Week 2 GDT - Cincinnati Bengals vs San Francisco 49ers

[J-ALL-DAY]

Since @oldman9er once again was being lazy, thought I'd get this thread up and going.

It wasn't pretty but we got a very solid win on the road against Tampa thanks to the great defensive performance. Any win on the road across the country is a good win, regardless of how it happens.

But the offense was very shaky from the start. Not all that surprising as I didn't think Jimmy G would get fully in rhythm until the bye week. The run game was inconsistent and the offense was just overall vanilla. Hoping Shanahan opens it up more this week and tests the Bengals corners vertical .

Hoping Pettis gets more than two snaps as well and Deebo gets involved unlike last week. 

The Bengals nearly pulled off the win at Seattle last week which is no easy task as we know. Their DL was very good so our OL, especially the bookends get tested more than they got in the prior week. There was also a John Ross sighting as he went off with over a hundred yards and two TDs. Our secondary had a stern test last week and will have another one this week, but it will be a bit different as Evans/Godwin are bigger and physical type of WRs opposed to the Bengals WRs. 

Our pass rush should once again be effective and cause havoc. We may not get four turnovers again, but hoping to get at least two.

I think Jimmy G while still being a bit rusty has a better game and our offense is more effective compared to last week and our defense plays well again and we pull off a 30-17 win. 

[Chrissooner49er]

Agree with all of that, J. As I said in the previous GDT, the Bengals were very impressive in Seattle. Being sloppy could get us behind the 8 ball. Need improvement from Shanny's game plan, Jimmy G's play as well as continued pressure from our DL! 

 

GO NINERS!!!!!!

[NinerNation21]

This game could more of a test than I originally thought. It's hard to tell if the Bengals took advantage of weak Seahawks team, or if the Bengals are more legit than a true bottom feeder. 

I also hope that Pettis gets more involved. I know he was dealing with a groin tweak and Shanny took responsibility for not getting him more involved. As for Deebo, he was in on 88% of the snaps last week, which was way more than I thought he was going to get. I don't think it's a matter of getting him more involved, I think it's seeing if they keep up his high snap count this week. 

Things I want to see happen this week:

• Jimmy G finds his accuracy: He was very hit or miss last week. I want to see more consistency and occasional chunk-play attempts.

 

• Continued pressure: Pass rushing was a pretty big success last week. I want to see the edge rushers continue this and see Buckner get in on this action. When Bosa, Ford, and Buckner are firing on all cylinders, it's going to be very difficult for opposing teams to take shots deep down the field.

 

• Shut-down pass coverage: I want to see how Witherspoon plays this week. He was lock-down last week and I want to see if he can build off last week and show that he can be a top-end cover corner.

[NcFinest9erFan]

 

[JIllg]

Two notes from last week's Bengals @ Seahawks matchup:

1. The Bengals defensive front was a major problem, bottling the running game up and trapping Russell Wilson. They'll be more of a problem with home crowd noise helping get-off. Our offensive line had their butts kicked in the inside zone game last week and didn't have to protect very long due to a very conservative passing game plan. If they decisively lose the battle in this one, it's going to be a long game. If they don't, we'll have chances at chunk plays. There were unexploited openings with the secondary and linebackers covered up by pressure and by dudes getting whipped up front.

2. Andy Dalton proved what has always been true of him - if you don't pressure him, he can be very dangerous. If you get him off the first read and under pressure, he can play disastrously. Seattle failed to get anywhere close on a number of four man pressures and on these plays he carved them up. Still, the yardage and completion % stats were a touch disingenuous. One of the largest plays of the game was a terrible decision on a vertical to John Ross against cover two that the safety completely had covered and then misplayed in the air leading to a touchdown. The screen game gave him 4 or 5 nice free chunk gains. Ummm....we kind of murdered Tampa Bay's screen game and dragged its corpse around behind our wagon. Hopefully that trend continues and Dalton has to make pocket throws against our (hopefully far more dangerous) four man pressures. I don't favor him in these situations. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by JIllg
accuracy

[NcFinest9erFan]

3 hours ago, NinerNation21 said:

This game could more of a test than I originally thought. It's hard to tell if the Bengals took advantage of weak Seahawks team, or if the Bengals are more legit than a true bottom feeder. 

I also hope that Pettis gets more involved. I know he was dealing with a groin tweak and Shanny took responsibility for not getting him more involved. As for Deebo, he was in on 88% of the snaps last week, which was way more than I thought he was going to get. I don't think it's a matter of getting him more involved, I think it's seeing if they keep up his high snap count this week. 

Things I want to see happen this week:

• Jimmy G finds his accuracy: He was very hit or miss last week. I want to see more consistency and occasional chunk-play attempts.

 

• Continued pressure: Pass rushing was a pretty big success last week. I want to see the edge rushers continue this and see Buckner get in on this action. When Bosa, Ford, and Buckner are firing on all cylinders, it's going to be very difficult for opposing teams to take shots deep down the field.

 

• Shut-down pass coverage: I want to see how Witherspoon plays this week. He was lock-down last week and I want to see if he can build off last week and show that he can be a top-end cover corner.

I know the Bengals moved the ball through the Air with ease against Seattle but hopefully that isn't the case this Sunday. Our secondary is much better and maybe we will even get Verrett out there.

[NinerNation21]

9 minutes ago, NcFinest9erFan said:

I know the Bengals moved the ball through the Air with ease against Seattle but hopefully that isn't the case this Sunday. Our secondary is much better and maybe we will even get Verrett out there.

The pass rush is the key to that. The Seahawks have a lack-luster pass rush and an average secondary. That doesn't lead to much success in pass defense as we know from last year. Now, we've got (hopefully) a strong pass rush and an average secondary, which leads to less time covering, putting QBs in low-percentage passing situations, and reduces the opportunity for deep shots. Our pass rush is going to be so crucial for us this year. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

Honestly Mike, the question you need to ask is if your QB knows the offense lol. 

[Chrissooner49er]

1 hour ago, NinerNation21 said:

The pass rush is the key to that. The Seahawks have a lack-luster pass rush and an average secondary. That doesn't lead to much success in pass defense as we know from last year. Now, we've got (hopefully) a strong pass rush and an average secondary, which leads to less time covering, putting QBs in low-percentage passing situations, and reduces the opportunity for deep shots. Our pass rush is going to be so crucial for us this year. 

Yes, after watching Seattle's performance, I couldn't help but think how ripe they are for our D to feast. The question is: when will Garoppolo look like he did in 2017?! If he can get there quick, no telling what may be in store for this season.

[NinerNation21]

3 minutes ago, Chrissooner49er said:

Yes, after watching Seattle's performance, I couldn't help but think how ripe they are for our D to feast. The question is: when will Garoppolo look like he did in 2017?! If he can get there quick, no telling what may be in store for this season.

If he can do that and the defense is at least league average or better, we're looking at 10-11 wins. 

[y2lamanaki]

13 minutes ago, NinerNation21 said:

If he can do that and the defense is at least league average or better, we're looking at 10-11 wins. 

I'm going to be really disappointed if the defense is merely average. I see potential for a top 10 unit. If Jimmy can play consistently like he did in 2017 on top of that? Man, this will be a tough team to beat.

[J-ALL-DAY]

So Shanahan basically said even if Ward gets healthy, he's not getting that starting FS spot as Moore is playing at a high level right now. I think he's just sick and tired of Ward continuing to get injured and he likes what Moore has shown thus far.

Notice there were ZERO bust coverages on Sunday? Moore played disciplined, a far cry from our safeties last year. 

Tartt being healthy also makes a difference. Damn solid ball player when he's on the field...But like his his HS teammate, that doesn't happen often. 

[NinerNation21]

9 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

I'm going to be really disappointed if the defense is merely average. I see potential for a top 10 unit. If Jimmy can play consistently like he did in 2017 on top of that? Man, this will be a tough team to beat.

Oh I whole-heartedly agree about the defense. If the pass rush is fierce, the pass coverage will be good as well. 

[JIllg]

3 minutes ago, Chrissooner49er said:

Yes, after watching Seattle's performance, I couldn't help but think how ripe they are for our D to feast. The question is: when will Garoppolo look like he did in 2017?! If he can get there quick, no telling what may be in store for this season.

We talk about Jimmy G, and he missed a couple of throws and made a terrible decision for the pick 6. But the playcalling and the receivers were also poor. Bourne and Goodwin failed on a couple of occasions to sit properly in zone holes. Jonnydel on YouTube did an excellent segment on the Minnesota game last year about players running through zone holes that Jimmy attempted to hit on anticipatory throws. I saw two of those yesterday. It's one of the reasons why losing Trent Taylor has hurt so badly and where we (hopefully) will see the young guys improve.  

 

32 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Notice there were ZERO bust coverages on Sunday? Moore played disciplined, a far cry from our safeties last year. 

I think Moore bust jumping underneath and giving a clean route to the endzone once in the game, but Dee Ford and Nick Bosa had themselves a Jameis Winston sandwich for Bosa's first sack of his career. 

[rudyZ]

53 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

I'm going to be really disappointed if the defense is merely average. I see potential for a top 10 unit. If Jimmy can play consistently like he did in 2017 on top of that? Man, this will be a tough team to beat.

If we want our D to be top 10, we'll need our offense to score first and fast, because if we give up a lead and the other team starts running on us, can we even stop the run? We didn't look like it last sunday.