pound the crap out of the ball?
easier said than done. Nothing brilliant about the gameplan this week...just came down to imposing our will.
It was impossible to be ****y going into this game while our offense is still developing balance and consistency...til then, the ground game has to carry us, and boy did it ever do just that.
I hate to say they underestimated us, but I don't think we've seen their best shot and you NEVER want to face a quality team in the playoffs after blowing them out earlier in the season.
But one thing that has to trouble Cincy was getting beatin' up in the trenches from about the 2nd quarter on (for the 2nd week in a row). It helps that Cincy has the worst run-D we've faced.
We certainly didn't start the game with the same confidence that we ended it (Tom admitted afterwards that it was a BIG confidence boost), but you could really feel the momentum building as the O-line started pushing them around (minus O'Callaghan) and the backs started RIPPING off runs like we've NEVER seen.
The D had downhill leverage for all of the 4th quarter and that's what caused the sudden push from the front-3 and the subsequent turnovers.
TREMENDOUS boost for confidence -- especially given the youth on the team (I'm a little sick of hearing the Pats referred to as the "old guard").
Overall, we're not YET as good as the score indicated and they're not that much worse. But like last week for us, it was just "one of those days" for Cincy.
We're in a great spot now and -- BARRING INJURIES -- will get better. I'm no more or less optimistic about our postseason potential than I was after last week...we've got a great thing building here...but let's keep in mind that we're STILL building.
