Colts vs. Bengals

[Marathoner]

Big game for both teams. Cincy should run and pass all over the Colts. Rob Morris is getting the starting nod, ugh.

[Rizon]

Bengals 45, Colts 42

[kingfc22]

That had to be one of the best MNF openings I've seen in a long time. Very funny.

[Marathoner]

Yeah, I think the over is a safe play on this one. I mean Dexter Reid and Matt Giordonio (sp?), that's the Colts starting safety crew. They would be better working as the safety crew at a carnival.

[Marathoner]

Good play by Freeney, nice for him to show up.

[cougarfreak]

Bengals defensive plan tonight.............let the Colts offense do whatever they want.

[wade moore]

Bengals defensive plan tonight.............let the Colts offense do whatever they want.

Yeah, seems to be working as planned so far.

[RendeR]

Bresnihan is so fucking predictable with his defensive play calls.

Why the HELL are the linebackers running 20 yards deep on every play action pass? those dink and dunks are going for double digits every fucking time. GAH. I am so fucking frustrated.

[wade moore]

Bresnihan is so fucking predictable with his defensive play calls.

Why the HELL are the linebackers running 20 yards deep on every play action pass? those dink and dunks are going for double digits every fucking time. GAH. I am so fucking frustrated.


It's enjoyable if you're a Colts fan ;)...

What I have to wonder is.. well.. why can't Rudi run on the Colts like EVERYONE else can? Are the Colts really playing that much better? (I think the first tackler is doinig better in general) Are the injuries on the OLine that bad? It just seems worrisome if I'm a Bengals fan that my team can't run on the Colts.

[Noble_Platypus]

It's enjoyable if you're a Colts fan ;)...

What I have to wonder is.. well.. why can't Rudi run on the Colts like EVERYONE else can? Are the Colts really playing that much better? (I think the first tackler is doinig better in general) Are the injuries on the OLine that bad? It just seems worrisome if I'm a Bengals fan that my team can't run on the Colts.

Playing better? Have you seen how many missed tackles Indy has tonight. I am as big of a Colts fan as there is, but they have done nothing tonight to make me think they are tightening up their run defense.

[wade moore]

Playing better? Have you seen how many missed tackles Indy has tonight. I am as big of a Colts fan as there is, but they have done nothing tonight to make me think they are tightening up their run defense.

Yeah, I said generally better.. I guess maybe they're playing speedbump better as the 2nd tackler is getting there more often than they did agaisnt JAX.

But I do agree with you. That's why this puzzles me, I don't understand how Rudi Johnson isn't having a field day.

[Noble_Platypus]

Yeah, I said generally better.. I guess maybe they're playing speedbump better as the 2nd tackler is getting there more often than they did agaisnt JAX.

But I do agree with you. That's why this puzzles me, I don't understand how Rudi Johnson isn't having a field day.

Agreed, he should have 400 yards by now.

[RendeR]

The playcalling is keeping rudi down. Notice the plays where he's gashed the defense, downhill-running, quick hits into the line.

What do tehy call more often? Stretch plays and sweeps. Rudi can't run for shit to the outside even with NO defense on the field. Everyone knows this and they still call sweeps and wide end runs.

I'm not thrilled with Carson's performance, he's been VERY innaccurate tonight, but the vast majority of our problems are coaching problems, not player performance.

[Marathoner]

The playcalling is keeping rudi down. Notice the plays where he's gashed the defense, downhill-running, quick hits into the line.

What do tehy call more often? Stretch plays and sweeps. Rudi can't run for shit to the outside even with NO defense on the field. Everyone knows this and they still call sweeps and wide end runs.

I'm not thrilled with Carson's performance, he's been VERY innaccurate tonight, but the vast majority of our problems are coaching problems, not player performance.

Agreed, it probably feels like they need to score lots to keep up with the Colts, but just grind it out, they'll likely score and keep Manning off the field.

[RendeR]

I'm confused by Dungy challenging here. it was ruled an incomplete pass on the field so there is no way they can change it to a fumble. You can't create a turnover on a challenge. So why throw the red flag?

[wade moore]

I'm confused by Dungy challenging here. it was ruled an incomplete pass on the field so there is no way they can change it to a fumble. You can't create a turnover on a challenge. So why throw the red flag?

It must be possible to challenge, or they wouldn't have let him do it.

But I think the only thing that would happen is maybe it's Bengals ball at the spot of the "fumble"?

Not sure..

[RendeR]

Barring a miracle, this one is over. The Defense is out coached and the offense can't find its ass with both hands glued to their pants.

What a pathetic dissapointement.

[Kodos]

But nobody has been arrested tonight. That's a small victory.

[RendeR]

Bills 21
Dolphins 0




shut up Kodos =)

[Kodos]

No, but it makes them assholes who are fun to root against.

[Kodos]

If it makes you feel better, Palmer sucking tonight has finished off my fantasy team's hope for a championship this year. :)

[Kodos]

And I am an equal opportunity ripper when it comes to teams that harbor thugs and criminals. I ripped on the Jimmy Johson Cowboys and Dolphins, and now I rip on the Bengals. Don't want to hear it, tell Lewis to clean up his damn team.

[RendeR]

*chuckles* the irony is, palmer sucking wind has gotten me through to the second round of the playoffs in my league. I had a 24 point lead going into tonight and my opponent only had Carson left.

Go....me? I guess.

[Kodos]

I was 30 points behind. I have Palmer and Vinatieri. They had Chad Johnson... and Marvin Harrison. :(

[wade moore]

I was about 60 down, and Peyton tried to make a game of it for me...

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Couple of things.

What was with the Cincy receivers dropping virtually every ball thrown to them?

What was with Lewis opting for the FGs all the time, especially on the 4th and 1? That was a defeatist attitude right there. You got to go pedal to the metal against the Colts in those situations. I can't stand coaching like that. What a pussy.

[bhlloy]

Piss poor coaching for the Bengals on both sides of the ball.

On defense, they played Manning about as badly as you can possibly play Manning. Very little pass rush except from the front 4, and they gave him the underneath every single time. At least make the guy make a tough throw because if not he is going to pick you apart. By the fifth time they left the RB wide open on the playaction for a 10 yard gain something probably should have clicked. Oh, and Reggie Wayne is a great deep threat, but at some point you have to consider double covering Harrison in the red zone. Especially with Dallas Clark out... seems like Marvin was the first option on every single red zone play.

On offense, Johnson probably could have had 200 yards easily. I guess when you have the passing offense that the Bengals do it's not a hard decision to throw the ball, but everybody knew that they would need to run it to win and they seemed to go away from it a bit too soon. Palmer was a bit off which didn't help.

I'm not so ready to write the Colts off. They can still score with anybody. The key is going to be not letting LT run for 300 yards in the playoffs, but I think they could win that game in a shootout, especially if Rivers doesn't have a great game.

[rowech]

Pittsburgh showed the whole leauge how to beat Indy last year. Pressure the crap out of them and run it right at 'em. Especially if you already have a decent secondary, which I think the Bengals do. Nothing like watching the Bengals play a prevent defense for 60 minutes against the best QB in the league.

I find it hilarious they thought Peyton Manning wouldn't be disciplined enough just to take the 8 yard dump-offs all night. Of course, the Bengals then showed why I'm not enthralled with their coaches as much as others, when they chose not to run the ball 40 times ala Jacksonville.

Just terrible.

[JPhillips]

As much as it pains me to say it, the Bengals just aren't as good as the top teams in the AFC. They're 1-4 against AFC division leaders. Even if they make the playoffs it will probably be a first round exit.

Maybe next year.

[wade moore]

I'm not so ready to write the Colts off. They can still score with anybody. The key is going to be not letting LT run for 300 yards in the playoffs, but I think they could win that game in a shootout, especially if Rivers doesn't have a great game.

As a Colts fan, I think they REALLY need to get the 1st round bye and have someone else beat the Chargers. I cringe to think about LT against the Colts Defense.

[Butter]

What was with Lewis opting for the FGs all the time, especially on the 4th and 1? That was a defeatist attitude right there. You got to go pedal to the metal against the Colts in those situations. I can't stand coaching like that. What a pussy.

Quoted for truth. He was playing not to lose... or seemingly to lose. I didn't get it. You get in the red zone, you better score touchdowns.

As much as it pains me to say it, the Bengals just aren't as good as the top teams in the AFC. They're 1-4 against AFC division leaders. Even if they make the playoffs it will probably be a first round exit.

Maybe next year.

Maybe they can get some consistency from somewhere. If they had any at all this year, last night would not have been such an important game. Now the Denver game almost becomes a season make-or-break type game... then fucking Pittsburgh the following week which is likely still going to be in the hunt since Baltimore probably will not be at 100% this week.

This team still lacks the heart of a contender, let alone one of a champion. They have another year or more to go. They fold up too easily under adversity. Palmer looked completely lost out there, and no one was giving him any help.

[Ksyrup]

Big game for both teams. Cincy should run and pass all over the Colts. Rob Morris is getting the starting nod, ugh.

Funny about Morris starting. I read somewhere yesterday that in the 2 games he started for Brackett earlier this season, the Colts only gave up an average of 114 yards per game. Obviously, that's way below their season average. So toward the end of the game last night, they show the Colts running game stats, and they had 112 yards (which is what they ended with). Hmm....

[kurtism]

Morris has been (unfairly, in my opinion) vilified for failing to live up to his first round selection several years ago - he has served the team very well the last couple of seasons as a special teamer and backup. The one thing he really has going for him is that he is at least 20, if not 30-40 pounds heavier than any of the Colts starting LBers. Unlike Cato June and Gary Brackett, if you run right at Morris, you aren't likely to run over him.

As far as the Colts and the playoffs, the first thing they need to do is win out and lock in no worse than a 2 seed. After that, they need to play a lot more like they did last night - take an early lead and force the other team to play from behind. I'm not enough of a homer to call Indy the favorites (hard to pick against SD at this moment), but I think they have the weapons to make a run, particularly if any of their safeties get healthy.

[Kodos]

I really like the Chargers, but I pray somebody knocks them off so the Colts don't have to face LT.

[rkmsuf]

I think you have to question Marvin Lewis' ability to coach the Bengals. I'm very unimpressed by him.

[Kodos]

Not to mention the extreme Cowboys-like discipline problems. Drop the hammer on a couple guys who screw up and maybe you wouldn't have 8 or 9 arrests in one season.

[spleen1015]

While it is a good win for the Colts, we can't get our hopes up. This defense isn't good enough against the right game plan to win a big game. Smart coaching will beat them every time.

Marty may not be a smart enough coach to beat them, but you don't have to be that smart when you have LT. Give him the ball 30 times between the tackles and the Colts are toast.

[Daimyo]

On defense, they played Manning about as badly as you can possibly play Manning. Very little pass rush except from the front 4, and they gave him the underneath every single time.
For a 4-3 defense that is about the best you can do. You need to depend solely on your front four to get pressure because Manning is awesome against 4-3s that blitz. After that its a choice of letting Harrison or Wayne burn you deep on single coverage or double them and let the RBs and TEs burn you underneath. With Dallas Clark out for the season and the drop problems the TEs had last week at Jacksonville I think giving up the underneath is the safest bet.

[JPhillips]

I think you have to question Marvin Lewis' ability to coach the Bengals. I'm very unimpressed by him.

Ridiculous. Do you remember where this team was before they hired Lewis? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the NFL, but he almost singlehandedly turned around the NFL's worst franchise.

I think the team has some problems, but you can't ignore that they had injuries to 3/5 of the O line. The pass protection just wasn't very good and in the second half they had trouble running as well. Not many teams are going to win without their starting tackles and center.

[Aylmar]

Ridiculous. Do you remember where this team was before they hired Lewis? I'm not saying he's the best coach in the NFL, but he almost singlehandedly turned around the NFL's worst franchise.

Hogwash. Rudi Johnson, Chad Johnson, and T.J. Whosyourmamma were all drafted by the previous coaching staff. Really, the only big offensive star that Marvin has drafted is Carson. Wow, tough pick there. He's done a servicable job, but his defense is still horrid. He inherited a very young team that had been actually drafting quite well since LeBeau had been in charge. Those solid drafts are making themselves visible on the field and have been for a couple of years. I'm not saying that Lewis plays no part in their success, but to use terms like singlehandedly is just silly.

[JPhillips]

The Bengals had any number of good players drafted over the fifteen years of darkness that preceded Lewis. Lewis finally turned the players into a team. I can't believe that people are after Lewis' head after the turnaround he orchestrated.

If Lewis were let go a dozen teams would be after him the next day and the Bengals would likely hire Mike Shula II.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

He's still a pussy.

[rowech]

Marvin Lewis is not the right coach from this point on. He and his coordinators need to go. The talent is now there, he changed the culture, but quite frankly these three guys get out coached in every game where talent level is equal. They have to eliminate their playing on emotion and become more business like. If they don't, they'll never get over that final hump.

[Marathoner]

Morris has been (unfairly, in my opinion) vilified for failing to live up to his first round selection several years ago - he has served the team very well the last couple of seasons as a special teamer and backup. The one thing he really has going for him is that he is at least 20, if not 30-40 pounds heavier than any of the Colts starting LBers. Unlike Cato June and Gary Brackett, if you run right at Morris, you aren't likely to run over him.

You don't draft a first rounder with the expectation of him being only a special teamer and backup. I recall the local media thinking he would be the foundation of a strong defense for years. He would have been a good 3rd to 4th round pick.

[Julio Riddols]

What I don't get is why the Bengals didn't pass the ball all damn night, because everyone damn sure expected them to try and run all night. Well, the Colts had a 2nd and 3rd string safety starting, so they whould have been ripe for the picking.. But if Palmer doesn't get into a rhythm early, he usually doesn't ever really get going in a game, and Rudi is NOT the type of back you can use as a primary offensive weapon. He is very complementary to a good passing game, because he rarely loses yardage and rarely fumbles, but he will not consistently gain enough yards for a first down if you keep shoveling him the ball. He is a 2 and 3 yard guy who occasionally breaks off a 15 yarder, and there is simply no way he will get you up and down the field like that. They definitely should have just stuck to the plan they've been using, and run Rudi when the down and distance dictates it.

Defensively, I think Pittsburgh New England and Jacksonville have pretty much shown everyone in the league exactly how to slow down Peyton Manning. You certainly can't play scared of him. Cincinnati gave so much space underneath, I have full confidence I could have thrown for a couple hundred yards and completed at least 60 percent of my passes.. It would have been as easy as typing this was for me.

I can't understand why this team and its coaches just don't have balls some weeks, while others they look bold on offense and aggressive on defense.
The latter are usually games they win pretty easily.

I think Bresnahan needs to go, and Marvin needs to take over the defense fully, and stop letting fools do what he would more than likely do much better.

And get rid of Tory James already.. He's been really bad this year except for a few lucky int's.