked good. Blocking looked good. Dalton looked sharp.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Another great defensive possession.

 

[futballiscool]

I try not to take the Preseason too seriously (good or bad) but Eifert looks the part of a probowl TE

 

[Tubbs1518]

I try not to take the Preseason too seriously (good or bad) but Eifert looks the part of a probowl TE

Eifert has looked like he was advertised as a rookie coming out. Running Gio inside still isn't going to work any better this year.

 

[bphillips4gg]

They're in midseason form. Timeout in the first quarter.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Let's hope McCarron comes back. Josh Johnson is bad.

 

[futballiscool]

Eifert has looked like he was advertised as a rookie coming out. Running Gio inside still isn't going to work any better this year.

They should just give up and use him exactly like a poor man's Darren Sproles. As long as Hill is healthy that's all they need him to be.

I was impressed with the skill position players in general last night.

 

[Tubbs1518]

They should just give up and use him exactly like a poor man's Darren Sproles. As long as Hill is healthy that's all they need him to be.

I was impressed with the skill position players in general last night.

Yep. Theres no reason Gio can't be used like they were Burkhead last night. In the slot, out of the backfield, a little bit of everywhere. And yeah the skill players looked good.

 

[cincygrad]

Watched the game this morning..... Deep team. It's pretty amazing to compare the Bengal roster to that Giant roster. I think we'll easily handle mediocre and poor teams again this season. As always, it will come down to how we play against the big boys and with the lights on. Sort of sad that we're wasting all this talent while hoping our coach/qb get better in the big game.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Watched the game this morning..... Deep team. It's pretty amazing to compare the Bengal roster to that Giant roster. I think we'll easily handle mediocre and poor teams again this season. As always, it will come down to how we play against the big boys and with the lights on. Sort of sad that we're wasting all this talent while hoping our coach/qb get better in the big game.

Yep. As it has the last couple seasons, it will come down to whether Dalton can finally step up in a big game or not.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Yep. As it has the last couple seasons, it will come down to whether Dalton can finally step up in a big game or not.

MWAHHAHAHAHA. You're funny. Like there is any reason to even ponder that.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I thought the game was pretty solid overall. Of course, hard to tell when the #1's play less than 5 minutes, but at this point, I'm looking at the backups. That is what really killed this team last year.

So far: The team is deep. It's a good thing to have as many guys fighting to stay on this team as they approach the 53 cut down in a few weeks. Some talented players are going to be looking for jobs.

That also means a big time return to the rotation on defense, especially the DL, which is what made it so effective under Zimmer. I expect a big bounce back season this year by the defense.

For the first time Dalton will be surrounded by talent at nearly every position, and not just chucking it to AJ and watching them run Gio up the middle for 1 yard. (assuming health here, of course). Green is 100%, Eiffert is 100%, and they looked to have a great connection so far. They have a true bell-cow in Hill, you have Jones back at WR, and the Alford kid has looked pretty damned good as well. The OL is healthy and they have some quality depth this year.

If Dalton can't put up career numbers with this cast, he shouldn't be in the NFL. Not as a starter anyway.

 

[cincygrad]

I thought the game was pretty solid overall. Of course, hard to tell when the #1's play less than 5 minutes, but at this point, I'm looking at the backups. That is what really killed this team last year.

So far: The team is deep. It's a good thing to have as many guys fighting to stay on this team as they approach the 53 cut down in a few weeks. Some talented players are going to be looking for jobs.

That also means a big time return to the rotation on defense, especially the DL, which is what made it so effective under Zimmer. I expect a big bounce back season this year by the defense.

For the first time Dalton will be surrounded by talent at nearly every position, and not just chucking it to AJ and watching them run Gio up the middle for 1 yard. (assuming health here, of course). Green is 100%, Eiffert is 100%, and they looked to have a great connection so far. They have a true bell-cow in Hill, you have Jones back at WR, and the Alford kid has looked pretty damned good as well. The OL is healthy and they have some quality depth this year.

If Dalton can't put up career numbers with this cast, he shouldn't be in the NFL. Not as a starter anyway.

And they have three healthy/veteran tackles..... And a promising rookie tackle. The only potential issue is depth at wide receiver. If Green, Jones or Sanu gets hurt, we'll likely have to count on Greg Little or Rex Bulkhead. Both have shown some good things, but I think we'd have a pretty big drop off.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Little's track record makes you worry, but it looks like he is really putting his best foot forward. Perhaps he has finally matured and worked on his hands in the offseason to become that 2nd round pick the Browns expected him to be. I was pretty impressed with Little in that game against the Giants. Of course terrible small sample size, but I liked the work he put in during that exhibition.

I was also pretty impressed with Wenning. That INT should have never happened as he hit Uzomah in stride for a TD that he wasn't even paying attention to. The ball almost caught Uzomah. Wenning will make good practice squad fodder this year.

Almost everything on defense looked good minus a few plays of course. But all in all, our young depth there looks alright, especially since they had to play against the Giants 1st string offense the entire 1st quarter.

I was thinking around 7-9 this year with our schedule, but I am starting to see how this could be a 10-6 to 11-5 team this year if the team stays relatively healthy.

 

[Cincyfan78]

And they have three healthy/veteran tackles..... And a promising rookie tackle. The only potential issue is depth at wide receiver. If Green, Jones or Sanu gets hurt, we'll likely have to count on Greg Little or Rex Bulkhead. Both have shown some good things, but I think we'd have a pretty big drop off.

As much as we pile on Dalton (and deservedly so) the lack of OL and WR depth was clearly evident down the stretch last year, and gave this team 0% chance of winning against Indianapolis. It's hard to have a good game at QB when your top WR's are Burkhead, Little, and the OL is failing to open up anything on the line, or provide any protection, due to injuries as well.

I agree, though, at WR it would be nice for someone to really step up this year and be a consistent threat out of that 4/5 spot. Not saying that they need to put up big games, but at least when they are called on they can catch open passes and run the right routes. Alford, so far, looks like he's going to be a capable part of the offense. Let's hope he can continue to develop, especially with his speed.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

As much as we pile on Dalton (and deservedly so) the lack of OL and WR depth was clearly evident down the stretch last year, and gave this team 0% chance of winning against Indianapolis. It's hard to have a good game at QB when your top WR's are Burkhead, Little, and the OL is failing to open up anything on the line, or provide any protection, due to injuries as well.

I agree, though, at WR it would be nice for someone to really step up this year and be a consistent threat out of that 4/5 spot. Not saying that they need to put up big games, but at least when they are called on they can catch open passes and run the right routes. Alford, so far, looks like he's going to be a capable part of the offense. Let's hope he can continue to develop, especially with his speed.

We keep talking about how decimated the offense was, but our defense surely has not helped us the last couple years in the playoffs. We need that defensive line rotation back, we need a healthy Burfict and Hawk, and we need our secondary to keep progressing.

The positions I am watching the mostly closely this preseason are DT, TE and S. Those positions intrigue me the most as even the free agents we picked up I am kind of intrigued with.

Nelson and Iloka are locks for starters, but outside that, I am not sure. Williams became a special teams ace last year so I think he has a leg up, but between Keo and Smith, I am intrigued. I really really like Smith's potential, because I think he could slide in and be a starter in a year or two.

As far as the TE's, I honestly like the potential of all of them either as a receiver, or blocker. I like their size, some of their speed, and so on.

DT...I think pretty much all the players that get cut from this group go on to be at least a backup on another team. Williams, Hardison, Geathers, Sims, Still, Thompson (of course we are not getting rid of Peko and Atkins, so they are safe), but the rest, what a roster scrum. I think at DE, we are pretty much set with Dunlap, Johnson, Clarke, Gilberry, (maybe Hunt, but I can see him getting cut). How many DL you keep, 8? 9? maybe 10 because of talent? However, if you go and do that, you leave yourself short at LB, because we are already going to have trouble cutting down to 9 DB's.

To me these are the most interesting roster battles, because the players that get cut from these slots I think could be backups to starters on some teams. Very little experience at TE, and limited at S outside the starters between Williams and Smith, but I really like the potential.

 

[Cincyfan78]

You are correct about the defense, but last year they would have had to pitch a complete game shutout for this team to have advanced. It was just too much to overcome.

Agreed about the defense. This seems to be where the most depth is at in terms of guys who will be looking for jobs in a few weeks. I think mostly the offense is settled, including backups. Obviously, WR is still looking to be sorted, but the QB, TE, OL, RB's are all pretty much set save a spot here or there.

With the defense, as you said, you guys guys all along the DL and LB and Secondary that are going to be (or are) pretty good players and they will be on the outside looking in. I'm definately looking forward to seeing more of these guys getting time with the 1's and against other 1's to see how they do when filling in.

 

[kramer1]

Gio Bernard is looking more and more like a one-hit wonder. I'd consider cutting him in favor of Wilder Jr.