Did we learn anything last night from the Ravens/Bengals?

[Doc JS]

Open question to the fourm:

Did we learn anything last night from the Ravens/Bengals game that we might be able to use to our advantage over the rest of the NFL season specifically with respect to the Thursday night games?

I'll start the discussion:
1. Thursdays after Sundays are a more difficult turnaround for teams that are a little long in the tooth?

2. Thursdays after Sundays are more difficult on the team that has to travel?

3. We learned nothing, Cincy simply needed the game more than Baltimore did.

Thoughts?

[EBone]

I'll vote for #1. I believe that the Ravens are much better than what they showed last night.

However, I made a major miscalculation as to the effect the short layoff would have on this game. Que sara sara. I don't think it was the travel that made the turnaround difficult; it was simply the duration of the turnaround in my opinion.



E

[onlooker]

I learned that the Ravens offense still blows. I dont think that was a dominate defense by the Bengels, as it was the Ravens offense not being a good one.

Plus the Bengels needed this one more, and they were at home. Thats the easy way to look at it.

[Justin7]

Any game with 10 or more punts will be low scoring? Each punt more than the average knocks the scoring down about 4 points.

[Doc JS]

I learned that the Ravens offense still blows. I dont think that was a dominate defense by the Bengels, as it was the Ravens offense not being a good one.

onlooker,

Agreed. When the Ravens defense doesn't get turnovers and put their offense in plus field position, the Ravens offense really struggles. They simply don't have the weapons to drive the ball 80+ yards on a regular basis.

Plus the Bengels needed this one more, and they were at home. Thats the easy way to look at it.

That may be the take home message...


Doc JS

[begolf25]

McNair really looked his age out there last night. He should have had at least 3 INT's that were dropped.

[bigboydan]

I learned that the Begals haven't packed it in just yet

[hanco21]

Crucial game not because just of their overall record but division record. Now with the win they both have one division loss and an outside chance of catching the Ravens.

[Checkerboard]

Learning from trends in the NFL depends upon when one starts
one's clock. The jury's out (in a long-term sense) on how
byes and now TNF effect ATS performance. If one is a
conspirancy thinker, you'd get the feeling these wrenches are
thrown into the scheduling to wreak havoc with those who
track trends over time. For me it often means nixing a play
because though I'd like a team normally in a given matchup, I
can no longer take them comfortably because I'm not sure
how they'll perform with the shorter or extra rest. So, last
Thursday was obviously too small a sample, all we can do is keep a long-term eye on it (TNF) and its effects and tread
cautiously in the meantime while the clock ticks and adds more sample . . .

[nosuzieno]

Two prior consecutive winning home games seems to play havoc on Road teams this year. Of course the back-to backwins adds line value vs. public, but perhaps the extended time at home with family, mistresses and dealers also makes them come out a little flat and overconfident.