Is it too early to circle the wagons?

[tsylvester]

Wowza, JK done for the season torn Achilles, Williams for likely a month & a half with a torn pec.

Stanley and Lindy, who knows right now, one a knee, the other an ankle. Not counting our star corner still recovering from foot surgery and Andrews with a bad quad.

I would say ouch, but that word is not strong enough. Is the season over after one game, a win too boot?

Cincinnati is going to be looking to rebound, passing wise, after Burrow threw for less than 100 yards against the Browns...

Put the cook's wagon in the center, protect the food!

[oldno82]

Well, let’s just say I’m not looking forward to the next game. 
 

I’ve never seen a team year after year have so many injuries.

[GrubberRaven]

I think Humphrey and Andrews are back this week.

I think Stanley is ok, but will be week 2 week.  He was on the sideline laughing and seemed ok.

Linderbaum's injury worries me the most.

[tsylvester]

We should hear something today on those two.

Reason for an optimistic outlook.

Bateman is back, shifty as ever, made some tough catches and nice moves.

Flowers looks like a seasoned vet out there, even with the over use on those stupid screens, back to back.

Obj getting doubled means more chances for others. Great hands, maybe reduced speed. That over the head catch was a thing of beauty. That sideline line one is another one that is most difficult.

When Andrews is in the mix, it's going to be tough to cover all three.

Now if the line can get into form.

The redzone was a success; finally, let's hope it continues.

Onward and upward..

[oldno82]

I was bothered by the Offensive line play. Lamar was under duress for most of the first half when all the regulars were still in the game. The line actually did a bit better with the backups for Stanley and Linderbaum. Don't understand why that should be.

Yes the receivers are now top notch and will be even better when Andrews gets in there. But Cincy is going to be both pissed from losing and sky-high for their home opener. I don't expect us to win, just to see some progress on correcting the first game deficiencies would be welcome.

It's going to be a tough year and a dog-fight in the AFC North all season!

 

[GrubberRaven]

Linderbaum and Stanley are both week to week.  Comforting, but probably out next weekend.

Williams sounds like an IR designation with the possibility to return.  

[tsylvester]

Williams should be back, he is a safety and it's a pec, a month or so, pending surgery.

Cincy's line is terrible right now, Madebeke, Clowney and company should feast, sans the penalties.

The line's improvement may have been because of the line calls for blocking, maybe Lindy, a rookie, was fooled a few times?

I'm not as worried about the line, they will get better with each game as they gell. I saw them pass off, properly, a lot of stunts and twists very well as the game went on.

[oldno82]

I think I read that if Williams opts for surgery he'll be out all year but also that his injury isn't affecting him with range of motion too much, so, if he can, he might be back in 4-6 weeks.

Interesting that we both observed improved offensive line play after Linderbaum and Stanley went out. Your reasoning sounds, well, reasonable.

[GrubberRaven]

Any idea how Orlando Brown did?

[oldno82]

Against the Browns he did poorly. The story I read indicated he was swarmed over by the Browns' defense giving up sacks and allowing pressure. I think he was matched up against Garret.

I also understand Chiefs' fans were chiding Bengals fans for him leaving KC and then having a tumultuous start in his first game for them.

So he should be plenty motivated to play well against us.

[tsylvester]

Ravens signing Duron Harmon to the practice, a safety who has bounced around on one year deals the past few years...

 

 

https://nfltraderumors.co/ravens-signing-s-duron-harmon-to-practice-squad/

 

[oldno82]

Whenever I think of the Bengals receivers now (with Williams and Humphrey out) I shudder.

They called up Worley to the 53.

[tsylvester]

Worley has the speed & size to be a great safety, he showed flashes last year. Maybe this is the year he puts it together

[oldno82]

Hope so, we need all the secondary help we can get.

[tsylvester]

Per Espn, Williams has decided not to have surgery, giving him a better chance to come back this season.

Keep winning until the injured return then dominate!

[tsylvester]

Bateman with a tight hamstring, Gus in concussion protocol, Ojaba has a bum ankle, (read choice of words), Stone has at least bruised ribs,... and Wallace went on Ir with a hamstring injury as well.

Ouch, injuries are overflowing

[papasmurfbell]

Interesting how Saunders was fired.   If the new guy a carbon copy of him?

[tsylvester]

Can't do anything to prevent a sprained ankle nor bruised ribs.

Hamstring injuries are tricky. Someone who works out every day can have one go bad while someone who never works out may never have one go bad.

There really is no rhyme nor reason to the injury.

Bateman may have a tight one because of the time off for his foot injury. Wallace? Working too hard? Not enough?

[oldno82]

I've been thinking about what made this game end so badly for the Ravens. I think it comes down to the facts that:

1) There are so many injuries that eventually they just wore out.

2) The first two drives were brilliantly called by Monken. But, the offensive play calling in the late game left a lot to be desired. With JK, Justice, and Gus out there were too many conservative play calls in having Gordon and Drake try to run down the clock. They probably should have leaned a little more on the pass. I know they were trying to run down the clock, but it was obvious after Gus went down that we had no rushing attack to do that. Short quick passes would have been better play calls.

3) We forget that we all knew there would be bumps in the road for the offense until they got used to Monken's system. Hopefully this was just a learning bump for the team and for Todd.

4) The defense played amazingly well considering the secondary injuries. They'll have to play that way again against the Browns next week.

All that said, we have to get some bodies back. We need both Gus and Hill for the ground game to get going. The O-line's injuries were exposed by Indy's speed rushers. I think we need Linderbaum back the most but we do miss Stanley's pass blocking.

Right now I am feeling very pessimistic about our chances with the Browns unless we can get at least some of our prime time guys back to playing. I'm also concerned about how this tough loss might affect the team's overall spirit and confidence. Harbs and the other coaches will have their hands full with that this week.

[GrubberRaven]

Linderbaum's replacement has been playing well.  I think we need Stanley back.  

can't remember where I heard it, but someone felt like we were playing like we prepared for a monsoon that never came and never adjusted for that.  Indy's D-line is legit, but I think we'll plan for it.

[GrubberRaven]

[tsylvester]

Boy, that is good news. I've loved what Musterferd has done, actually better than Lindy, though it's early for him. But very glad that Stanley, Gus and Marcus could be back for this game.

The Brownsay not be all time great, but that front seven is for real.

[oldno82]

Glad to hear this! The O-line might be whole for this game. I wish we could get Humphrey back too.

[GrubberRaven]

Bateman/OBJ not practicing yet though.  Two total non-factors thus far in the season.

[tsylvester]

Well, Bateman is understandable coming off of lis franc, can't fault Obj for a sprained ankle, it happens.