Captroop

It's pretty apparent Baker never recovered from his shoulder injury. In his first few years I remember him slinging it so fast the screen refresh rate on my TV couldn't even capture the ball. His passes today look like dying quails. I don't think he's a bad QB, but he doesn't have the tools to be an NFL QB anymore.

Imagine his conversation with the baffled person in the media relations office explaining what an influencer is and why he should get a press pass to the game.

The tail-spinning Jaguars were able to land Urban Meyer. You want their kind of luck?

The board's resident contrarian says it's a myth. Just accept it as fact like he expects.

Chances we win? (I just re-watched this movie last night, and that quote seemed apropos for an ultimate homer prediction)

My brother in Christ, if you're spending your Sundays in November worrying about a thursday in April I think you need to hear this today: Let the draft chips fall where they may. Because the one thing that's even less certain than what the draft order will look like next year is which QB at the top of the board will actually emerge as a franchise QB.

Happy for Joey. But it was the right decision to cut him when we did. He looked BAD last preseason. And frankly, the change of scenery was probably the best thing for him. His confidence was in the tank here. Kicking is such a psychologically demanding position. Probably more than most in the game (see Pinero in the first Falcons game; the second miss was a direct result of the first). And when you're in a rut, it's almost impossible to get out of. But I hope he flourishes in Washington and gets that cannon of a leg under control.

Well, for argument sake, in the tossup between Baker and Sam, Baker definitely knows the Ravens better. If you're trying to give the illusion of not tanking, it's the sensible coaching decision.

That's really sad for DJax. Hope he recovers well and soon. Say what you will about him, but the D suffers when he's not on the field.

He did enough to win. He's probably the best fit for our offense at the moment; run-first, play action, read option. And in a monsoon game, it's not surprising he didn't put up gaudy passing numbers. The only reason Baker's stats were good last week is by the time he was in the game, the Bengals starters had already decided to leave early to beat traffic.

Honestly, considering the effervescent "meh" that comprises the top of the QB draft class this year, I'm fine hoping we hit on a Mahomes in the "Best of the Rest" range at 9 to 15 rather than reach in the top 3.

As depressing a thought as that is, it's probably true. He definitely has the highest Madden rating.

Brian Burns like:

Of all the NFL games that are played this year, this is certainly the one that will be played today.

Coaches come and coaches go. In Mr. Scot we trust.

Leave it to the Panthers to have a historically bad season in a season with a weak QB class. But I'll say, I'm kinda optimistic for a couple reasons. Flash back to the 2011 Draft, and Andrew Luck was the generational, once in a lifetime QB that was sitting at the top of the draft board...and he stayed at Stanford rather than having to play for the Panthers. Well, that worked out pretty well for us in the end! And the reason I'm really optimistic we can find a QB of the future in this draft, is we are - for the first time in recent memory - ready for a franchise QB. The problem for a lot of teams drafting in the top 5 is they're every bit as bad as their record indicates. You take Trevor Lawrence and put him on the Jaguars and he's still going to look bad, and that rough transition to the NFL can make it so much harder for them to develop into a franchise QB. We, on the other hand, have the makings of a really REALLY solid pass blocking offensive line. We have a marquis wide receiver. Of course we could use a Greg Olsen-esque safety valve TE and a deeper WR corps, but we have an offense that even a middling rookie QB could step in with and find moderate success. Moderate success out the gate can translate to them developing into a really solid QB.

PJ the tank commander!

Yesterday wasn't a tank job. That's just a team that's had it's heart ripped out. Last week was make or break for us. And it broke us. I contend yesterday would have been a lot different if we had won in Atlanta. The swagger and energy of sitting at #1 in the division, reason to fight, reason to play hard, reason to win. Instead we had the ignominy of our heart-breaking loss being followed up by taking sole residence in the basement of the NFC South. I have a hard time believing the team I watched "play" yesterday was the same team that was on the field the last 2 weeks. No fight. No urgency. Feet for hands. Yesterday I watched a team that looked like they'd lost all reason to hope. DJ, man. I just wish you'd kept your f***ing helmet on. Anyway. The tank is on. Hooray.

Let's go!

Giving possession to the Panthers is a good offensive play for the Bengals this game.

I'm going for a run.

Damn. Refs getting paid by the flag today?

The worst part is this massacre isn't even helping my fantasy team. I'm starting Burrow. Can you at least flip it to Mixon, Joe?

I know I did. I'm not even disappointed today. We had our chance last week. The outcome spoke to exactly the kind of season we were in for.

The entire defense coming back onto the field to do a coordinated celebration isn't a penalty but taking your helmet off is? Funny to see the dichotomy of officiating a good team and a bad team.