This guy has to coach better than he has so far in his tenure here to date..We have a 55m dollar qb with the ball in his hands late in the game 4th and 5 for all the marbles and what does Zac do he punts smh..
If we're going to be a team that needs the defense to carry it then resources needs to start being applied ASAP because last I checked most of our cap is invested in Zac Taylor joe burrow and this offense..

Now that we've all had a night's rest and the better part of a day to digest what took place at Paycor yesterday, I wanted to see what everyone was thinking about the team's prospects for this season. Now, there were some back in August who would have predicted a 4-13 season, and what happened yesterday did nothing to convince them otherwise. And, if last month you thought we were going 13-4, you probably just think we need to go 13-3 from this point forward. For those with a more realistic approach to things, what say you?

I'll also add that I wanted to do this before the start of the season, but like so many things these days I didn't do it right then or even write it down, so it slipped my mind. Besides, maybe some have a perspective today that they didn't have 24 hours ago.

Doesn't this remind you guys alot of 2007-2008? Obviously we've had greater success this time around but still the positive vibes around the franchise 2 years ago (Like 2005) were crazy high and it looked like we finally had our franchise QB and were destined to compete for the next 10 years....Back then Mike Brown's stubborn ways slowly deteriorated our team and ruined Carson Palmer. The same appears to be happening with this team and Joe Burrow. I could go down the list but it would be a mile long....Keeping Pollack this year when the guy CLEARLY cannot get this line together no matter what players he has....Not signing Bates or Higgins because "Gotta sign Chase" all just to let this distracting situation hangover the team all training camp and inexplicably now into the regular season. All when the numbers are literally all laid out for you...Mike Brown just can't help himself. He's made us look like the Bungles yet again. Mis-management on all levels is ruining what should have been a team set to contend for a decade plus. It disgusts me. Mike Brown is a POS. He made the tax payers pony up for his stadium and this is what he gives us? I hate to say it but its sad that there will no doubt be some silent celebrations when he passes away. And that's not right. But what he has done to this city and fanbase is disgusting. We deserve far better. Burrow will be requesting a trade within 3 years or his injuries will force an early retirement or some end to his time here. Mark my words.

Burrow had a clean pocket most of the game but yet we got no push in the ground game is it the scheme the playcalling, the players all 3? Nobody on this line run blocks even average.

This thread is for reasonable discussion, not for people wanting ZT fired or half the players cut.

I want to talk about some LEGIT concerns I have for this team moving forward that go back to last year and showed their head on Sunday.

1. Sam Hubbard - Sam looks like an absolute shell of himself out there. He's coming off of an off-season surgery and was injured most of training camp. I think it's time to really start to wonder just how much he has left in the tank. He wasn't great at containing or stopping the run yesterday and he isn't really a pass rush specialist. We need more from that edge spot.

2. Alex Cappa - I think it's safe to say that Cappa may now be the weak link on this offensive line. He got abused in some games last year, he's getting up there in age, has lost a lot of athleticism, and continues to have sub par games. He was the lowest graded player on the line yesterday. The Bengals could move Karras to guard and Lee to center but they will never do it. I think it's worth discussing if Cappa's best years are behind him.

These are a couple guys that I don't think are being talked about enough. It'll be interesting to see how much Murphy gets worked in when he's healthy (should be a lot) and if they do make adjustments with Cappas position.

Bengals TE Tanner Hudson on his fumble: "Just didn't feel like anybody was around me... One of those that's gonna hurt for a little bit."

— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) September 8, 2024

Contracts, Contracts, Front Office and Contracts.  Don't play anybody in Pre-Season, just let them play themselves into shape in Week One.  Lose Week One, and keep talking about Contacts, Contracts, Contracts.  Don't FOCUS in at The Chiefs who are far better than Patriots who Bengals just Bungled and Fumbled looking awful against.  

If all the Chase type stuff continues to take Center Stage, and Bengals go into Back To Back Super Bowl Champs Kansas City after a poor week of Practice, The Chiefs are going to destroy The Bengals.  

You are only as good as you practice.  The Patriots game showed the many NO Shows and poor Practices by Bengals.  I blame The Front Office on Down,

Kansas City will show up to play football.  They will not take Bengals light due to the play-off games Bengals have faced them in last few years.  The Chiefs will be ready.  The question is, will The Bengals be ready, or are they going to jerk around in practice again this week.  

That was a bad Patriots team Bengals just lost to.  Bengals weren't ready to play football, that simple.  If the Non Focused Contract Dispute Bengals sleepwalk al week, Kansas City will beat them 50 to 0, and some Bengals will get injured in the process,

It was, what it was.   Bengals didn't get ready to play in Week One, and it showed.  That game was lost before it began, by having just awful weak practices and lack of Focus. Anybody that thinks that team was ready to play football Sunday, saw a different game than I did.  Bengals after entire off season were not ready, and it showed. I'm as upset at The Front Office as I am anybody.  

Does This Team Want To Play This Season, Or Not ???....Kansas City is going to clobber them if they don't want to play this season.

I'm all for keeping Chase and Tee...

But, I severely doubt the front office and coaches can win with 2 or 3 players taking up a lot of the cap.

They'll have to rely more on rookies and young guys and need scheme and coaching.

I'm skeptical they can do it. I hope they can. But, look at our struggles now.

About pre-season. Just finished watching on Game Pass. The tackling in the 1st half was non-existent. There was no offense to even speak of. From now on, I'm on the train that says starters play at least one half of all pre-season games. I hope this stinker woke them up or KC will have a field day next week.

Our offensive scheme seems inadequate. Our wrs don't get open. The run game underperforms no matter how many lineman we bring in.

I think the issue is largely scheme. Going Cover 2 basically blows our offense up.

In our SB year, how many big plays came from Chase or Higgins making a crazy good catch or run after catch? That's not a scheme, it's relying on individual talent to overcome lack of scheme.

I saw some next generation stats and Burrow only threw 5 or 6 balls over 10 yards. Dink and dunk.

Now that Burrow is highly paid, it takes salary away from other parts of the team. So you have less veterans and more young guys to make mistakes. And our scheme doesn't help them.