Post induced by hopeium
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:16 pm
In every sales job I've ever had there have always been those reps who give their sales forecasts with major doses of hopeium. The realistic chance of those sales happening are two steps past slim but because the official NO hasn't been stated they go the ol Lloyd Christmas route. In sales that isn't me, in sports not so much.
Despite me being prepared to write off the Bengals season a mere week ago now I'm right back into myopic fan mode. With the Steelers and Ravens both losing last week Cincy is back into the hunt for the AFC North title. With Pissburgh streaming into town this weekend a W puts Cincy only a game back of the division lead. The following week is Buffalo and a very winnable game. A W there and Cincy sits at 4-4 heading into the second half. Not only are there extremely winnable games in the form of STL, Cleveland, SF and Miami but the Bengals have a shot at getting back to full health.
Chris Henry is now back practicing with the team and stands to be back for the week 10 tilt with Baltimore. His abscense has been more damaging than most people realize. Without him in the lineup there is no viable 3rd receiving threat. Putting his knucklehead antics aside for the moment, Henry is as talented as nearly any WR in the league. His addition to the team will be huge. Chris Perry is also getting closer and closer to coming off the PUP list and will be yet another weapon to put into the offensive attack. On the down side Willie Anderson has major injury issues and his availability the rest of the year looks to be up and down.
On the defensive side of the ball their LB corps is getting closer to full strength with each passing weak. The unit as constituted won't ever be a dominant D but it can be far greater than what it's been thus far. The key is getting Ahmad Brooks back healthy. He almost has a Bob Sanders like impact on the Cincy D. With him in the lineup Cincy can play much more aggressive on D and get back to their ballhawking ways. And of course all things are tied together, if the O starts producing like they're capable of it gets opposing teams out of their gameplan and plays to the Bengals defensive strength.
But it all comes down to this Sunday. A home loss to the Stillers and everything I typed is for naught. There are two keys to this game. The first is the Bengals offense HAS to put points on the board and early. The second is getting some semblance of containment on Parker. The stats confirm that when the crash test dummy has to pass 30+ times the Stillers only win at about a 30% clip. If Cincy can put points on the board and slow Parker down (no way they shut him down) then they can achieve what I mentioned earlier and get Pissburgh out of their gameplan. If the second half forces a heavy air attack out of Pissburgh it'll have the Bengals fans going mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.
Since this is a hopeium induced post I'm saying that is exactly what happens.
Bengals- 31
Stillers- 24
At 3-4 and only 1 game out in the division the bickering and squabbling in the Cincy locker room goes away and they make a strong push down the stretch.
WHO DEY
Despite me being prepared to write off the Bengals season a mere week ago now I'm right back into myopic fan mode. With the Steelers and Ravens both losing last week Cincy is back into the hunt for the AFC North title. With Pissburgh streaming into town this weekend a W puts Cincy only a game back of the division lead. The following week is Buffalo and a very winnable game. A W there and Cincy sits at 4-4 heading into the second half. Not only are there extremely winnable games in the form of STL, Cleveland, SF and Miami but the Bengals have a shot at getting back to full health.
Chris Henry is now back practicing with the team and stands to be back for the week 10 tilt with Baltimore. His abscense has been more damaging than most people realize. Without him in the lineup there is no viable 3rd receiving threat. Putting his knucklehead antics aside for the moment, Henry is as talented as nearly any WR in the league. His addition to the team will be huge. Chris Perry is also getting closer and closer to coming off the PUP list and will be yet another weapon to put into the offensive attack. On the down side Willie Anderson has major injury issues and his availability the rest of the year looks to be up and down.
On the defensive side of the ball their LB corps is getting closer to full strength with each passing weak. The unit as constituted won't ever be a dominant D but it can be far greater than what it's been thus far. The key is getting Ahmad Brooks back healthy. He almost has a Bob Sanders like impact on the Cincy D. With him in the lineup Cincy can play much more aggressive on D and get back to their ballhawking ways. And of course all things are tied together, if the O starts producing like they're capable of it gets opposing teams out of their gameplan and plays to the Bengals defensive strength.
But it all comes down to this Sunday. A home loss to the Stillers and everything I typed is for naught. There are two keys to this game. The first is the Bengals offense HAS to put points on the board and early. The second is getting some semblance of containment on Parker. The stats confirm that when the crash test dummy has to pass 30+ times the Stillers only win at about a 30% clip. If Cincy can put points on the board and slow Parker down (no way they shut him down) then they can achieve what I mentioned earlier and get Pissburgh out of their gameplan. If the second half forces a heavy air attack out of Pissburgh it'll have the Bengals fans going mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.
Since this is a hopeium induced post I'm saying that is exactly what happens.
Bengals- 31
Stillers- 24
At 3-4 and only 1 game out in the division the bickering and squabbling in the Cincy locker room goes away and they make a strong push down the stretch.
WHO DEY
