Just now, hrcarrier said:

I agree it felt like very much of a playoff game to me. I couldn’t imagine how loud it was inside the stadium. It was easy to tell it was plenty loud from tv. 

My 7th grade nephew went to his first Bengals game today, I was so happy for him to be able to have that experience. 

Can anyone share the tie-breaker advantage the Colts and Dolphins have on the Bengals?

5 minutes ago, Oldercoach said:

Can anyone share the tie-breaker advantage the Colts and Dolphins have on the Bengals?

Conference record. 

I guess congratulations to Zac Taylor and the Bengals for winning a game that clearly neither team really wanted to win.

I may be in the minority but I honestly really liked how Taylor called this game, and I also had no problem with how he handled the clock at the end of regulation. I know some questioned going for it on 4th down early twice, but in both instances I had no issues with it. Which the second one they went for and missed, it still pinned the Broncos back inside their 5. The defense got a quick 3 and out and the offense got good field position and scored after that. So they didn’t really lose out on points by going for that second 4th down inside the 5. Then while people complain about those 4th down misses, not many people seemed willing to give credit for the 4th down they did get in the 4th quarter that led to a touchdown. I know for me I am basically always going to prefer my Coach being aggressive and trusting the franchise QB to convert a 4th and short, rather than being conservative. 
 

Then at the end of regulation the Bengals were setting themselves up to basically have a walk off chip shot field goal with basically no time left. However, after Brown injured his ankle when trying to intentionally fall short on the one. The strategy had to change, since the Broncos would have got the ball back with a minute left still only down three, if the Bengals play it conservative and don’t try to score. 
 

So as I said I am sure I am in the minority, but overall I thought this was a good coached game by Taylor. 

9 hours ago, futurecoach said:

I may be in the minority but I honestly really liked how Taylor called this game, and I also had no problem with how he handled the clock at the end of regulation. I know some questioned going for it on 4th down early twice, but in both instances I had no issues with it. Which the second one they went for and missed, it still pinned the Broncos back inside their 5. The defense got a quick 3 and out and the offense got good field position and scored after that. So they didn’t really lose out on points by going for that second 4th down inside the 5. Then while people complain about those 4th down misses, not many people seemed willing to give credit for the 4th down they did get in the 4th quarter that led to a touchdown. I know for me I am basically always going to prefer my Coach being aggressive and trusting the franchise QB to convert a 4th and short, rather than being conservative. 
 

Then at the end of regulation the Bengals were setting themselves up to basically have a walk off chip shot field goal with basically no time left. However, after Brown injured his ankle when trying to intentionally fall short on the one. The strategy had to change, since the Broncos would have got the ball back with a minute left still only down three, if the Bengals play it conservative and don’t try to score. 
 

So as I said I am sure I am in the minority, but overall I thought this was a good coached game by Taylor. 

I agree with most of the calls also. One exception being the end of regulation. There was no reason to run the ball with Brown! Just take three knees and you are kicking a 25 yard field goal with around 11 seconds left. Worst case scenario he misses and you go to overtime but if he makes it the game is basically over barring an absolute miracle. Also Brown got hurt on the play that didn’t need to happen! I do agree once Brown got hurt and we had to use our timeout we had to go for the Touchdown but it should have never come to that.

The Bengals defense was beyond terrible.

24 minutes ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

The Bengals defense was beyond terrible.

And the sky is blue!

2 hours ago, AirYardGo said:

I agree with most of the calls also. One exception being the end of regulation. There was no reason to run the ball with Brown! Just take three knees and you are kicking a 25 yard field goal with around 11 seconds left. Worst case scenario he misses and you go to overtime but if he makes it the game is basically over barring an absolute miracle. Also Brown got hurt on the play that didn’t need to happen! I do agree once Brown got hurt and we had to use our timeout we had to go for the Touchdown but it should have never come to that.

Good point. The only thing that running an actual play does is it takes a few more seconds off, than what taking a knee does. 

Let's talk about going for it on 4th down yesterday. The Bengals going for it on 4th and 1 on their first drive yesterday at the 22 yard line is almost a fireable offense IMO. Zac Taylor took 3 points off the board for what reason? If you look at the stats for percentage of success of making it on 4th, the percentage of possessions that a team scores a TD when in the red zone and the success rate of a 40 yard field goal, going for it on 4th on that first drive by the Bengals was a losing decision. The Bengals 4th down conversion success rate is 56%. The Bengals score a TD in the red zone 67% of the time. The success rate on a 40 yard field goal in the NFL is over 95%. The three points is almost a sure thing. Converting on 4th down and going on to score a TD is unlikely. Zac Taylor cost his team 3 points with this decision.

The second possession when they went for it on 4th down is more reasonable. It was 4th and 2 so that is a negative on chance of success. But being at the goal line with the payoff for making it being 6 points is a big positive towards going for it. I can live with the Bengals going for this one. 

__________________________

Looking at 4th down in general, it would be a rare situation where I would go for it on 4th down in the first three quarters of a game outside of a goal line situation. Momentum is big in football games. If you make it on 4th down, it helps your offensive momentum but if you don't get it - it is a momentum changing event in a game for your opponent.

Second, know your team and your opponent. This has a big impact on the chances of making it. I can be more in favor of going for it if I have the offensive line and rushing ability that adds to my chances. The same goes for my opponent's defensive line and rush defense. Yesterday in the Bengals game, going for it on 4th down was a high risk decision. The Bengals offensive line versus the Broncos defensive is a losing matchup for the Bengals. I would put the Bengals chances of making 4th and 1  in yesterday's matchup well below the league wide success percent. The Bengals are in the bottom 10 in the NFL in 4th down conversion success the past two years. Going for it on 4th yesterday is much riskier than the NFL averages. Zac Taylor should know all this.

7 hours ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

The Bengals defense was beyond terrible.

Tell us something we don’t know lol. They actually played a solid first half. Take Hendrickson and Hilton away and there pretty much is no defense.

7 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Let's talk about going for it on 4th down yesterday. The Bengals going for it on 4th and 1 on their first drive yesterday at the 22 yard line is almost a fireable offense IMO. Zac Taylor took 3 points off the board for what reason? If you look at the stats for percentage of success of making it on 4th, the percentage of possessions that a team scores a TD when in the red zone and the success rate of a 40 yard field goal, going for it on 4th on that first drive by the Bengals was a losing decision. The Bengals 4th down conversion success rate is 56%. The Bengals score a TD in the red zone 67% of the time. The success rate on a 40 yard field goal in the NFL is over 95%. The three points is almost a sure thing. Converting on 4th down and going on to score a TD is unlikely. Zac Taylor cost his team 3 points with this decision.

The second possession when they went for it on 4th down is more reasonable. It was 4th and 2 so that is a negative on chance of success. But being at the goal line with the payoff for making it being 6 points is a big positive towards going for it. I can live with the Bengals going for this one. 

__________________________

Looking at 4th down in general, it would be a rare situation where I would go for it on 4th down in the first three quarters of a game outside of a goal line situation. Momentum is big in football games. If you make it on 4th down, it helps your offensive momentum but if you don't get it - it is a momentum changing event in a game for your opponent.

Second, know your team and your opponent. This has a big impact on the chances of making it. I can be more in favor of going for it if I have the offensive line and rushing ability that adds to my chances. The same goes for my opponent's defensive line and rush defense. Yesterday in the Bengals game, going for it on 4th down was a high risk decision. The Bengals offensive line versus the Broncos defensive is a losing matchup for the Bengals. I would put the Bengals chances of making 4th and 1  in yesterday's matchup well below the league wide success percent. The Bengals are in the bottom 10 in the NFL in 4th down conversion success the past two years. Going for it on 4th yesterday is much riskier than the NFL averages. Zac Taylor should know all this.

I completely agree about the earlier fourth down attempts and other points you made. There was a good chance that the Bengals could have been up 6-3 before they scored their first touchdown making it a two possession game. And with how the rest of the game went, overtime wouldn’t have been necessary very likely.

32 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Let's talk about going for it on 4th down yesterday. The Bengals going for it on 4th and 1 on their first drive yesterday at the 22 yard line is almost a fireable offense IMO. Zac Taylor took 3 points off the board for what reason? If you look at the stats for percentage of success of making it on 4th, the percentage of possessions that a team scores a TD when in the red zone and the success rate of a 40 yard field goal, going for it on 4th on that first drive by the Bengals was a losing decision. The Bengals 4th down conversion success rate is 56%. The Bengals score a TD in the red zone 67% of the time. The success rate on a 40 yard field goal in the NFL is over 95%. The three points is almost a sure thing. Converting on 4th down and going on to score a TD is unlikely. Zac Taylor cost his team 3 points with this decision.

The second possession when they went for it on 4th down is more reasonable. It was 4th and 2 so that is a negative on chance of success. But being at the goal line with the payoff for making it being 6 points is a big positive towards going for it. I can live with the Bengals going for this one. 

__________________________

Looking at 4th down in general, it would be a rare situation where I would go for it on 4th down in the first three quarters of a game outside of a goal line situation. Momentum is big in football games. If you make it on 4th down, it helps your offensive momentum but if you don't get it - it is a momentum changing event in a game for your opponent.

Second, know your team and your opponent. This has a big impact on the chances of making it. I can be more in favor of going for it if I have the offensive line and rushing ability that adds to my chances. The same goes for my opponent's defensive line and rush defense. Yesterday in the Bengals game, going for it on 4th down was a high risk decision. The Bengals offensive line versus the Broncos defensive is a losing matchup for the Bengals. I would put the Bengals chances of making 4th and 1  in yesterday's matchup well below the league wide success percent. The Bengals are in the bottom 10 in the NFL in 4th down conversion success the past two years. Going for it on 4th yesterday is much riskier than the NFL averages. Zac Taylor should know all this.

The third 4th down attempt the Bengals went for which was close to mid field ended up turning into a touchdown. Then in regards to the first fourth down attempt, the Bengals kicking game has been so u reliable this year that it’s hard to trust they make even a 4th down. For me with how bad the defense has been this year, how unreliable the kicking game has been, I have no problem trusting Burrow. I much rather give him a chance to go get something done. 
 

You make great points with all of that, however the defense and kicking game is also things he had to consider. Which both have let them down all year long. At this point hope for the best by putting it in Burrows hands. Just like with the game winning touchdown pass in OT. No one in the NFL probably even throws a pass there once down at the 3, when a field goal wins it. However, the kicking game and defense have failed them so many times this year, and once again in this game. Where you have to go against conventional things and just put it in your star QBs hands. 

6 hours ago, futurecoach said:

The third 4th down attempt the Bengals went for which was close to mid field ended up turning into a touchdown. Then in regards to the first fourth down attempt, the Bengals kicking game has been so u reliable this year that it’s hard to trust they make even a 4th down. For me with how bad the defense has been this year, how unreliable the kicking game has been, I have no problem trusting Burrow. I much rather give him a chance to go get something done. 
 

You make great points with all of that, however the defense and kicking game is also things he had to consider. Which both have let them down all year long. At this point hope for the best by putting it in Burrows hands. Just like with the game winning touchdown pass in OT. No one in the NFL probably even throws a pass there once down at the 3, when a field goal wins it. However, the kicking game and defense have failed them so many times this year, and once again in this game. Where you have to go against conventional things and just put it in your star QBs hands. 

The Bengals should have kicker tryouts this week. If you cannot trust the kicker to hit a field goal, he shouldn't be on the team.

13 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

The Bengals should have kicker tryouts this week. If you cannot trust the kicker to hit a field goal, he shouldn't be on the team.

I mean with how this season has gone with both McPherson and York. Would you trust your kicking game? Which if you also having to pick up a kicker off the street this late into the year, I’m not sure how much you trust them either. It’s just been one whacky year for the Bengals both defensively and in the kicking game this year.