dc.

Well, I also meant it that despite your historic reputation... you've had plenty of success in recent years, as many ups as downs.

The Bengals are not awful. It wasn't long ago they were a very solid team and Palmer was leading them in the playoffs... I think this division has 3 very, very good teams ... all three probably better than most AFC teams, short of the Pats, Colts, Broncos... maybe the Jets? Who else do we fear in the AFC? Titans? Hardly. Dolphins? Not this year. Jags, Texans, Bills, Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers?

Another just poorly called penalty by the officials. I'm watching Pats-Broncos right now... the Pats just made a nice play to deflect a pass intended for a Broncos receiver. The defender clearly had his hand around the back of the receiver and no flag. All is well and good. I believe it's Clark Kellogg doing the play by play with Jim Nantz... and he says "fans are yelling for a flag, they think if you touch the receiver then it is pass interference. But you can touch him, you just can't turn him or pull him." Meanwhile... in our game, Frank Walker doesn't even seem to touch the receiver, and clearly gets contact with the ball, and we get "great call, looked legit, can't do that, can't have your hand on the back." Which is it, NFL? Which is it, CBS? Would be nice if someone could decide on what the rule actually fucking says... By the way... speaking of bad calls... Chris Mortensen today was saying that while the league likes its new rules protecting QBs, it does not like what Tom Brady was doing (acting like he was throwing a flag), and he thinks they will institute an unsportsmanlike penalty for that kind of action next year. Brady Rule and Anti-Brady Rule. haha

Exactly Max... we have to adjust our play to our personnel... they cant handle chucking, etc.

Hate to say this... reminiscent of 2007. Many people forget... 2006, Billick's 2nd to last season, we were on fire and went 13-3. 2007, we started 4-2 and looked pretty good, actually. We were far from perfect, but 4-2 is 4-2. And then we fell apart and lost 9 straight and finished 5-11. This team has always had a problem maintaining success from one year to another... and always had a problem really adjusting in-season.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d813520db/NFL-Scoreboard-Bengals-Ravens-highlights NFL.com thinks it was a silly call. Also - different topic - but Chris Carr got absolutely run over by Caldwell on the game winning TD. If it Carr initiated the contact and there was no catch, it probably would have been defensive holding/illegal contact. But no call on Caldwell. But really, my point in looking at this again is that our small DBs killed us. Small DB, big WR... Caldwell is just able to drop Carr like its nothing and he's wide open. A bigger DB doesn't get run over like that. Just like a bigger DB doesnt miss his chuck on Moss in NE. If we're going to play with smaller DBs, we need to adjust our coverages some how... in that situation - you do anything to keep the ball and receiver in front of you. AVOID the contact.

At which point it becomes entirely subjective as to what is necessary and isn't... Ray certainly didn't go out of his way to beat the shit out of CJ on that play, it wasn't hugely delayed. Meanwhile... Johnson was certainly involved in the play... and going across the middle you should expect a hit... so where's the penalty? I've seen it called as well... but just like the roughing penalties on QBs and the holding penalties on DBs... they are called with exceptional INconsistency.

Looking ahead... I'm actually not too worried about Peterson next week... at least not based on today's performance. We have trouble with huge backs and Benson is big. Peterson will bring a very different and scary challenge against us, and there is plenty of reason to be worried. But I'm not connecting net week to today ... yet.

Landry seems in and out of every game... nice sack, some other nice plays today... and then at other times, totally lost. Bottom line... only one member of our secondary seems to understand Mattison's schemes. Fox, Fab, Walker, Carr, Landry... they all look lost most plays. And when they don't look lost, they are so fixed on what they are doing (running with a man) they are never making plays. Either Mattison's gotta find a way to fix that - get them on the same page, more comfortable - or we have to dumb things down. The latter may not be a bad option.

Last one was called on Reed but they meant to say Walker... and you're right, total BS. As was the non-call on Johnson for the Offensive PI against Foxworth. I still don't like Ray's call. Watch the video. In slow mo there's about 1-2 seconds between the pass and the hit... in full speed that's 1 step, half a second... that's not "plenty of time" to lay off. As OTR says, what's he supposed to do, wait for CJ to catch it before he starts to tackle him?

just to continue to clarify... this "defenseless receiver" thing is bs. the best i can find on it is from a Sun rules explanation last... and it pretty much says that if a receiver is defenseless (in the air, no ball) you cant him him high (head or neck) you have to hit him chest or below. nothing says you cant hit him. as for the clayton pass.. if you are talking about the 40 yard bomb... thats not an easy pass to make. still waiting for clayton to lay out, at least.

ohhhhhhhh. there's the fired-up OTR i need on my side!

I don't think M&T is a waste at all... when built it was made with real grass, remember? We changed just 5 years ago or so. And while it cost some money to change the field for the soccer game, the state/stadium still made a ton of cash on that soccer game. I am sure they will come back. What NCAA's did Indy host last year? Basketball? Even if M&T had a roof... it would not suit basketball. Meanwhile... the 'arena' is on hold... but I didn't know there was ever even an approved project or plan? Is there? Again, that should be priority number one before a soccer or outdoor stadium. Really, we have two great outdoor facilities... we just need to open them up to more events... I know we want to 'protect' them, but the stadium authority has to find a way to host more events (concerts included) in these areas.

Why does everyone seem to think Billick resents us letting him go and wants us to fail? I think Billick has a lot of respect and love for this team and its fans. I don't think he wants us to fail at all.

Gonna have to disagree. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d80d0448e/NFLTA-Official-Review In this video from last December (second half of it) Mike Pereira (league officials chief) discusses a similar hit against Wes Welker by the Steelers. In the video, after the pass is knocked away, defender and receiver each take two steps before the hit and Welker gets flattened. Clark got the penalty. But Pereira says the hit was clean - no helmet contact, led with shoulder, etc etc. Not excessively late, either... but far later than Ray's hit on CJ. Ray's hit wasn't excessively late. It wasn't helmet to helmet. It wasn't dangerous. I just think its questionable and looking back its not a bad hit. Pereira does say in the video that the flag will get thrown because it looks bad - but that doesn't mean it is bad.

Not announced by the TV guys... by Triplett... you can hear it in the video... "Unnecessary roughness, hit to the helmet..."

It was announced as "leading with" or "making contact with" the helmet (I forget which). I just think it wasn't especially late... it wasn't helmet (or helmet to helmet)... it was just a big hit. Ray got maybe one step after the ball went over CJ's head... It didn't cost us the game. Just doesn't look cheap to me.

Ellerbe it might be early. Gooden has had issues in earlier games... never been a good pass rusher. I just mean, we're not seeing much from any of them... not in the way we need to at least. That's across the board, though.

Our pass rush was not great last year either. Better, maybe, but not great. And maybe Scott was a bigger loss... I still think he is easily replaceable... I think Gooden, Ellerbe, etc are proving they aren't the guys to replace him though.

http://www.twitvid.com/A4CF8 At 27 second mark, pause it... Shoulder to shoulder... clearly no head to head contact... no leading with the helmet... Maybe it was late, but it certainly wasn't spearing or leading with the helmet.

Big backs have often given us issues... Bettis did many times... Jacobs in NY... Benson's a big guy and bowled over Lewis a few times, even as Lewis made the tackle... not how you stop the run.

I think part of this defense's demise is the offense's change in strategy and ability... when we roll on offense, we roll. We score quickly and decisively. I don't remember too many late, 8 minute drives to eat clock and rest our D. So I think it's a mix of both offense and defense. Our offense doesn't seem to know how to sustain a drive when we need it. Meanwhile, I want to see Kruger on the line. He's supposed to have serious pass-rushing ability and we obviously need the help... why not try it at this point?

Just forgot to add... what part of this Bengals defense was so great before today, aside from the pass rush? 17th in total defense coming into this game.

Foxworth has been back and forth. He's often in good position and where he needs to be, but our entire secondary has struggled with finding the ball and making the play. Fox was just inches from making a few nice deflections. The Chris Henry reception/penalty play was unacceptable, though. If you're going to interfere, the guy better not make the catch.

Might be the best we could play against you today... but not the best we could play against you guys, period. The Ravens looked confused and bored on both sides of the ball. The playcalling was weird, inconsistent. And the pressure from the Bengals did not look so great as to be ruining every last play... I think we just weren't making some plays.