11-16-2016, 11:55 AM
(11-16-2016, 11:15 AM)thebandit27 Wrote: I'm curious what Bengal fans feel is the biggest reason for the team's decline? Loss of Hue Jackson? Missing 3 key offensive weapons from last year? Age/decline of the OL?
The decline has been caused by a variety of factors imo. Free agency was not kind to the roster - losing Andre Smith(RT), Reggie Nelson(FS), and Marvin Jones(WR) has proven to be costly. The loss of Jones has been somewhat masked by Lafell, but the replacements for the first two names listed have not come close to filling the shoes of who they were supposed to replace. RT has been an especially rough area this season. The defense has seemed very inconsistent and in a malaise at times. I'm not sure if it's a scheme issue, the players are overthinking things and losing track of fundamentals, or if the talent just isn't there at this point. Our DC is also dealing with the turnover of three position coaches(DL, LB, and secondary). Add in the fact that Adam Jones has gone from being a top 5 corner last year to being very up and down this year and you have this result: a roster with many talented players in their prime who can't seem to carry the team.
