07-05-2019, 02:26 AM
(07-04-2019, 04:26 PM)jason Wrote: I like Marvin. I think he did a good job here. Did he stay too long? Yup. I think he did as good of a job as possible while here though. I was just pointing out how people think about that situation.
Did Mike Zimmer control Burfict? I don't recall too many incidents outta him in 2012 and 2013. I know that he bag tagged that O lineman from Green Bay, but that's about all I can recall. There were some unnecessary roughness calls, but a lot of players get those. He was just playing on fire back then. There was very little extra curricular activity those first couple seasons.
Marvin got stale. Coaches in the modern NFL don't get 16 years unless they are Bill Bellichick. Just think about that for a second. He was the longest tenured guy next to the best ever. That odd parallel tells you a lot about how strangely this organization is run compared to the rest of the league. He got a new lease on life in 2011, but when attrition set in and players were lost, he had no chance of plugging the holes with the poor drafting and anemic free agency approach. His time was done.
All that said, I have a feeling that if/when the Taylor staff does worse than Marvin did, Marvin will return to respectability in short order in the eyes of Bengal fans. Taylor is set up to fail in almost every way. He's a quarterback whisperer with a limited 8 year veteran qb that he didn't pick. Our best players are coming up on a decade in the league, and their declines are imminent. You can't have this many consecutive shitty drafts while ignoring free agency and expect talent to be sustained at a high level.
Marvin had a nice group in place on offense when he got here. 2 of our all-time great wrs were just getting started, there were legit bookend tackles in place, Rudi was waiting in the wings, etc. On top of that, he got a no-brainer number 1 potentially generational talent at quarterback with his first pick. Then, Mike Brown actually let him sign a few free agents to boost his defense, and these guys weren't exactly trash in Thornton and James.
Zac has none of this, and his staff is pretty unimpressive based on past resume. He's going to faceplant hard for at least a season or 2 while this team hits rock bottom. By that time, we'll be looking at the 16 seasons without playoff wins as an absolute golden age. People who called him Merv will be calling him St Marvin.
It's a scary thought that has a strong potential to become a reality. Did he need to be let go? Yes. Is it possible that he was the only thing that made this team semi-respectable after the lost decade? Absolutely. We may be getting ready to witness a New Dey that's not much more than a painful reminder of what a Brown family-controlled football team looks like without a voice of reason to marginally disrupt their apathy/stupidity.
