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Falcons @ Bengals

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By KEVIN CHROUST

STATS Writer

 

(AP) -- Matt Ryan shredded what appeared to be a porous defense in Week 1, but a repeat effort is likely to prove considerably more difficult in a demanding road environment.

 

The Cincinnati Bengals put a nine-game regular-season home winning streak on the line Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, who will be out to accomplish something they didn't do all of last year - win consecutive games.

 

Ryan, the NFC offensive player of the week, threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns on 31-of-43 passing in last Sunday's 37-34 overtime home win over New Orleans. The Falcons racked up a franchise-record 568 yards, leading coach Mike Smith to refer to it as possibly Ryan's top game as a pro.

 

The seventh-year veteran, though, was more guarded.

 

"It's a good start. We've got a long way to go," said Ryan, whose team last strung together wins Dec. 16-22, 2012. "That's one thing that I have learned in six years previous to this, is it's a long season. You can't get too high and too low after Week 1.

 

"It's certainly a good start for us in the (NFC South). It's what we wanted to do ... but we've got to get back to work. We're going against a very good defense against Cincinnati next week."

 

Four players caught at least five passes with Julio Jones' seven for 116 yards leading the way in his first game back after missing 11 in 2013 with a foot injury.

 

Return man Devin Hester added five receptions for 99 yards, two shy of his career high. He didn't catch a pass in his final season with Chicago but could be looked to on slot targets to help fill the middle of the field after the retirement of tight end Tony Gonzalez.

 

"That's really what it's all about when you have playmakers," Smith said. "The more you have, the better opportunity you have to move the football and score points."

 

The Bengals have allowed over 20 points twice during their home win streak, though they gave up 27 in a loss to San Diego in the wild-card round in January. They've also won three straight and nine of 11 against the NFC but have dropped the last three meetings with Atlanta.

 

Starting 2-0 has been tricky as Cincinnati hasn't done so since winning its first three in 2006.

 

The defense Ryan spoke of wasn't quite at its best in Cincinnati's 23-16 win in Baltimore last Sunday, surrendering 420 yards. At home, the Bengals haven't approached conceding that kind of number in 13 games since allowing 431 to Pittsburgh on Oct. 21, 2012.

 

Still, the Bengals held Baltimore scoreless through the first half while the offense settled for field goals and a 15-0 lead. That was erased in the fourth quarter as Cincinnati fell behind by a point, but Andy Dalton and A.J. Green hooked up for the 77-yard game-winning touchdown with 4:58 left.

 

Dalton threw for 301 yards and a TD on 25-of-38 passing without an interception after throwing six in his final two games of 2013, including the playoffs. Green had six catches for 131 yards after going the final seven games of last season without cracking 100 yards. He thinks Dalton is primed for a career year.

 

"He's going to be a top five quarterback," Green told the team's official website. "That's how I feel. He's poised."

 

The running game wasn't quite up to speed at 3.0 yards per carry on 26 attempts, which might have played a role in the team being unable to stay on the field in the second half with 10 minutes, 11 seconds of possession. The Bengals also converted just 4 of 14 third downs.

 

"If you don't convert third down you're not going to get as many runs as you'd like," coach Marvin Lewis said. "That's going to be big."

 

That doesn't mean Giovani Bernard wasn't involved in the offense. The second-year running back was held to 48 yards on 14 carries but also caught six balls for 62 yards. Consider it a part of first-year offensive coordinator Hue Jackson's spreading of the field.

 

"We try to create space for our players to make plays in," Jackson said. "We need to still get more chunk plays. Obviously we got the biggest chunk at the end of the game which was sensational. When you are spreading people out there's potential for big plays to happen with the kind of athletes that we have here."

 

The Bengals' rushing fortunes could change against Atlanta, which gave up 139 yards to the Saints and has yielded 14 straight 100-yard efforts. The 148.3 yards allowed per game in that time trails only Chicago for the worst mark in the league.

 

The Bengals placed tight end Tyler Eifert on the injured reserve list Wednesday with a chance to return at midseason from an elbow injury.

 

The Falcons will be without rookie offensive tackle Jake Matthews, who suffered a left ankle injury in the opener. The No. 6 overall pick worked on the side Friday but was unable to participate in practice for the third straight day.

 

Gabe Carimi, who has taken all the snaps with the first-team offense this week, will start in Matthews' spot.

 

Source: Hosted.Stats.com

Edited by BLUE

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This is gonna be the game of the week.

 

Until Andy Dalton throws a pick.

 

What I'm saying is this isn't gonna be much of a game.

 

:Bengals: 12

:Falcons: 35

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This is gonna be the game of the week.

 

Until Andy Dalton throws a pick.

 

What I'm saying is this isn't gonna be much of a game.

 

:Bengals: 12

:Falcons: 35

Don't underestimate Cincy at home. We beat ARod and Brady both last year at Paul Brown.

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Well if Dalton doesn't throw an INT it'll be a game. <_>

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Atlanta's defense isn't holding the Bengals under 20. Nor are they winning.

 

:Bengals: 29

:Falcons: 20

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Another potential game of the week. For the Bengals to win they're gonna have to put a lot of pressure on Matty Ice, but I don't think Geno has been the same player since coming back from his injury. Probably going to be a shootout.

 

:Falcons: - 38

:Bengals: - 35

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Atlanta's defense isn't holding the Bengals under 20. Nor are they winning.

 

:Bengals: 29

:Falcons: 20

 

Last week, the Atlanta Falcons weren't going to put up big numbers on the Saints, nor were they winning.

 

This is a tough match-up. I think the Bengals can put up 20-30 on us easy. I also believe that I will take Matt Ryan on a dime before I would take Andy Dalton.

 

Matt Ryan vs tough defense.

Andy Dalton vs defense with holes.

 

Don't under-estimate our young starting corners though, they're real good on the outside. If the Bengals get ahead early, it's going to be on the heels of their ground game, not Andy Dalton passing.

 

Despite how tough the Bengals defense can be, I don't see them being able to match-up with our receivers when we go 3 and 4 wide. This entire game will come down to offensive line protection for Matt Ryan.

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Despite how tough the Bengals defense can be, I don't see them being able to match-up with our receivers when we go 3 and 4 wide.

Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Pacman Jones, Darqueze Dennard are one of the few groups that have the depth to match up with Falcons 3/4 wide. Don't doubt the secondary.

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Roddy White (knee) is officially active for Week 2 against the Bengals.

Fire him up as you normally would. White is in the WR1 conversation for what should be a high-scoring game.
Inactive for the Falcons are LT Jake Matthews, QB Sean Renfree, WR Courtney Roby, CB Javier Arenas, LB Tyler Starr, C James Stone and DE Cliff Matthews.
Matthews' absence leaves Gabe Carimi on Matt Ryan's blindside, and Lamar Holmes on the right. It's a concern, but not enough to downgrade Matt Ryan.

 

 

 

A.J. Green (foot) is officially active for Week 2 against the Falcons.

NFL.com's Jeff Darlington has reported that Green won't be on a "pitch count." Fire him up as a top-three option.
Inactive for the Bengals are RB Rex Burkhead, LB Sean Porter, C T.J. Johnson, OT Tanner Hawkinson, WR Marvin Jones and DE Will Clarke.

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Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Pacman Jones, Darqueze Dennard are one of the few groups that have the depth to match up with Falcons 3/4 wide. Don't doubt the secondary.

 

I don't know. I guess we'll see. Any team with 4, possibly even 5 receivers who can be on th efield all game for most teams is dangerous. Drew Davis is our 5th receiver, and the guy has looked like a stud when he's gotten play time last year.

 

I think it's going to be one hell of a game. Hence why I can't really predict a winner outright. If the Bengals torch us, it'll be with Geo Bernard and Jeremy Hill.

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Ok ATL deleting your posts so you don't like an idiot saying my prediction would be way off after the Falcons offense blows out the ass. I see you.

 

Gangsta rap must've made him do it.

Edited by BC

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Whether I look like an idiot for thinking this game would be closer or not, I don't care. That was definitely a wake up call for Atlanta. Honestly, part of me wonders if they got TOO confident. Matt Ryan was all sorts of confident heading in, I'm sure he felt unstoppable after last weeks performance. The Bengals overwhelmed him big time.

 

Bengals were superior in every facet of the game. Right now I'm just trying to figure out if Atlanta is bad and just defeated another bad team in the Saints in week 1, or if the Bengals are just ridiculously good on defense. You guys were absolutely right, that secondary is nasty. A lot of the pressure the Bengals were getting were just from blanket coverage on our receivers. What's scary is that the Bengals are so confident in their secondary coverage that they'll send 7 or 8 it seemed almost every down without having an issue.

 

They were faster and stronger than our offensive lineman. Just really disappointed with our offense as a whole.

 

Quite frankley, I'm pleased with how our defense played. Considering how terrible our defense was projected, I think that us holding them several times and even starting the game off with several field goals (even though they missed 3 of them I think lol) was great. At some point, you've got to keep the defense off the field, and our offense didn't do that.

 

Steven Jackson looks as old as he is. He's slow, he's not able to avoid defenders like he used to, and he is really just not showing the burst when he hits open holes. There was one play that was a 10 or 11 yard gain half way through the game, he had a huge hole that he made it through. He didn't have enough burst when he got through it though to get up to speed. If that was Jacquizz Rodgers or Antone Smith with a hole like that, touchdown. Literally, there was one safety to beat and he was way off path if Jackson ran to his right. The speed just isn't there and it breaks up the entire offensive drive when he takes a hand off. Then there was the play early with the PA pass play, he cut left a little and put his foot right in the path of Ryans drop back, just a mistake that can't be made. I can attribute that to missing all of off-season. Jackson and Ryan haven't been on the same page yet this season, it's concerning because he's our lead back. I wish the Falcons would just drop him on the depth chart. Quizz, Freeman and Smith all have looked better in both games.

 

 

So what's the running bet on how many consecutive games the Falcons will go before getting a sack? Our pass rush is non-existent. We can't send anyone extra because of how horrid our linebackers are in coverage right now, we need every man in coverage in the middle of the field we can get. I watched 3 or 4 times Worrilow messed up coverage. He was supposed to be in a hook zone on one play, he didn't drop back from the LOS as quickly as he should have, stayed on the run too long and it wasn't even a PA.

 

Lots of work to do, nothing that's not fixable though.

 

Bengals fans should be excited, that team looks complete right now. Hopefully Green and their lineman will be alright heading toward the playoffs. They should easily take that division IMO.

 

PS - Mohammad Sanu has the best deep ball on the team. <_<


 

 

You were right. I didn't expect Gio to have a day like this.

 

Yeah, how about that! I knew that would happen. Bernard is an absolute stud, great career ahead of him. I think I may begin to say that about Jeremy Hill in the near future. He did great against our porous defense, but it wasn't that which surprised me. Hill has great vision on the field, and he's got a surprisingly good amount of speed to him. Scary that two running backs like that are on the same team.

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Did ATL delete his post? What a bitch.

 

I made no post in this thread....Ask any admin. lmao

 

I said it in the shoutbox.

Edited by ATL

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I made no post in this thread....Ask any admin. lmao

 

I said it in the shoutbox.

If you're telling the truth then I made the mistake of asking BC to confirm.

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If you're telling the truth then I made the mistake of asking BC to confirm.

Trusting BC has and never will be a wise option on TGP

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Whether I look like an idiot for thinking this game would be closer or not, I don't care. That was definitely a wake up call for Atlanta. Honestly, part of me wonders if they got TOO confident. Matt Ryan was all sorts of confident heading in, I'm sure he felt unstoppable after last weeks performance. The Bengals overwhelmed him big time.

 

Bengals were superior in every facet of the game. Right now I'm just trying to figure out if Atlanta is bad and just defeated another bad team in the Saints in week 1, or if the Bengals are just ridiculously good on defense. You guys were absolutely right, that secondary is nasty. A lot of the pressure the Bengals were getting were just from blanket coverage on our receivers. What's scary is that the Bengals are so confident in their secondary coverage that they'll send 7 or 8 it seemed almost every down without having an issue.

 

They were faster and stronger than our offensive lineman. Just really disappointed with our offense as a whole.

 

Quite frankley, I'm pleased with how our defense played. Considering how terrible our defense was projected, I think that us holding them several times and even starting the game off with several field goals (even though they missed 3 of them I think lol) was great. At some point, you've got to keep the defense off the field, and our offense didn't do that.

 

Steven Jackson looks as old as he is. He's slow, he's not able to avoid defenders like he used to, and he is really just not showing the burst when he hits open holes. There was one play that was a 10 or 11 yard gain half way through the game, he had a huge hole that he made it through. He didn't have enough burst when he got through it though to get up to speed. If that was Jacquizz Rodgers or Antone Smith with a hole like that, touchdown. Literally, there was one safety to beat and he was way off path if Jackson ran to his right. The speed just isn't there and it breaks up the entire offensive drive when he takes a hand off. Then there was the play early with the PA pass play, he cut left a little and put his foot right in the path of Ryans drop back, just a mistake that can't be made. I can attribute that to missing all of off-season. Jackson and Ryan haven't been on the same page yet this season, it's concerning because he's our lead back. I wish the Falcons would just drop him on the depth chart. Quizz, Freeman and Smith all have looked better in both games.

 

 

So what's the running bet on how many consecutive games the Falcons will go before getting a sack? Our pass rush is non-existent. We can't send anyone extra because of how horrid our linebackers are in coverage right now, we need every man in coverage in the middle of the field we can get. I watched 3 or 4 times Worrilow messed up coverage. He was supposed to be in a hook zone on one play, he didn't drop back from the LOS as quickly as he should have, stayed on the run too long and it wasn't even a PA.

 

Lots of work to do, nothing that's not fixable though.

 

Bengals fans should be excited, that team looks complete right now. Hopefully Green and their lineman will be alright heading toward the playoffs. They should easily take that division.

Good man for accepting when the L comes. I think that the score doesn't truly represent how dominant the Bengals were. We ate the Falcons alive, and I say that in the least biased way possible.

 

You guys seemed to do better when you let it fly deep; but the running game was hideous. The Bengals had their fair share of issues though. Our passing game looked weak and losing AJ hurt. Vontaze is starting to have concussion issues and I'm getting pretty scared about it.

 

Bengals all around seem like we've been pretty banged up. Zeitler hurt. Eifert hurt. Green hurt. Whitworth hurt. Burfict hurt.

 

Loved our run game. Afraid of our injuries. Loved the W.

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