PFF 3 TFO - Bolts @ Bungals

[Beerman]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/03/3tfo-chargers-bengals-wild-card-round/

the top-graded run blocking offensive tackle in all of football this year despite missing significant time.

[Beerman]

Dunlap....jeez just a complete transformation this season. Some of the numbers are staggeringly good. MASSIVE plate of crow and I love it!

[Beerman]

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/game-previews/2014/afc-wild-card-preview

The football outsiders preview is also great, but less paste friendly so I suggest you follow the link.

[Formula 21]

Donald Butler has graded negatively across the board,

I'm not even sure they bring him back at this point. Can he be replaced with a better player at the same money? Linebackers are everywhere.

[Boltx]

Good read, thanks.

[SFW]

I'm not even sure they bring him back at this point. Can he be replaced with a better player at the same money? Linebackers are everywhere.

When Telesco took over he said one of his priorities/goals was to build and then keep homegrown talent. I think keeping Butler will be a priority to the team. Last year we lost Vasquez and he blossomed in Denver, would hate to watch the same thing happen with Butler.

[Formula 21]

The Chargers had lower lows -- their defense was in contention to be one of the worst we've ever tracked as of Week 12 -- but have been playing their best football of the season over the past four weeks.

What happened in the last four weeks? It's great to see them playing well now, but it makes me think someone else is now in charge of the D.

[SFW]

What happened in the last four weeks? It's great to see them playing well now, but it makes me think someone else is now in charge of the D.

They got both Ingram and Johnson back from injuries and benched Cox (all in same week).

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

I think getting Johnson back has been a huge upgrade. I think he's kind of a glue guy on our defense. When he's in there and basically mastering his assignments, a lot of the guys in the front 7 can kind of be more focused on theirs, rather than trying to do too much.

Ingram's return has livened up the rush a little. Any increase in pressure is really valued, but tbh, we're still not finishing many plays there.

I also agree that Cox to the bench has been helpful as well. I don't think Marshall is the same athlete but he seems to at least be steady and I value any player who can wrap up a tackle properly. This defense has precious few that do.

[TABF]

...tbh, we're still not finishing many plays there.

Our biggest weakness as a defensive unit is our lack of speed and attention to detail for an entire 60 minutes. Contagious spells of escaping QB's outrunning our pass rushers (to include our blitzing DB's) and ugly runs on missed tackles.

[thelightningwill]

I think our defense played pretty well the last time we played the Bengals. It was our offense that bombed.
Our defense seems to play about the same most weeks.
It has moments where it looks like total shit. No pass rush. No pass coverage. No run defense, especially up the middle.
But it also grabs momentum at times and causes 3-and-outs or stiffens up when it looks like the other team might score.
That usually adds up to us having some decent time of possession and giving up points in the 20s.

On offense, we've been running the ball well. But our passing game seems to be up and down. Last week it was down. And I can't even blame it on Rivers, who has been playing fine. Sometimes I wonder about the offensive play calling. One week it looks brilliant. And the next week, like last week, we run plays that don't jive with the talent we have. No matter what the other team's defense is doing, we can't be calling a bunch of time-consuming deep passes - especially on 3rd down with fewer than 10 yards to go. Our pass blocking isn't good enough to support that. And, with the exception of Allen and maybe Green, our receivers aren't good enough to support that. At least that's my opinion.

If our defense can play as well as it did the first time we played the Bengals and our offense can hang onto the football and not forget what it's good at, then I think we'll win.