Dude almost single handedly lost us the game with the 4th and 1 BS on our own 30. Vikings caught fire after that stop.

I refuse to give him any credit, the team found a way to win despite him.

I liked the coaching against the Vikings for the most part. I thought we became a little too conservative at the end and would’ve liked to see Burrow throw it more. Liked the aggressiveness, team played well. Props to the coaching staff.

(09-14-2021, 02:27 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Dude almost single handedly lost us the game with the 4th and 1 BS on our own 30. Vikings caught fire after that stop.

I refuse to give him any credit, the team found a way to win despite him.

my feelings  hell he called a run on the 4th and 1 in OT and burrow saved the day there...



Defense looked solid.   ZT was better with run pass ratio but still making bad mistakes.


will have to see which trends continue

(09-14-2021, 02:37 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: my feelings  hell he called a run on the 4th and 1 in OT and burrow saved the day there...



Defense looked solid.   ZT was better with run pass ratio but still making bad mistakes.


will have to see which trends continue

Let's not forget about the timeout he wasted draining the clock when we were punting the ball on the 40. Why on earth just not take a delay of game penalty there to save the timeout? Never know if you are going to need it or not. 

Just mistake after mistake with this guy, and its not really that complicated of stuff.  

(09-14-2021, 01:28 PM)Wyche Wrote: One thing to consider about the conservative calls in the 2nd half is that Higgins and Chase both missed significant time due to dehydration....and at the same time. I think that was a factor as well.

I'd agree with you on the negatives otherwise. I liked the balance, and on the audible, it was said that they sent in two plays, and Joe makes the call based on the look he gets. One run, one pass. I don't know about the validity to that claim, but it was mentioned.

The defense has some missing pieces back, as well as some added pieces. I guess my point with Anarumo is, now that he has the personnel he wants, were we a bit overly critical of him now that we can see the vision with better players on the field?

Offensively, being able to run seems to really open up the playbook. Play action was lethal yesterday. That hasn't been the case with less than 3 ypc the last few years. I'd agree about some in game negatives for sure, but the biggest positive for me is that with better execution/personnel, we get a glimpse of what these units are supposed to look like in these new systems. Yesterday, they looked pretty damn good.

It's good to see Anarumo has his guys on defense. They are definitely tackling well. I liked how they played Cook; he broke a couple decent gainers, but overall they didn't let him break a lot of tackles with his power/elusiveness. Very good to see when we play guys like Lamar, Hunt and Chubb twice each. 

I just want to see a more balanced attack from the offense. They looked very balanced on the 3 TD drives, attacking short, intermediate, and deep (as well as running the ball). When they get too hemmed in to running and only throwing short routes, they just go nowhere. Then the 3rd/4th down calls need to be better as well. But plenty of reason for optimism. We have some great playmakers. The playcalling just needs to improve a bit, and the offensive line needs to solidify a bit in pass pro.

(09-14-2021, 02:16 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Are these guys afraid they may have to take a whizz on the sidelines. I seriously don't know how you get dehydrated when you can spend the entire time the defense is on the field knocking back Gatorades and water. I see players sipping from the small cups now and again. They all need to have the big bottle in their hands and drinking constantly 

When I played hockey back in high school, one of my buddies gave me a reason for not drinking too much water. I forget if it weighed you down or was more for you body to process and messes with your stamina or something.. But I've always knocked the water back. 

(09-14-2021, 02:27 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Dude almost single handedly lost us the game with the 4th and 1 BS on our own 30. Vikings caught fire after that stop.

I refuse to give him any credit, the team found a way to win despite him.

My thoughts exactly. It went from being a great game to watch, to miserable as soon as he made that decision. The game never should have been that close.

(09-14-2021, 02:39 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Let's not forget about the timeout he wasted draining the clock when we were punting the ball on the 40. Why on earth just not take a delay of game penalty there to save the timeout? Never know if you are going to need it or not. 

Just mistake after mistake with this guy, and its not really that complicated of stuff.  

I was wondering if that was in case the defense jumped offsides or something (was 4th and 5 or less). Yeah, I was baffled a bit by that too.

(09-14-2021, 02:37 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: my feelings  hell he called a run on the 4th and 1 in OT and burrow saved the day there...



Defense looked solid.   ZT was better with run pass ratio but still making bad mistakes.


will have to see which trends continue

Most of this has turned into blind hatred. I’m not a fan of Zac Taylor, but this is getting ridiculous. Burrow didn’t ‘save the day’. Zac called two plays in the huddle, a run and a pass. If Burrow gets up there and doesn’t like the front, he switches to the pass.

That is a scenario and play call that Zac implemented. Zac enabled that situation and they have practiced that scenario before. Zac made a great call and Burrow made a great read. They both did their jobs well.

(09-14-2021, 02:39 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Let's not forget about the timeout he wasted draining the clock when we were punting the ball on the 40. Why on earth just not take a delay of game penalty there to save the timeout? Never know if you are going to need it or not. 

Just mistake after mistake with this guy, and its not really that complicated of stuff.  

Maybe he saw something out there that needed to be discussed with the punt team. No way to tell the long snapper or punter to take the delay, as they don't have radios, and even if they did radios are cut off 15 seconds before the play clock runs out. And I bet that was Simmons' call....

(09-14-2021, 02:27 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Dude almost single handedly lost us the game with the 4th and 1 BS on our own 30. Vikings caught fire after that stop.

I refuse to give him any credit, the team found a way to win despite him.

Well this most likely is not the thread for you.

(09-14-2021, 03:17 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Most of this has turned into blind hatred. I’m not a fan of Zac Taylor, but this is getting ridiculous. Burrow didn’t ‘save the day’. Zac called two plays in the huddle, a run and a pass. If Burrow gets up there and doesn’t like the front, he switches to the pass.

That is a scenario and play call that Zac implemented. Zac enabled that situation and they have practiced that scenario before. Zac made a great call and Burrow made a great read. They both did their jobs well.

I agree that there is some 'blind hatred' of Zac. However, I feel like I am a pretty level headed fan. When I see him making poor decisions, I'll call him out (4th down decision from own 30). When I see him making good calls, I'll say he did a great job. To me, I thought he looked a bit like a rookie coach on Sunday (mainly because of the bonehead call that gave the other team life/momentum)--this call just smells of inexperience. I also didn't like some of the play calling on 3rd/4th down (not specifically talking about the game winning play in OT).

I'm not sure if this is true or not on having the two plays for the 4th and inches in OT. It looked like an audible to me. If he did have the two plays to work with, I still give Burrow the credit for picking the right play and making a great throw under pressure. 

If Zac rebounds next game, I'll definitely give him credit for calling a great game. If he get's in the team's way, I'll call him out as well. 

(09-14-2021, 02:16 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Are these guys afraid they may have to take a whizz on the sidelines. I seriously don't know how you get dehydrated when you can spend the entire time the defense is on the field knocking back Gatorades and water. I see players sipping from the small cups now and again. They all need to have the big bottle in their hands and drinking constantly 

I found that quite odd too. Cramps I understand, hydration? I don't get it. Maybe they should try to hire Bobby Boucher.

Just as we see 'blind hatred' of Zac, we see 'blind homerism' of Zac. I think the majority of people are in the middle though, just like with politics. Real life is lived in the grey between the two extremes.

(09-14-2021, 03:30 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: I agree that there is some 'blind hatred' of Zac. However, I feel like I am a pretty level headed fan. When I see him making poor decisions, I'll call him out (4th down decision from own 30). When I see him making good calls, I'll say he did a great job. To me, I thought he looked a bit like a rookie coach on Sunday (mainly because of the bonehead call that gave the other team life/momentum)--this call just smells of inexperience. I also didn't like some of the play calling on 3rd/4th down (not specifically talking about the game winning play in OT).

I'm not sure if this is true or not on having the two plays for the 4th and inches in OT. It looked like an audible to me. If he did have the two plays to work with, I still give Burrow the credit for picking the right play and making a great throw under pressure. 

If Zac rebounds next game, I'll definitely give him credit for calling a great game. If he get's in the team's way, I'll call him out as well. 

Burrow spoke about it in the postgame presser, regarding having two play calls. It’s also a very common practice. Burrow did audible; he audibled to the second play that was called. Burrow definitely deserves credit for making the right read, but Zac is who got them there is what I’m saying. He deserves the credit as well. He implemented the play into the playbook and then called it.

(09-14-2021, 03:17 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Most of this has turned into blind hatred. I’m not a fan of Zac Taylor, but this is getting ridiculous. Burrow didn’t ‘save the day’. Zac called two plays in the huddle, a run and a pass. If Burrow gets up there and doesn’t like the front, he switches to the pass.

That is a scenario and play call that Zac implemented. Zac enabled that situation and they have practiced that scenario before. Zac made a great call and Burrow made a great read. They both did their jobs well.

My take, and sentiments, as well Goose. I'm all for axing the guy if we aren't a winning team by the end of the season. That said, I can give a nod when it's due. The lack of penalties was rather eye catching to me, and a good sign. 

(09-14-2021, 03:33 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: Just as we see 'blind hatred' of Zac, we see 'blind homerism' of Zac. I think the majority of people are in the middle though, just like with politics. Real life is lived in the grey between the two extremes.

Yup.

(09-14-2021, 02:37 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: my feelings  hell he called a run on the 4th and 1 in OT and burrow saved the day there...



Defense looked solid.   ZT was better with run pass ratio but still making bad mistakes.


will have to see which trends continue

Last sentence is key. I agree wholeheartedly.

(09-14-2021, 03:34 PM)WychesWarrior Wrote: My take, and sentiments, as well Goose. I'm all for axing the guy if we aren't a winning team by the end of the season. That said, I can give a nod when it's due. The lack of penalties was rather eye catching to me, and a good sign. 

Exactly. It feels weird defending the guy but there some things based in reality or concrete logic that I feel need to be mentioned. I get disliking him as a coach, the team has stunk since he has taken over but he has had some good moments and it’s fine to call them out, too.

(09-14-2021, 03:33 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Burrow spoke about it in the postgame presser, regarding having two play calls. It’s also a very common practice. Burrow did audible; he audibled to the second play that was called. Burrow definitely deserves credit for making the right read, but Zac is who got them there is what I’m saying. He deserves the credit as well. He implemented the play into the playbook and then called it.

That explains it, I didn't watch the postgame presser. I still give Burrow at least 75% of the credit for making the read and play. I still felt very unsure about a lot of the other 3rd/4th down calls. I'm not sure what our percentage was in those areas.

(09-14-2021, 03:33 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Burrow spoke about it in the postgame presser, regarding having two play calls. It’s also a very common practice. Burrow did audible; he audibled to the second play that was called. Burrow definitely deserves credit for making the right read, but Zac is who got them there is what I’m saying. He deserves the credit as well. He implemented the play into the playbook and then called it.

Yeah, Moose even alluded to it being common during the broadcast. 

(09-14-2021, 12:22 PM)Wyche Wrote: I haven't seen a thread discussing it yet, so I wanted some thoughts about game 1 and the coaching. We've all discussed the questionable 4th down call on our 30, but how about the good things? Three things really stood out to me Sunday that involves the staff.

First, the penalties, or lack thereof. Last count I had, we wound up with only three penalties. After the last few years of seemingly endless penalties....and especially those that killed drives or gave opponents new life on offense...it was really refreshing to see the team playing with discipline and smarts. Hopefully that is the trend this year. If so, you gotta give em props for that.

Second, the defense. This one is obvious. Yeah, the pressure was nice, and I'm not so sure that'll be the case every week, but the big key is holding a guy like Dalvin Cook in check. I expected him to set the fantasy world on fire against us. He had a nice game, but not a typical Dalvin Cook nice game. Looks like the investment to stop the run was well spent.

Third, running the football. They seemed hell bent on running, and for a change, succeeded at it too. The Vikings have some very good interior players and LBs, and they ran it very well against them. That's an encouraging sign to me.

Thoughts?

Zac definitely had the boys ready to play; while many an Bengal wet dream (Zimmer) had his team ill-prepared.

Although we had a couple need IVs it appeared the team was well conditioned. They played 5 quarters in 90 degree weather and we suffered 0 injuries. (Mixon had me worried when getting ankle re-taped)

We had 0 turnovers

We eased Zac into the game and went to JaMarr early.