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Been watching some of the Bengals game replays....
They are surprisingly very basic. Seems like their M.O. is to simply line up and beat you...
Not a lot of motion on offense (they line up and run a play for the most part). When they do motion, it's short quick motions, but they don't even do that a lot. I've never understood NFL teams who don't motion, because all that does is give you information and dictate match-ups. But hey, I'm not an NFL coach, so who am I to question it
On Defense, they don't blitz much, and when they do, they often still only send 4 (i.e. they'll blitz a LB or DB, and drop a DE into coverage quite a bit).
On Offense, it seems their "explosiveness" comes purely from their athletic receivers and a QB in Burrow that can sling it (see my comment above on motion). Mixon is a nice running back, but doesn't really do anything that amazes you. OL seems steady at times, rough at others. I thought their Offense was a little "49ers-esque" (Burrow is way better than Jimmy Grapes), and they do rely on a lot of play-action and misdirection to free guys up
On D: I don't get all the love for Bates....seems like he's in single high most of the time, about 15 - 25 yards off the ball.....wouldn't surprise me if we never hear his name on Sunday. He's just too deep. Seems like their LBs are liabilities, but their DL can get some pressure at times. they will mix in some 2 deep, but they man up a lot, and mix in the zones and zone blitzes....but they are rushing 4 95% of the time (estimate)
I was shocked at how vanilla they seem to play....again with their explosiveness coming purely from their athletic WRs. They're obviously a good team, and an ascending team, but my gut feel is that they're not quite ready for prime time yet....
In regards to this game:
-If the Bengals consistently rush 4, that will be problematic for them. We will need to be prepared for a zone type blitz, which, at this point in the season, it's probably much easier to prep for.
-I don't see any way they can stay in one high like they seem to like to play. They aren't going to be able to man up, particularly if LBs are in
-LBs are liabilities...we will definitely take advantage of that
-I like the fact that they don't motion a lot....this will give the D opportunity to play games with Burrow.
-I expect their athletic WRs to win some one-on-one matchups. they simply are that good and Burrow can make throws....but I don't see them running wide open all over the field.
-If we can get some pressure with front 4, we will be just fine
Color me a little underwhelmed....I could easily see the Chiefs covering the spread in this one.
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