06-13-2017, 01:43 AM
(06-12-2017, 07:06 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: If he has a Kurt Warner like season where he goes off and carries the team to the Super Bowl and is named the MVP then I could see this discussion coming up. The guy flat out has talent but was held back by injury, some less than stellar coaching (damn you Brat!!!) and of course never really winning the big one. Another example of what if and should have been, place him on a different team from the word go (Pack, Pats, Broncos, Falcons, etc) and I'd bet he'd be a first ballot HoFer.
Don't blame Brat.
I firmly believe that Marvin wanted Brat to bring in the reigns on offense between 2007 and 2008. Marvin said during a press conference he wanted to "blow it all up" and start anew... I logically assumed he was just talking about overhauling Chuck Bresnahan's putrid defense, but clearly he wanted complete change on both sides of the ball.
Marvin is obviously a defensive minded coach, and there's plenty of evidence out there that he likes what I call "outdated football". Case in point: the 2009 game we won at Pittsburgh to clinch the AFC north. It was one of the ugliest offensive performances I've ever seen. Our only TD came from a Bernard Scott kickoff return and Shayne Graham made something like 6 or 7 field goals to win it. The game came down to a failed fourth down attempt by Pittsburgh. It really wasn't pretty, yet after the game, Marvin said something along the lines of it being the most exciting/fun game he's ever coached... Marvin is enamored with 70's style football that simply doesn't work in this day and age. You can't sit on any lead. The goal should be to score on each and every possession but as we've all seen countless times Marvin is content to play the field position game once he gets a lead (any lead). Games rarely end with a final score of 10-6 anymore, but that's lost on good o'l Marv.
Marv's defensive philosophy doesn't work if the offense scores fast and often. Marvs defensive approach ideally has the offense on the field as long as possible. Long, extended drives that ideally end with a score but it's ok if our punter can pin them deep too. Brat clearly had complete control of the offense and could run his deep-pass offense before Marvin really settled in as head coach. Once Marv got comfortable and decided to give himself more control, things changed. We had the perfect QB for an Air-it-Out offense and he was very successful for a few years when the offense was built around Carson's strengths. Bratskowski was doing a damn good job as OC when he had free reign. But then, sadly... Marvin decided to fix something that wasn't broke.
We went to a run first offense and took more of a control-the-clock approach. You could see it, and the offense really struggled with the new approach. This never suited Carsons strengths. It didn't at USC, it didn't in Cincy and it didn't in Oakland. Palmer is a picture perfect QB for an Air Coryell-type offense.
Carson personally told Brat he didn't want him fired. Carsons real problem was with the Brown's and Marvin Lewis (who could blame him?). If Carson didn't blame Brat, then neither should we. Remember, Brat was our OC in 2005 when we couldn't be stopped. I doubt he just lost it, and I think a certain someone had him in handcuffs.
