A Little AFC North Love Over Here!

[Neck1973]

I actually am looking forward to seeing the Ravens play tonight.And even though I have hated the Steelers for years,I'm pretty proud of the division were in.4 playoff teams in 2 years.Tough,physical,running teams.It's never an easy win except against Cleveland maybe!!


I'd love to see the Colts get took the F out too!!Go Ravens.


And hey fellas just started posting over here 5 minutes ago,is this place pretty cool or???The setup looks awesome.I came over from some Goteamsgo board and they had more moderators than members and were banning people for disagreeing with them!!HAHAH!!Hope this ain't that.

Rod

[david aka the TYZ]

Originally Posted by Neck1973

I actually am looking forward to seeing the Ravens play tonight.And even though I have hated the Steelers for years,I'm pretty proud of the division were in.4 playoff teams in 2 years.Tough,physical,running teams.It's never an easy win except against Cleveland maybe!!


I'd love to see the Colts get took the F out too!!Go Ravens.


And hey fellas just started posting over here 5 minutes ago,is this place pretty cool or???The setup looks awesome.I came over from some Goteamsgo board and they had more moderators than members and were banning people for disagreeing with them!!HAHAH!!Hope this ain't that.

Rod

I for one am glad to have a few more members talking sports on here. So welcome!!

I think it was good the Ravens won last week so our 2 wins over them looked better. Looking back on the season, we had 3 wins over playoff teams. The schedule was definately easy this year. Next year won't be. Thanks to winning the division we'll get to play Indy, San Diego and New England and I believe we play the NFC South which means New Orleans. Our offense definately needs to get better next year or it could be a long season.

[Franny]

I have no love for inter-division teams. The Ravens are cheap. I like the matchups we have for next weekend. Jets-Colts will be closer than the experts think!

Vikings-Saints should be a classic.

[Sloopy32]

Originally Posted by david aka the TYZ

Looking back on the season, we had 3 wins over playoff teams. The schedule was definately easy this year. Next year won't be. Thanks to winning the division we'll get to play Indy, San Diego and New England and I believe we play the NFC South which means New Orleans.

You're right about that, David. Then Bengals' 2010 schedule is

10 games against winning-record teams
Baltimore x 2
Pittsburgh x 2
New England
NY Jets
Indianapolis
San Diego
New Orleans
Atlanta

5 games against losing-record teams
Cleveland x 2
Miami
Buffalo
Tampa Bay

And 1 game against a .500 team, Carolina.

This schedule includes only one "gimme" game, that is, one game against a team that finished 2009 with less than 5 wins: Tampa Bay.

By comparison, the Bengals' 2009 schedule included (looking at 2008 records): 7 games against winning-records, 6 games against losing-records, and 3 games against .500s.
It also included four "gimme" games against teams that had less than 5 wins in 2008 (Cleveland x 2, Detroit, Kansas City). And we actually won those four, so take them away, and we were 6-6 in "non-gimme" games.

Yes, we have a much tougher schedule ahead in 2010. It's going to take a significant improvement in our team just to match the same 10-6 record from 2009. Anyone care to predict which ten of the above games the Bengals could, should, might, or will win?

[Franny]

Originally Posted by Sloopy32

Yes, we have a much tougher schedule ahead in 2010. It's going to take a significant improvement in our team just to match the same 10-6 record from 2009. Anyone care to predict which ten of the above games the Bengals could, should, might, or will win?

I will after I see what happens with Free Agency and the Draft. I think Zimmer's defense will continue to just get better and will keep games close, but I have to see where this team goes with the offense before I predict a win count. They have immediate needs @ Kicker and WR that must be addressed.

Before anyone comes in here and says OMG! We can't win those games... think about what the team did this year. Did you really think before the season started that they would beat Pittsburgh twice, Baltimore twice, demolish the Bears and win @ GB? Probably not.

[Tedesco]

In all fairness the Bengals barely beat a Pittsburgh team that was missing their big key defensive player. Troy makes and breaks a team, and the Bengals more than likely would have lost both games had he been healthy.

You are also talking about a Bengals team that struggled down the stretch and absolutely embarrassed themselves in the playoffs. This team might have exceeded expectations with the fans, but they over-achieved this year. The Bengals are not as good as their record this year might suggest.

[Neck1973]

Originally Posted by Sloopy32

You're right about that, David. Then Bengals' 2010 schedule is

10 games against winning-record teams
Baltimore x 2
Pittsburgh x 2
New England
NY Jets
Indianapolis
San Diego
New Orleans
Atlanta

5 games against losing-record teams
Cleveland x 2
Miami
Buffalo
Tampa Bay

And 1 game against a .500 team, Carolina.

This schedule includes only one "gimme" game, that is, one game against a team that finished 2009 with less than 5 wins: Tampa Bay.

By comparison, the Bengals' 2009 schedule included (looking at 2008 records): 7 games against winning-records, 6 games against losing-records, and 3 games against .500s.
It also included four "gimme" games against teams that had less than 5 wins in 2008 (Cleveland x 2, Detroit, Kansas City). And we actually won those four, so take them away, and we were 6-6 in "non-gimme" games.

Yes, we have a much tougher schedule ahead in 2010. It's going to take a significant improvement in our team just to match the same 10-6 record from 2009. Anyone care to predict which ten of the above games the Bengals could, should, might, or will win?

It'd be nice if Mike Brown lost his mind and went berserk in the free agent market.There are a lot of good offensive players out there.We get 2 of anybody from the draft or FA and we can make people dread us.

[Neck1973]

Originally Posted by Tedesco

In all fairness the Bengals barely beat a Pittsburgh team that was missing their big key defensive player. Troy makes and breaks a team, and the Bengals more than likely would have lost both games had he been healthy.

You are also talking about a Bengals team that struggled down the stretch and absolutely embarrassed themselves in the playoffs. This team might have exceeded expectations with the fans, but they over-achieved this year. The Bengals are not as good as their record this year might suggest.

I don't think 10 wins reeks of not as good as their record might suggest!!