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Green Doubtful, Mixon a Go

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The Bengals injury report came out Friday and as expected A.J. Green has been ruled out, despite Marvin Lewis hinting at him playing Sunday. Green along with five other Bengals have all been ruled out for Sundays game against the Ravens.

Vontaze Burfict, Dre Kirkpatrick, and John Ross are all listed as questionable. Already down A.J. Green, if John Ross is in the lineup it would be huge. He had a good outing versus the Saints and could look to further build off of that performance Sunday against the Ravens.

Also good news for Bengals fans, Darqueze Dennard and Joe Mixon did not make the injury report which means both should be all systems go come Sunday. This will be Dennard’s first game back since suffering an injury against the Steelers.

*UPDATE*

Which Cincinnati Bengals Position Groups are the Deepest?

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Think about how little depth the 53-man roster provides. In a sense, it means 59% of the guys on an NFL football team only have one other man for their specific spot on the field. Try getting through a 16-game season with a depth chart that’s about as shallow as the pool that the Cleveland Browns are allowed to play in.

So, when we talk about deep position groups, you won’t hear us say a lot of names – because there isn’t room for them. But we still smile when we think of these positions on the Cincinnati Bengals’ roster because these few names can produce a lot of numbers.  Touchdowns, interceptions, yards per carry, and on and on.

WIDE RECEIVER

Names: A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Josh Malone, Alex Erickson, Auden Tate

This group has more grabby hands than a high school crowd on prom night. Start with A.J. Green, in his worst statistical year (2016, when he only played 10 games), he caught 66 passes for 954 yards at 14.6 yards per catch – oh darn. He’s one of the NFL’s best, and this should be the year he gets some serious help.

Josh Malone, the second year-man out of Tennessee, and speedster John Ross have been causing some camp buzz. With Brandon LaFell being released, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to Malone to assume a larger role in the offense. Ross is ready to atone for a disappointing, injury-riddled freshman campaign.

And if you like the speedster Ross, you’ll love the tallster Auden Tate. The seventh-round pick from Florida State has flown under the radar in the last few months – which should be impossible, given his 6‘5” frame. Having him in the red zone will put opposing DBs on red alert.

In case you’re wondering, no, we didn’t forget about Tyler Boyd. If last year was an Oreo cookie, Boyd missed the creme filling with a knee injury – and his stats (22 catches, 225 yards) showed it. But he more than doubled those numbers in 2016, so the ability is there. Quarterback Andy Dalton’s biggest problem is going to be choosing among them. Oh darn again.

RUNNING BACK

Names: Giovanni Bernard, Joe Mixon, Mark Walton, Brian Hill, Tra Carson

The one-two punch of Bernard and Mixon should get Cincinnati Bengals fans primed. Bernard has been versatile, averaging 580 yards rushing and 412 receiving per season over the last five years. That’s balance.

Mixon has a different kind of balance. The kind that involves you losing yours as he flattens you. At 6’1”, the 228-lb Mixon can get the tough yards between the tackles. His first-year numbers (913 yards from scrimmage) were pretty similar to Bernard’s career averages, so there shouldn’t be a dropoff when one subs for the other. And Mixon’s totals will only go up as he spends more time in the league and gets better line play in front of him.

Rookie Walton, like Mixon, is young with tons of upside. If the Cincy brass are smart enough to keep both of them, then in the coming years, the team will have the best R&B duo since Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross soothed audiences everywhere with “Endless Love.”

CORNERBACK

Names: Darqueze Dennard, William Jackson, Dre Kirkpatrick, KeiVarae Russell, Davontae Harris, Darius Phillips, Tony McRae

The top 3 corners are all first round draft picks (Dennard, Jackson, Kirkpatrick). That tells you something about the talent. Plus, Kirkpatrick is the oldest at only 28 years old. That tells you something about the future.

Kirk defended 14 passes last year (the second most of his career), made 47 tackles and returned his sole interception 101 yards. Note how we didn’t say returned for a TD (just watch the video). Only in Cincinnati could a guy run further than 100 yards and not score a touchdown.

Dennard played in all 16 games last year and started 6 of them. He made the most of the time, picking off two passes and logging 59 tackles and 2 sacks. As a rookie, Jackson started 5 games, defended 13 passes and returned his lone interception 75 yards for a score.

None of these numbers are necessarily All-Pro, but Cincinnati Bengals fans can rest easy that a broken ankle doesn’t break the season.

Pacing Bengals Stats After 4 Games

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The Bengals have finished the first quarter of the regular season with a 1-3 record after struggling offensively during the first few games against the Ravens and Texans, but after making a change at offensive coordinator from Ken Zampese to Bill Lazor, the offense has played much better the past 2 games against the Packers and Browns.

Below are player stats after 4 games and the pace they are currently on for the season.

Andy Dalton has currently thrown for 892 yards, 6 TD’s and 4 INT’s while completing over 66% of his passes, he has also been sacked 14 times through 4 games. Dalton is currently on pace to finish the season with 3,568 yards, 24 TD’s and 16 INT’s. Let’s hope the Bengals offensive line shows improvement with regards to pass protection as they are on pace to give up 56 sacks this season, that would be 15 more than they allowed in 2016.

The Bengals have 3 running backs with more than 80 yards rushing. Joe Mixon leads the team with 136 yards rushing on 52 carries, Giovani Bernard has 89 yards on 18 carries and Jeremy Hill rounds out the trio with 82 yards on 25 attempts. Mixon is on pace to finish the season with 544 yards rushing on 208 carries but I expect to see improvement on his current average of 2.6 yards per carry. Bernard is on pace to finish with 356 yards on 72 carries and Hill is on pace to finish with 332 yards on 100 attempts. Bernard also has 8 receptions for 134 yards along with 2 receiving TD’s and Mixon has 11 receptions for another 78 yards.

The best offensive player on the team is without a doubt WR A.J. Green. Green currently leads the team 25 receptions for 315 yards receiving and 2 TD’s which would put him on pace to finish the season with 100 receptions, 1,260 yards and 8 TD’s. Bernard and Mixon are the 2nd and 4th leading receivers on the team at the moment but TE Tyler Kroft has displayed a Tyler Eifert-like presence at times and has 10 receptions, 101 yards and 2 TD’s. Brandon Lafell has also had 10 catches for 76 yards.

When it comes to the defense 2nd year LB Nick Vigil is currently leading the Bengals with 34 tackles, he also has 1 sack and 1 INT. The Bengals pass rush has shown improvement this season so far and veteran DT Geno Atkins has 3 of the teams 12 sacks so far. Rookie LB Carl Lawson has 2.5 sacks and has shown the ability to provide consistent pressure on opposing QB’s when on the field. CB Darqueze Dennard also has 2 sacks and backup DE Chris Smith who the Bengals traded for in the offseason from the Jacksonville Jaguars has 1.5 QB sacks.

Cincinnati Bengals vs Pittsburgh Steelers – Week 2 Recap

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Cincinnati Bengals vs Pittsburgh Steelers Boyd Fumble
Hey refs … yeah, you, the ones from the Cincinnati Bengals-Pittsburgh Steelers game this afternoon. Be glad the game was in Pittsburgh and not the Queen City. Otherwise, nothing short of having the Navy SEALS on speed dial could get you out of town.

Cincinnati Bengals fans are fit to be tied after their team’s 24-16 loss on Sunday. Not just because of the final score or because of the things they knew would happen, like Ben Roethlisberger throwing for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns or Cincy only rushing for 46 yards behind a suspect O-line. The anger was more about questionable calls (or non-calls) by the refs that destroyed the Cincinnati Bengals’ momentum.

The Bad Calls

  • Tight end CJ Uzomah caught a touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter – and had his knee down – but it was called incomplete.
  • Receiver Tyler Boyd “fumbled” the ball with less than two minutes to go after being hit by Pittsburgh LB James Harrison. Boyd was clearly down before the ball came out and the call wasn’t reversed. Watch for #KneeGate to trend on Twitter in the 513 area code.
  • The refs missed more than a few holding calls against the Steelers.

The rest was execution and bad decisions. Several Bengals receivers had drops. Defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick had an interception but a second one slipped through his hands. Same thing happened to DB George Iloka. Darqueze Dennard was burned twice on deep balls. Star receiver A.J. Green (whom we thought would have a big game) was targeted 8 times but only caught 2 passes. The Bengals’ coaches didn’t challenge the Uzomah TD.

As a result, Pittsburgh now has a 1-game lead over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. The striped ones will have to wait until December 18 for a chance at payback. In the meantime, they can shift their focus to next week, when they’ll play Denver in the friendly confines of Cincinnati – a place that a certain group of refs might want to avoid.

 

Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals vs. New York Jets – 3 Things to Watch

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Jets Bengals Football
Well, here we are … opening weekend! It’s a great time for any football fan, and we started the season off on the right note with the Broncos’ nail-biting 21-20 win over the Panthers on Thursday night. The best way to follow it up is with Sunday’s great matchups – not the least of which is Cincinnati traveling to New York to take on the Jets.

Here are 3 things to watch for as the Bengals kick off their season:

1. Crucial matchup – Jets passing game vs bruised Bengals secondary. New York’s passing attack this Sunday will be dangerous for 2 reasons. First, receivers Brandon Marshall (109 catches for 1,502 yards and 14 touchdowns last year) and Eric Decker (80 for 1,207 and 12) are as good a WR duo as you’ll find. Second, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ended the 2015 season by tossing 3 picks against Buffalo – and he’s eager to wash that taste out of his mouth. Cincy cornerback Darqueze Dennard is doubtful, so the remaining Bengals unit will have to be firing on all cylinders to keep up.

2. Running out of running backs. With tailback Cedric Peerman on injured reserve with a broken left forearm, Cincinnati only has three RBs on the roster as they open their season. That’s not the news you want to hear when your team is facing the #2 ranked rushing defense from 2015. It will be interesting to see not only the offensive strategy that the Bengals employ, but the steps they take to make sure their running backs don’t take too much of a pounding.

3. Can the Bengals set the tone? A big part of making 2016 special involves going on the road in Week 1 against a tough opponent and punching them in the mouth. Win on Sunday and you let the AFC know you’re not fooling around. Lose, and you’re mentally behind the 8-ball after only one game. Cincinnati has made the playoffs each of the last 5 years, so the expectations are there. But their postseason record during that span is 0-5, so the we-can’t-get-past-the-first-round mindset is there, too. What message will Cincy send?