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Am I the Only One Curious How Our Pass Defense Fares Against Bengals?

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QB12

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To me, if we have any weakness (emphasis on IF), it is whether we can lock down and shut down opposing teams' passing games. Going against the Bengals will be as good a test as we'll see before Indy. I still have lingering doubts about our pass defense, and will be watching this game closely.

Anyone with me?

QB12
 
To me, if we have any weakness (emphasis on IF), it is whether we can lock down and shut down opposing teams' passing games. Going against the Bengals will be as good a test as we'll see before Indy. I still have lingering doubts about our pass defense, and will be watching this game closely.

Anyone with me?

QB12

Absolutely.

This game will be a great litmus test towards what we can expect when we go against the Dolts, Cowboys and even the Steelers.

I hope we limit them reasonably well.
 
Pass defense starts with pressure up front. We're fine there, I just hope we don't send another QB to the sidelines this week. People might start talking.
 
I am, although I don't think we are going to see many one on one match ups here especially if Rudi Johnson doesn't play and even if he does the Cincy running game hasn't been good this year.

I look for a Colts circa 2003 game plan where we mix up our zone coverage to confuse Palmer, knock the receivers off their routes off the line, and blitz when down and distance dictate. Also with Henry out their passing game is more limited.

What I'm interested to see as a warm up to the Colts is how our nickle and dime packages play. Not having depth at DB killed us vs the Colts. Being able to field Samuel, Hobbs, Wilson, Sanders, Meriweather, Gay plus have AD in coverage should be really interesting.

Could see some some 2-3-6 this week especially if we grab a lead.
 
Pass defense starts with pressure up front.

Exactly, I am going to go back to my favorite stat from last year, tell me if you have heard this before...

Last year without our top two Safeties we gave up 10 passing TDs. That is an amazing number. I mean come one, we had Antrell 'Deep Voice' Hawkins playing FS, the guy can't even run a 5.5 forty.

This year we are even stronger, better front seven, more depth in the backfield.

I am not saying we won't give up a lot of yards (historically the Pats have always bended but not broke). The Bengals don't really have a threat at TE, the Colts present a much bigger challenge with their slot receivers and TEs.
 
Pass defense starts with pressure up front. We're fine there, I just hope we don't send another QB to the sidelines this week. People might start talking.

If it's a clean it, let them talk !!!
 
If we can slow the Bengals offense down and keep them at or below 14, then the Pats D would have come through huge ! Their pass offense is one of the best in the league, better then the Boy's and almost as good as Indy's. It'll be interesting to see what happen now that Rudy is out !!
 
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It's gonna be a tough night for the secondary. I frankly see AS & EH struggling this early in the season esp. with Rodney out against two of the better receivers in the league.

Then again facing Moss, Stallworth and Welker everyday in practice may have them more ready than I think.

Rudi being out is not as big of a factor than people think. If their O-line blocks effectively then it doesn't matter who is in the backfield. He will still get the yards. He might not break a big one but will have a good day.

I can see the Bengals spreading out their O, passing the ball and running their no huddle. Like others have said this will be an excellent test.

Don't forget about AD. He will be covering Clark during that Indy game. That's one huge factor in the loss last season. Nobody could cover him. Take him out of the mix and it becomes a lot harder for PM.
 
Realistically, I see the Bengals putting up 20+ points.
Fortunately the Pats will score 30+ points this game as usual, so it's all good.
 
It's gonna be a tough night for the secondary.

1) I frankly see AS & EH struggling this early in the season esp. with Rodney out against two of the better receivers in the league.

2) Rudi being out is not as big of a factor than people think. If their O-line blocks effectively then it doesn't matter who is in the backfield. He will still get the yards. He might not break a big one but will have a good day.

3) I can see the Bengals spreading out their O, passing the ball and running their no huddle. Like others have said this will be an excellent test.

4) Don't forget about AD. He will be covering Clark during that Indy game. That's one huge factor in the loss last season. Nobody could cover him. Take him out of the mix and it becomes a lot harder for PM.

Other that not agreeing with anything in the post we are on the same page

Damn you, you made me do research... the Bengals were averaging over 28 points a game when the Pats played them last year.

1) Look at the crap we put out there last year and still they only got 13 points. Last Year:
Starting dbs - CBs: Chad Scott, Hank Poteat, Asante Samuel
S: Rodney Harrison, Artrell Hawkins

Nickel back
- Troy Brown
It also looks like we ran a 4-3 at least to start the game.

I digress but look at those WRs Caldwell and Gabriel, uggg...

2) Rudi Johnson - this hurts the Bengals, he is an excellent back

3) Maybe

4) AD may cover Clark at the line and in the short zone but it will be a long day if he is asked to run with him down field. Our safeties will have to step it up against the Colts.
 
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It's gonna be a tough night for the secondary. I frankly see AS & EH struggling this early in the season esp. with Rodney out against two of the better receivers in the league.

Then again facing Moss, Stallworth and Welker everyday in practice may have them more ready than I think.

Rudi being out is not as big of a factor than people think. If their O-line blocks effectively then it doesn't matter who is in the backfield. He will still get the yards. He might not break a big one but will have a good day.

I can see the Bengals spreading out their O, passing the ball and running their no huddle. Like others have said this will be an excellent test.

Don't forget about AD. He will be covering Clark during that Indy game. That's one huge factor in the loss last season. Nobody could cover him. Take him out of the mix and it becomes a lot harder for PM.

New England is #2 against the pass despite opening up big leads and having opponents needing to pass time and again.

Pennington was 16-21, but for only 167 yards and Clemens was 5-10 for 35 yards.

Rivers was 19 for 30 for only 179 yards.

Troy Edwards was 10-20 for 97 yards and Losman was 1-1 for 4 yards.

Jets: 21-31 for 202 yards
SD: 19-30 for 179 yards
Bills: 11-21 for 101 yards

Total numbers: 51-82 for 482 in 3 games. That's a 62% completion rate and only 5.88 yards per attempt. The defense has only allowed 35 points total to this point, which is less than 12 points per game (11.7 ppg, #3 in the league). This was done against 3 teams that needed to throw because they were behind. The Patriots also handled the Bengals last season, only allowing Palmer to put up 245 yards, with no touchdowns.

I think it's possible for the Bengals to have a good night throwing the ball, but I don't see any reason to think that's the most likely scenario.
 
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious

You know what we do, take away strenghts, so I have to assume BB has a plan for it. Probably will center on the TOP side of things as much as the our D scheme's
 
Bengals haven't been particularly good running the ball and with the absence of rudi this will make the Bengals offense one dimensional. Look for the Patriots to run a lot of nickel and dime packages. Patriots will try to take away the deep stuff and give them the stuff underneath (slowing the down the game). Palmer heavily favors T.J. and Johnson. Look for the Pats to make one or both of them less effective with heavy zone coverages.
 
I agree with the litmus test premise with one caveat: this is the last game we will be without Rodney Harrison. He will be coming back lean, mean, healthy, PISSED, and with something to prove. So no matter what happens against Cinci I think our DB corps will be getting a big boost week 5, if only in terms of veteran leadership, and keeping a fresher rotation out there. Rodney went all the way through training camp and the preseason before being suspended, so he shouldn't take much time to get back into the flow. And it's not like he's returning from an injury - he actually said during preseason that he was feeling fully healthy and back to "himself" for the first time since 2004.

I also think we are going to start seeing Asante getting closer to the Asante we saw last year. Let's not forget that UNLIKE Rodney, Asante did not participate in camp at all, so weeks 1 and 2 were like the first two preseason games for him. Week 3 he got his first pick - I expect bigger and better things from him as he gets more games under his belt.

OK, so that was two caveats. But my real point is that I think there are at least two good reasons to think our pass D to be even better AFTER week 4.
 
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I'm not sure comparisons to last year's game are apt b/c Carson Palmer was just getting back from a major injury and he didn't even have his sea legs yet. Palmer now and Palmer then are like night and day.
 
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