Cincinnati Bengal intel

Here's what I gather from Cincinnati Enquirer articles, injury report, depth chart, and bleacher report:


WR1 AJ Green hasn’t caught a pass since week 10. Hamstring. Reporters say Green did very little in the 30 minutes of practice Wednesday that was open to the media. When asked if Green will return against the steelers, the coach said, “partly sunny”. Led NFL in receptions (32) and first in the AFC in receiving yards (468) through Week 4 ... Green is only player in franchise history to make Pro Bowl in each of his first five seasons ... On Sept. 11 of last season, signed contract extension through 2019 ...

LT Andrew WhitworthThe Bengals’ starting offensive line includes LT Andrew Whitworth, LG Clint Boling, C Russell Bodine, RG Kevin Zeitler, and then a time share at right tackle. Cedric Ogbuehi, a first-round pick a year ago, was recently benched in favor of a time share between veterans Eric Winston and Jake Fisher(Fisher has been struggling lately too according to the Cincy Enquirer). Whitworth and Zeitler are solid in general, but the rest of the line struggles to open running lanes. The Cincy Enquirer lists the Bengal OL and their LBs as the biggest needs going into next year’s draft.

Whitworth is in his 11th Bengals season, coming off a 2015 year that saw him named a first-teamer on prestigious Associated Press All-Pro team ... Team captain also was selected in initial vote for Pro Bowl

LG Clint Boling has been injured somewhat since the Miami game in September. limited practice on wednesday, shoulder Versatile pro is in his fifth season as a Bengals starter ... Has made starts at OT in past line shuffles to adjust to injuries.

C Russell Bodine Now in his third season, Bodine has started every game of his Bengals career ... Only the third player in Bengals history obtained by trading up in draft (Bengals went up 12 spots in Round 4 in ’14)

RG Kevin Zeitler A fifth-year NFL player for 2016,... Veteran Bengals OL boss Paul Alexander calls Zeitler “the hardest-working guy I’ve ever coached.”

RT Eric Winston A 10th-year pro in 2015, Winston is a valuable backup and has started games each of the last two seasons ...... Signed with Bengals as free agent prior to Game 13 of 2014 and finished that season and postseason as a starter, replacing injured Andre Smith at ROT.

TE Tyler EifertThe good news for Cincinnati is that Tyler Eifert is back in a groove. In his six games back, he has 23 catches for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns.

back injury suffered this season ... Scored 13 TDs in 2015, just one short of NFL lead,... Was selected in initial vote for Pro Bowl, first Pro Bowl selection of his career ... Set Bengals record last season for most TDs by a TE .... Excels particularly with his ability to time jumps and win contested balls.

TE Ryan Hewitt Undrafted out of Stanford, Has 18 career receptions ... Began at Stanford as a tight end, but converted to fullback early in career.

WR2 Brandon LaFell limited practice Wednesday , knee Without A.J. Green, the Bengals' starting receivers are Brandon LaFell and Tyler Boyd. LaFell is a borderline No. 2 receiver in the NFL. Boyd, a second-round pick in this year's draft, has 42 catches for 477 yards and 1 touchdown on the year.

QB Andy DaltonIn 13 games last year, Andy Dalton was sacked 20 times and threw for 25 touchdown passes. This year, in 12 games, he's already been sacked 32 times and has just 14 touchdown passes. The Bengals offense doesn’t have the same level of talent that it did a year ago, and although Dalton is not costing Cincinnati games, he hasn’t been able to deliver that little extra “oomph” that the team could use week to week. Article appearing in Cincy Enquirer for dumping Dalton. Again.

Two weeks ago had one of the best games of Dalton’s entire career. He completed 74% of his passes for 332 yards and 2 touchdowns, and was not sacked, in a victory over the Eagles.

Dalton is in his sixth season, coming off his best campaign of a consistently strong career ... Missed the last three games plus Wild Card playoff last season due to a thumb fracture, but finished with a Bengals-record passer rating of 106.3, ranking first in AFC and second in NFL ... Also has Bengals’ best career passer rating (88.7) ... Recovered from thumb injury, which occurred when he made a tackle following an INT in Game 13, Dec. 13 vs. Pittsburgh ... With 52-28-1 record as a starter, has best regular-season winning percentage (.648) of any Bengals QB with 10 or more starts

RB Jeremy HIllWith Giovani Bernard out, the Bengals have not been able to get Jeremy Hill going the past two weeks, where he's run for 54 yards on 35 carries (1.54 YPC). His best game of the year was against Cleveland, when he had 9 carries for 168 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown run.

Bernard’s injury has paved the way for Rex Burkhead to get some looks in the backfield. In the past two weeks, he has 13 carries for 67 yards (5.15 YPC). Burkhead is a good change-of-pace back who could make some money in a contract year if he finishes out the season strong.

Though Bengals rush game has been off to a slow start, Hill has the size and talent to be a key player in 2016 ... Has scored 26 TDs in 38 possible games (including postseason) ... His 12 TDs last season were most TDs by a Bengals RB since Rudi Johnson (12) in 2006 ... Rushed for 1124 yards as a rookie in 2014, including most rushing yards (929) in NFL over last nine weeks ... At 235 pounds, Hill is the biggest running back the Bengals have drafted above the sixth round since they chose 248-pounder Pete Johnson in the second round in 1997.




Defensive Line

The Bengals run a 4-3 defense. Their starting defensive line includes DE Carlos Dunlap, NT Domata Peko, DT Geno Atkins, and DE Michael Johnson. Bengals DT Geno Atkins was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week, for his performance in last week’s victory at Cleveland. Peko will split time with NT Pat Sims, but the rest of the starters will be on the field for three quarters of the snaps

DE Carlos Dunlap 40 tackles, 7 sacks, 2 forced fumbles in 2016 . limited practice on wednesday, neck. Dunlap continues to produce as the team’s best edge rusher, as he’s now up to 7 sacks and 20 quarterback hits on the year.An athletic 280-pounder with a big wingspan, Dunlap is a naturally gifted playmaker with statistics to bear it out ... Leads 2016 line in tackles and leads team in passes defensed ... Led team in 2015 with career-best 13.5 sacks, ranked fourth in the NFL and third in the AFC, the best-ever rankings by a Bengal ... His 52.0 career sacks rank fourth in Bengals annals ... Has 13 career forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, 31 passes defensed, four blocked FGs and two TDs scored.

NT Domata Peko 28 tackles, zero sacks. A Bengals team leader on and off field,. Known throughout his career as a strong run-stopper, and in 2015 he posted a career-high for sacks (5.0) ... Occasionally utilized on offense as lead blocker out of backfield on short-yardage plays.

DT Geno Atkins 25 tackles, 6.5 sacks, Atkins is in his seventh Bengals season and last year was named first-team Associated Press All-Pro for second time, while earning fourth Pro Bowl berth ... No other Bengals DL has had more Pro Bowl selections, In ’15, Atkins proved to be fully back from effects of 2013 knee injury

DE Michael Johnson 38 tackles, 3 sacks. Has a full range of Has played in 99 of a possible 100 regular-season games during his Bengals seasons




Linebackers

The Bengals’ primary linebackers are Vontaze Burfirct and Karlos Dansby, and they are really the only two guys the team feels they can count on. Vincent Rey will see some action if necessary, and then Rey Maualuga has remarkably just fallen off of playing time completely.

SLB Karlos Dansby 89 tackles, 1 sack. Few players can approach Dansby’s longtime record as an NFL playmaker, and he leads team in tackles in his first Bengals season ... Remained highly productive last year, in his 12th NFL season, leading Cleveland in tackles (108) and INTs (three), with two INTs for TDs ... Durable performer has started all but nine of his teams’ games over last eight-plus seasons ... Has 18 career forced fumbles and 10 fumble recoveries.

MLB Rey Maualuga 20 tackles, 1 INT. in his eighth Bengals season, a consistently physical presence in the defensive center ... Second on team in tackles last season... On 3-5-15 he signed new three-year contract, electing to bypass unrestricted free agency.

WLB Vontaze Burfirct 91 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 iNT. A 2013 season Pro Bowl selection, Burfict is a central figure in Bengals’ defensive plans .... Brings Bengals a key physical element and exceptional instinctive football smarts, Led team in tackles per game played (7.4) ... Led Bengals in tackles in each of his first two pro seasons (2012-13) ... 2013 season Pro Bowl nod

Secondary

The Bengals’ starting cornerbacks are Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick, with Josh Shaw playing the nickel role. George Iloka is at strong safety and Shawn Williams is at free safety. Kirkpatrick, Iloka, and Williams have combined for six interceptions over the past six weeks or so. Overall, there isn’t a glaring weakness one could point to here.

CB Dre Kirkpatrick 37 tackles, 3 INTs. in his second year as a starter in 2016 ... Led team in passes defensed last season and is tied for second in ’16 .. missing Game 4 of this season due to hamstring injury ... Has two career INTs for TDs ... Earned an AFC Defensive Player of the Week nod for his two-INT, one TD performance in playoff-clinching win last season vs. Denver.


CB Adam Jones 55 tackles 1 forced fumble, 1 INT. did not practice Wednesday , non football related. Jones returns to starting RCB spot after earning his first career Pro Bowl berth last season ... Also among NFL’s most dangerous kick returners, but his KR availability is sometimes limited by his responsibilities on defense ... Leads Bengals in career punt return (11.1) and kickoff return (26.4) averages ... Turned in best KR year in Bengals history in ’14, leading NFL in KOR (31.3) and finishing second in punt return (12.0) ... Earned nod as first-team kick returner for All-Pro team ... Has five career PRs for TDs, including one for Bengals, third among active players.

SS George Iloka 56 tackles, 3 INTs. Iloka is in his fourth season Bengals’ starting SS ... Tall DB with top-level range and speed ... Logged 47 tackles and one INT last season, with four total passes defensed ... Tied for second on team in 2014 with three INTs, and ranked fourth in tackles (74) and fourth in passes defensed (10).

FS Shawn Williams 63 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INTs. first season as a starter, filling SS role Had increased his defensive time in 2015, with a key INT in victory Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh ... Led team in special teams tackles as a rookie


Special Teams

Mike Nugent is 22-of-27 on regular field goals. That's not so bad, right? What is bad is the fact that he is 21-of-26 on extra points! Compare that to last year, when he was 48-of-49 on extra points, and you can see the big difference. The Mike Nugent era has come to an ugly close in Cincinnati. The veteran kicker was released on Tuesday following a recent string of misses. The Bengals signed fellow journeyman Randy Bullock to replace Nugent; Bullock was released by the Steelers on Monday as Pittsburgh's starting kicker Chris Boswell returns from injury.Nugent earned the ire of Bengals fans for his inconsistency on extra points. The 34-year-old kicker was second-worst among kickers with 10 attempted extra points (79 percent), just behind embattled former Vikings kickers Blair Walsh. Against the Browns on Sunday, Nugent missed an extra point in the first quarter and missed a 36-yard field goal to end the first half.Nugent was drafted by the Jets in the second round of the 2005 draft, but spent just four seasons in New York before eventually settling in Cincinnati in 2010.

P Kevin Huber has a 38.9 net average. Steeler P Jordan Berry has a 39.9 net average. Has punted 62 times, longest was 72, inside the 20 yardline 18 times. Cincinnati native has played in 119 of last 121 Bengals games (including postseason), establishing strong presence in team record book ... Strong in 2015, with 45.8-yard gross average and 40.5 net, Also holds franchise career marks for gross average (44.8) and net (39.8) ... Shares franchise record for longest punt (75) ... Has been holder on place kicks for his entire Bengals career.

LS . Clark Harris Harris has been paragon of reliability as Bengals long snapper and is in his eighth Cincinnati season in 2016g training camp roster ...

Wednesday injury report

G Clint Boling

DE Carlos Dunlap

DE Wallace Gilberry did not practice, calf

WR AJ Green,

CB Adam Jones,

WR Brandon LaFell,

S Derron Smith, limited practice, thigh

TE CJUzomah limited practice, calf

WR James Wright, did not practice, knee

 

When I saw the title of this thread I instantly thought "but the Cincinnati Bengals don't have any intelligence".

 

Me too!

 

They have some key injuries on both sides of the ball. 2 wrs and a rb....and defense can be kept off balanced with the potent offense that we have.

 

This is the Bengals Superbowl. Steelers need to bring their A game.

 

we are only favored by 3
o/u 44
going to windy and very cold
23 degrees
hope all rb are available
and i wish DHB would get well so we can have his endarounds and blocking

PWP can you not go work on his leg?????
i see a paid vacay in the future for you!!!
please be careful Bell

 

Love these intel posts, @nor - cheers.

 

i want pictures too
lol