The good

[Greythan]

Haden was outstanding. I don't think I've ever seen a defensive back (including Dixon and Minnifield) get his hand on that many passes. He's flat out exceptional.

McCoy. I thought he looked good to great for most of the game. I saw several balls that were on target that went "uncaught". MoMass did his usual poor "in air" adjustment thing on a sideline go route and Evan Moore waved at a catchable ball with one hand. I thought McCoy had zip on his balls and held together pretty darn well.

Rubin. Just love this guy. Great motor and excels at point of attack, pressuring the QB, and pursuit. The fact that I even mention "pursuit" as a strength of a DT is stunning enough. Love the guy.

Cribbs. Anyone still think we should have traded this guy? If you can't see the value he brings to this team from a "heart" perspective, then you don't know anything about sports. The team would have likely folded today but for his decision to try and spark the team after the Bengals kicked off following their going up 13 nothing. What happens? He breaks a 50+ yard return by bringing one out from 9.5 yards deep. Special teams matter and this guy is the heart. He also did some nice things at WR, albeit he remains a work-in-progress.

Hillis. Not his best game statistically, but you can see how he is a game planning nightmare for opposing d-coordinators especially as Shurmur's west coast offense matures.

Not a lot to be excited about after losing to a team they should beat, but not all is lost.

[grumpy_dinosaur]

Hardesty didn't look half bad either. And that 50 yrd pass while on the run, holy.

[Tobalaz]

Add DQJ to that list because he's finally in the right system and no longer looks the bust.
I NEVER thought he'd look that good out there.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Actually thought Rubin had an off game. Hope he's OK in the 4-3. McCoy was far from great ...I'll give him average.

Agree on Haden, Cribbs, & Hillis. Too bad we don't like running the ball anymore.

DQJ was horrible on coverage and Defensive adjustments ...that's his responsibility right?

[hiwaygal]

Thanks Grey!

I think we needed to see the good. And there WAS some good.

Colt was not as impressive as he's been in the past. But, IMO, all in all he's still a rookie who hasn't even started 16 games yet. He's still going to have ups and downs. And while he's having those ups and downs, so will follow our WRs having the same said ups and downs. When these folks are all "ON" they will be formidable. But it takes awhile getting used to the guy throwing and the guy catching...add into that a new system and yeah, they've got some tweaking to do. Eventually I hope to see our WRs making up for a McCoy bad day just as he will make up for a WR's bad day. But that part is going to take time.

Haden, DQJ I noticed a lot - they made some good plays and Haden is still young.

Hillis and Hardesty (but especially Hillis) have to be frustrated. Don't give them the ball on 3rd and long and always expect them to get the 1st down. They were used as "second options". When you have guys at that position that are THAT freaking good, you need to use them more often. Yeah, defenses are watching Hillis. That should open some options for Hardesty as should our WRs and vice versa.

This was an extremely disappointing loss. The team looked lackluster in the opening series if not through the whole first quarter. And then they seemed to come out after the half with even less determination. Maybe they need a charismatic energizing speaker to get them hyped before a game and at the half?

[Greythan]

I'm not sure where the "average" thing comes from on McCoy. Did you see him miss a volume of throws? I didn't.

The hard part is knowing if there were open receivers that he missed. Based on the patchy protection afforded him and the questionable separation skills of our receivers, I'm not thinking he missed a bunch of reads either.

As for Rubin (and the defense overall), until the failure-to-break-the-defensive-huddle play the defense had held Cincy to something like 240 total yards (i.e., through 3.5 quarters). I thought they looked pretty darn good.

[Seesaw]

The Good: Pitt got freakin trashed. I also got freakin trashed. Woo!

[Greythan]

I guess I have to revise my McCoy rating a bit. He did end up being "credited" with 21 incomplete passes. In thinking back on some of those, I think he had 3+ ball knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Part of that is likely due to his relatively small size, but part of that is on him from an execution standpoint. (Seeing throwing lanes, etc.)

I don't know, most of the balls I saw him throw seemed to be on target. Maybe rose colored glasses.

[MackTruck]

Uh, Grey, Colt sucked in the pocket. His best throws were on the run. After that, it was happy feet,insecurity and checkdown. Kid had a chance to win the game and let it slip through his fingers. Looked like Brady Quinn during the last 20 minutes.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by MackTruck

Uh, Grey, Colt sucked in the pocket. His best throws were on the run. After that, it was happy feet,insecurity and checkdown. Kid had a chance to win the game and let it slip through his fingers. Looked like Brady Quinn during the last 20 minutes.

Do you even have a clue or are you just stoned?

McCoy didn't even have a pocket most of the day and that's why they had to roll him out. Even the backup RT got put out of the game.

It isn't happy feet when you are trying to escape your own linemen getting pushed into your face.

Looked like Brady Quinn??????????????????????????? WTF...........really guy?

[MackTruck]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

Do you even have a clue or are you just stoned?

McCoy didn't even have a pocket most of the day and that's why they had to roll him out. Even the backup RT got put out of the game.

It isn't happy feet when you are trying to escape your own linemen getting pushed into your face.

Looked like Brady Quinn??????????????????????????? WTF...........really guy?

Again man, bias is bias. You don't want to bash McCoy, so you make excuses. It was the OL, they didn't protect him. It was the WR, they didn't make plays for him. Great QB's make play for themselves. Colt was unable to do that. The amount of checkdowns that last 20 minutes was rediculous. Why? Because the Bengals took away the rollouts and forced McCoy to stay in the pocket. I saw a pair of happy feet. Heck, Mass even got some freaking doubles the in the 3rd quarter and McCoy STILL had happy feet.

The kid needs some confidence in the pocket. Would Steinbach being healthy help that and his confidence? Maybe. Does the line need to regroup. Sure. But to blame just them is rediculous. McCoy simply could not make the plays. The key to being a good QB in this league.

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by MackTruck

Again man, bias is bias. You don't want to bash McCoy, so you make excuses. It was the OL, they didn't protect him. It was the WR, they didn't make plays for him. Great QB's make play for themselves. Colt was unable to do that. The amount of checkdowns that last 20 minutes was rediculous. Why? Because the Bengals took away the rollouts and forced McCoy to stay in the pocket. I saw a pair of happy feet. Heck, Mass even got some freaking doubles the in the 3rd quarter and McCoy STILL had happy feet.

The kid needs some confidence in the pocket. Would Steinbach being healthy help that and his confidence? Maybe. Does the line need to regroup. Sure. But to blame just them is rediculous. McCoy simply could not make the plays. The key to being a good QB in this league.

Tom Brady agrees with you, an sites his wonderful play in the Superbowl against the Giants.