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The X factor is Bryant

In Ben We Trust

In Ben We Trust

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He either shows up big in Cincy or it's going to be a loss in my opinion. I will give him a pass for today since I would assume his illness played a factor, but he was awful in the Baltimore game as well. He has to step it up.
 
His routes were unusually awful... that first INT was every bit as much on him as ben... he couldn't have been even close to 100%
 
madinsomniac said:
His routes were unusually awful... that first INT was every bit as much on him as ben... he couldn't have been even close to 100%
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That pick was on him, you could tell the way Ben reacted and if you watch the replay he gets lazy on the route and rounds it off, if he cuts across he's between the ball and the defender, and I don't think we saw him after that, might have been due to illness, but couldve been yanked due to his poor routes.
 
coryea said:
That pick was on him, you could tell the way Ben reacted and if you watch the replay he gets lazy on the route and rounds it off, if he cuts across he's between the ball and the defender, and I don't think we saw him after that, might have been due to illness, but couldve been yanked due to his poor routes.
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Well ben did stare him down, but he also made a lazy break which is a surefire tip off to jump that... he cuts up crisply and the guys have to respect his deep speed and cant make that play.... something was really off with the guy... weed withdrawal maybe....
 
I'm concerned that Brown had over four times as many receptions as any other receiver and probably similar times targeted. Its great if it works, but if opposing defenses successfully scheme to cover Brown, how does that impact Ben and the offense?
 
Troglodyte said:
I'm concerned that Brown had over four times as many receptions as any other receiver and probably similar times targeted. Its great if it works, but if opposing defenses successfully scheme to cover Brown, how does that impact Ben and the offense?
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The issue with Brown is that the kid runs amazingly precise routes and has the speed to burn you deep... they have to respect the speed, and the routes he runs he disguises very well, so they don't know where he is breaking most of the time. His routes are very Rice-like.... and rice didn't have his speed. typically he is the type of guy you jam at the line, but he beats the press so easily that teams kind of quit even trying. in that first game the Pats tried to bump him, he ducked under it without even missing a beat and was wide open for a big gain... the best solution is the triple teambut then you are leaving Bryant or DHB in single coverage with their speed.

It may become easier if we cant run and teams can put a spare DB in all the time, but like rice I'm not sure anyone but his own QB can successfully neuter him until he loses a step
 
Ben MUST look to the other receivers for this team to win in the playoffs. HB is open a lot, and they have to take advantage.
 
A good defensive teams first priority should be to shut down brown. It is hard to do, but i think a couple teams can do it. This will force the other receivers to step up. Wheaton and Bryant have shown that they can do it, just not consistently. Heyward-Bey had a nice game yesterday as well. Ben simply needs to take what the D gives. Do not force the ball down field. If Brown is shut down it will take 2-3 guys which has to leave someone open. Miller, James, and whoever the RB is have to be involved. A defense can simply not cover all of our talent. It is up to Ben to play smart. I have seen enough 40 yrd bombs on 3rd and 5. We will not win like that.
 
jitter77 said:
A good defensive teams first priority should be to shut down brown. It is hard to do, but i think a couple teams can do it. This will force the other receivers to step up. Wheaton and Bryant have shown that they can do it, just not consistently. Heyward-Bey had a nice game yesterday as well. Ben simply needs to take what the D gives. Do not force the ball down field. If Brown is shut down it will take 2-3 guys which has to leave someone open. Miller, James, and whoever the RB is have to be involved. A defense can simply not cover all of our talent. It is up to Ben to play smart. I have seen enough 40 yrd bombs on 3rd and 5. We will not win like that.
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in the decade plus Marvin Lewis has been with the bengals, his DBs tend to always bait and jump the short stuff on third downs... they often put a safety deep who will cheat to the one side on the snap too... the teams that beat them are able to go deep on them and back them off without getting picked. In the last game vs the Bengals, the 31 yard pass to Wheaton on 3rd and 1 while the other receivers were short decoys screwed with their coverage the rest of the game. There is a risk however, in the first game DHBs inability to pull in the deep pass on the second drive let the bengals just sit on Brown and rough up Bryant all game long. Bumping Bryant and sitting on Brown deep worked... the key was the could run all the short coverages with lbs and safeties jumping up. .... In the second game getting Wheaton involved deep effectively stopped that... Miller was used effectively in both games, but they slowly rolled more coverage his way, which should leave the Rb or third wr open.

The bottom line is you take what they give you... if they are eliminating the short stuff you go deep and if they are sitting on the deep stuff you go short. Every team in the league takes deep shots on 3rd down if the coverage is right. you cant be predictable
 
Will the BB gun in th eye be playing???



Salute the nation
 
jitter77 said:
A good defensive teams first priority should be to shut down brown. It is hard to do, but i think a couple teams can do it. This will force the other receivers to step up. Wheaton and Bryant have shown that they can do it, just not consistently. Heyward-Bey had a nice game yesterday as well. Ben simply needs to take what the D gives. Do not force the ball down field. If Brown is shut down it will take 2-3 guys which has to leave someone open. Miller, James, and whoever the RB is have to be involved. A defense can simply not cover all of our talent. It is up to Ben to play smart. I have seen enough 40 yrd bombs on 3rd and 5. We will not win like that.
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Exactly...
Drink IRON City said:
Will the BB gun in th eye be playing???



Salute the nation
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Not so sure - but, we've got enough tape on AJ McCarron to eliminate any "surprises"...
 
Drink IRON City said:
Will the BB gun in th eye be playing???



Salute the nation
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I highly doubt it. Unless he can really practice this week (not throw a few passes here or there for the scout team), they are not going to put him in there given the rust factor.
 
I think Heath is right up there with Martavis as x-factors

If we can get the middle of the field game going with Heath early on in games, reminding them that WR is not the only position that can burn them, it may open things up
 
Miller and Bryant are key in these playoffs. Ben has to stop trying to force the ball to AB and I realize that this combination has been explosive, but Ben has got to spread it around more. You have to wonder about Bryant's attitude lately though. I wonder if he just thinks he doesn't want to play second fiddle any longer and its affecting his play.
 
When you say X, are you talking about ecstasy? I've heard that stuff is awesome.
 
steelhurt said:
Miller and Bryant are key in these playoffs. Ben has to stop trying to force the ball to AB and I realize that this combination has been explosive, but Ben has got to spread it around more. You have to wonder about Bryant's attitude lately though. I wonder if he just thinks he doesn't want to play second fiddle any longer and its affecting his play.
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It would be a really bad time to pull that garbage.. he can't catch the ball consistently to be even mentioned in the same breath as AB.

He needs to get focused and get ready for playoff football.
 
AggieSteel said:
I think Heath is right up there with Martavis as x-factors

If we can get the middle of the field game going with Heath early on in games, reminding them that WR is not the only position that can burn them, it may open things up
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Shades of the 2005 Colts play off game. Damn, just realized that was Heath's rookie season!

steelhurt said:
Miller and Bryant are key in these playoffs. Ben has to stop trying to force the ball to AB and I realize that this combination has been explosive, but Ben has got to spread it around more. You have to wonder about Bryant's attitude lately though. I wonder if he just thinks he doesn't want to play second fiddle any longer and its affecting his play.
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mdk2 said:
It would be a really bad time to pull that garbage.. he can't catch the ball consistently to be even mentioned in the same breath as AB.

He needs to get focused and get ready for playoff football.
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Really......he needs to earn "second fiddle" before he starts worrying about being it.
 
Bryant is an X-factor, but I think in the sense that he can help break a game open. They can win without him, but they need to play smart football. I fear that they'll get out of their element like they did last year against Baltimore.
 
I think Wheaton has surpassed him as a much more complete receiver. Wheaton makes combat catches over the middle, boundary plays and the odd deep ball.I'm not giving up on Bryant and when he is good he can be great. But if he isn't platoon him with DHB who frankly has had his best year as a Steeler (though it wasn;t steller, it was decent.) Him and Bryant are mostly there to take the top off of the defense anyway.
 
Right now, Bryant is below Burris in my ranking of WRs. Burress would at least use his body and make contested catches. Right now, Bryant's style of play is listless, and his hand placement is putrid. You're not going to catch a ball over your head by 'patty caking' it. keep your pinkies or thumbs together and you'll never drop it.
 
I am very down on Bryant right now, he plays like someone who has already cashed his game check. He needs a wake up call big time, MT should bench him for the game against Cincy. Its not like we need him in there so we can watch balls sail between his hands. I'd lean heavy on Wheaton, Heath, and J. James. And I'd give Coates a chance to prove himself.

But we know MT will trot out the same tired lineup of under achievers, Bryant will start, Blake will start, Jarvis will start....
 
I've said it before Ben is the straw that stirs the drink. But I think these three guys can be X factors. Bryant Tuitt and Shazier. Dont know what's up with Bryant but I'm starting to lean towards the fact that if he doesn't wake up Heyward Bey can lessen the impact in the offense if he continues his funk. Bey can stretch the field and defenses can't forget about him. Bryant is better after the catch but Bey can still stretch the field. Maybe Wheaton takes a big leap forward to help Brown.

Tuitt and Shazier are my other x factors. Tuitt can be huge and if he can get back to his pre knee injury play (Cleveland game was a nice start) that would help the defense immensely. Him and Heyward controlling the line of scrimmage will be big. We have to force teams into favorable down and distances. Tuitt can help with that by dominating his matchup.

Shazier needs to clean up his mistakes in the run game and get back to that 15 tackle type of performance we saw against the 49ers. He needs to make some game changing plays that only a player with his speed can make.
 
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Charlie Batch this morning, said it looked to him that Ben may have told the coaches to sit Bryant after running the wrong route resulting in the first INT.
I likeBday, he can stretch the field, but the knock
has always been his hands and he doesn't go up and get the ball very often, something Bryant has shown the ability to do. We really need Bryant to show up this month.
 
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