And that is that.
Great season, but it’s over now.
Wow, I am actually very sorry, Airman. That entire sequence of events looked incredibly painful. I almost hope you didn’t get your hopes up.
Gradkowski was doing well. Not sure why they rushed Ben back in.
Simply outplayed. Ravens called a better game and executed better.
Hope doors did not turn it off yet
That is exactly so.
I hate Baltimore with the fire of a thousand suns and I hope they get demolished next week, but they played a great game and deserved to win. All of the Steelers fans complaining about the refs tonight (and there are a ton of them) need to eat a bag of dicks, the Steelers had their chances and didn’t get it done.
I am thankful they even made the playoffs… See you next season.
Time to roll some more joints.
Harbaugh called Joe Flacco “the best quarterback in football”.
Is everyone in the AFC North such blind homers?
I think the Bengal fans understand the Jeckyl/Hyde that is Andy Dalton.
What would you expect him to say about his own quarterback? “Eh, he’s just OK, but at least he’s better than Ryan Lindley?”
He’s a very good QB. Or, he played great today, and he’ll be able to win the Super Bowl with us.
But saying Flacco is the best QB in the NFL is just stupid. He’s not. Nobody thinks he is. Saying that he is just makes Harbaugh seem like a meathead homer. Which seems to work in Baltimore.
Today is the day that he shuts those fans up. Today is the day when he goes out there and plays incredibly, despite losing his number 1 (and numbers 2, 3, and 4) target in AJ Green. Today is the day he throws for 300 yards, a couple touchdowns, and doesn’t throw an interception. Today is the day Andy Dalton makes all the haters shut up.
Or today could be the day where the Bengals run the ball as much as possible, play great defense, and put as little pressure on Dalton as possible, so he can attempt to game manage his way to a win.
AJ Green was his number 1, true. And often as a result he would force the ball to him. Doing so accounts for half of Dalton’s INT’s. Dalton’s number 2 was Marvin Jones, who’s on IR after having a great season last year with 10 TD’s, his number 3 is Mohammed Sanu, whom has curiously disappeared but will have to play big today to help win the game, his number 4 was Tyler Eifert, also on IR, and lastly, Jermaine Gresham, the physical freak #1 TE pick from four years ago that’s a headcase but will have to put it all together today like he did against Denver.
The Bengals offense is different now with Hill as the starting RB and with the o-line being revamped and re-tooled after the injury to Andre Smith. The Bengals offense for the most part played pretty well without Green earlier in the year. It forces Dalton to spread the ball around more and by and large, with a solid run game behind you, that’s the way you win on offense.
This is what they will attempt to do. However, Dalton is a little better than a game manager. He’s won games himself before. He just can’t be relied upon to do it every Sunday. The defensive front is going to have to put the hammer on Luck though, unlike what happened with Rothlisberger last Sunday. Can’t have a non-existant pass rush today.
It was a joke. I don’t think that AJ Green was Dalton’s only option. You know I love me some Sanu, and I would add in Bernard as his actual #2 option, but it was just a joke.
[quote=FGIE]
And he’s lost games by himself also. Which is why the Bengal’s game plan for this game is to make him a game manager, rather than risk relying on him. The game manager isn’t about his style of play all the time, more about what role he will take today.
I think that’s key.
In the first half, Dalton has silenced his critics who say he can’t lead his team in the clutch with series of short passes and dump-offs to get a field goal to lessen the lead the other teams has by a little.
I’m choking back tears.
Probably the last bump for this thread: Dick LeBeau has resigned as the Steelers’ defensive coordinator. It’s the end of a truly successful, if not legendary, era. Keith Butler, the current linebackers coach, is expected to get the job.
Thanks for the memories, Dick.
Huh. I just assumed he was retiring, but it would seem that very recently, he said that he intended to stay onboard, and that he’s resigning but not retiring. Seems like the team wanted to let him go, which is surprising and, well, not the ideal ending for such a great coach. Wonder what’s going on there.