I dunno.

Instead of calling out the guys who gave you a shot, maybe call out the guys who gave up 9 sacks and a buttload of pressures in two games?

Just a thought.


Sure, the playcalling sucks. But it's only half as sucky as our line.

(09-19-2021, 10:12 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Couldn’t agree more with the bold. FA is where they failed this OL. Not the draft.

They failed in free agency

Which means they had to make up for it in the draft

Which means pick the best o-line prospect available

When will the jamarr fanboys realize?

Anyone who has the ability to type "Zac Taylor" into google will know our HC simply isn't NFL-caliber. His presence here just leaves us wide open to being perceived as a lazy, second-rate organization...and he doesn't win many games, to boot.

Nice of our players to point out that they've noticed it, too.

(09-19-2021, 10:26 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Anyone who has the ability to type "Zac Taylor" into google will know our HC simply isn't NFL-caliber.

Mike Brown said Zac nailed the interview. Remember?

(09-19-2021, 10:28 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Mike Brown said Zac nailed the interview. Remember?

Yep.  Mike Brown has hired a single HC in the past 30 years who wasn't a complete disaster.  Ah, but I'm sure the media was just concerned about Burrow coming here because they wanted him to play for the Steelers. 

(09-19-2021, 10:14 PM)Benton Wrote: I dunno.

Instead of calling out the guys who gave you a shot, maybe call out the guys who gave up 9 sacks and a buttload of pressures in two games?

Just a thought.


Sure, the playcalling sucks. But it's only half as sucky as our line.

Playcalling is the worse culprit IMO.  You can't be that predictable in the NFL unless your execution is flawless. They were literally predictable enough that the Bears secondary just sat down on routes and waited for the short throws.  A coach has to see that developing over the course of a game and react.  They removed an aspect of the offense that has been at least somewhat effective this year (the deep ball) almost completely.  I thought they were going to spring it on them in the 3rd like they did with the Vikings last week, but they stuck to the same script until they got down 2 TDs.  

Marvin caught a ton of shit for not making adjustments at the half, but what I saw today was far worse than anything I ever saw Marvin do as HC here. Marvin was conservative, but he wasn't stupid or out of his depth as a professional.

The worst part was, when they actually attempted the deep pass, it worked.  Why the hell did they not have the confidence in their offensive personnel to try those kinds of things sooner?  They were clearly capable.  That's on the staff.  

(09-19-2021, 10:30 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Yep.  Mike Brown has hired a single HC in the past 30 years who wasn't a complete disaster.  Ah, but I'm sure the media was just concerned about Burrow coming here because they wanted him to play for the Steelers. 

Eh, Trevor Lawrence looks like a disaster in JAX so far, and they weren’t pushing the “pull an Eli” narrative with him. You can pretend there’s not an anti-Bengals bias all you want, but there is. ESPN employees have straight up admitted it.

(09-19-2021, 10:14 PM)Benton Wrote: I dunno.

Instead of calling out the guys who gave you a shot, maybe call out the guys who gave up 9 sacks and a buttload of pressures in two games?

Just a thought.


Sure, the playcalling sucks. But it's only half as sucky as our line.

Weren't you here this offseason and so many on the boards said drafting Jackson Carman and picking up Reiff was enough to make this OL a HUGE improvement under Pollack?

(09-19-2021, 10:34 PM)samhain Wrote: Playcalling is the worse culprit IMO.  You can't be that predictable in the NFL unless your execution is flawless. They were literally predictable enough that the Bears secondary just sat down on routes and waited for the short throws.  A coach has to see that developing over the course of a game and react.  They removed an aspect of the offense that has been at least somewhat effective this year (the deep ball) almost completely.  I thought they were going to spring it on them in the 3rd like they did with the Vikings last week, but they stuck to the same script until they got down 2 TDs.  

The worst part was, when they actually attempted the deep pass, it worked.  Why the hell did they not have the confidence in their offensive personnel to try those kinds of things sooner?  They were clearly capable.  That's on the staff.  

The moment they saw the Bears starting to sit on short routes the immediate response should have been max protect / deep ball. Also try some screens and definitely NO EMPTY BACKFIELDS.

(09-19-2021, 10:36 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Eh, Trevor Lawrence looks like a disaster in JAX so far, and they weren’t pushing the “pull an Eli” narrative with him. You can pretend there’s not an anti-Bengals narrative all you want, but there is. ESPN employees have straight up admitted it.

It doesn't really matter was espn said or why they have it out for us.  We got all butthurt they said the Bengals were going to ruin Burrow and we've spent the past season and change coming up with reasons why Burrow is in a completely hopeless spot.

The thing that separates us from the other teams that the media rags on for wrecking players is that we don't shake things up in the front office like they do.  I can imagine being a non-Bengals fan who is tasked with talking about the Bengals without being mean is a tough task.  The example I always use is to imagine writing a paragraph about the 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates without coming off like you are out to get them.

Either way, the Bengals are a business and it's Mike Brown's job to make the business and brand as appealing and "buzz worthy" as possible (or hire people who can do it for him).  

Also, after typing this I googled "should Trevor Lawrence pull an Eli Manning?" and stuff came up.  Most of them seem to apply to when the Jets were on their way to getting the 1st overall pick.

(09-19-2021, 10:39 PM)Joelist Wrote: The moment they saw the Bears starting to sit on short routes the immediate response should have been max protect / deep ball. Also try some screens and definitely NO EMPTY BACKFIELDS.

It's malpractice from a coaching standpoint.  Zac and his staff have done everything possible to telegraph the fact that they are scared shitless to let their surgically-repaired  quarterback operate behind this line.  It's a really screwed up way to approach a football season.  Oh, our franchise quarterback is just fine and will be ready for the season, but we're gonna run the offense like he's an eyelash away from breaking again at any moment.  Sounds like a real good way to get him hurt again.  If he wasn't ready, they never should have put him out there.  

It sucks to start a season without Burrow, but I'd rather sacrifice a month of games to get him to 100 percent than watch him get broken again and go through the same nightmare 2 seasons straight.

If Burrow is really not game ready then sit him, if he is then TRUST him. Let him call things but game plan to set him up to succeed. Max protect and send the receivers deep. Power run. Use 2 TE more. No empty backfields.

(09-19-2021, 10:45 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Either way, the Bengals are a business and it's Mike Brown's job to make the business and brand as appealing and "buzz worthy" as possible (or hire people who can do it for him).  

Well to be fair Elizabeth has done a great job with the social media thing and they have a throne now for fans.  

My question is will anyone in the Cincy media
That covers the Bengals will they come
Out and question ZT's playcalling ?

(09-19-2021, 10:14 PM)Benton Wrote: I dunno.

Instead of calling out the guys who gave you a shot, maybe call out the guys who gave up 9 sacks and a buttload of pressures in two games?

Just a thought.


Sure, the playcalling sucks. But it's only half as sucky as our line.

Reading this thread made me laugh because I called it before the draft. Not going to dig for it but I did say something along the lines of "You guys do realize that this 'great WR' is going to be running routes designed by Cincinnati coaches, right?" After Jay Gruden left Cincinnati, 31 teams ran crossing routes or drag routes and Cincinnati wasn't one of them. I've seen some this season but not many.

(09-19-2021, 10:15 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: They failed in free agency

Which means they had to make up for it in the draft

Which means pick the best o-line prospect available

When will the jamarr fanboys realize?

When they start blaming Brandon Allen for not getting the ball to Chase enough.

It's pretty damn sad when your rookie WR, in his 2nd game, is smarter than your HC. 

"We waited too last-minute to take shots. We knew they were sitting the whole game. I was telling Joe. Tee knew. We've got to capitalize on the stuff we see early in the game."

(09-19-2021, 10:55 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: It's pretty damn sad when your rookie WR, in his 2nd game, is smarter than your HC. 

"We waited too last-minute to take shots. We knew they were sitting the whole game. I was telling Joe. Tee knew. We've got to capitalize on the stuff we see early in the game."

So your receivers and your QB were ALL saying what was obvious but ZT persisted. No wonder he just started standing there with the ball for several seconds on plays (which caused two of the sacks). He knew the game plan was BS.

Mike Brown doesn't pay coaches to sit at home...he does seem fine with paying coaches to be really bad for multiple seasons, however.

Settle in, ZT ain't going anywhere for a while. We've seen how receptive the front office is to the lamentations of the players.

(09-19-2021, 11:00 PM)Joelist Wrote: So your receivers and your QB were ALL saying what was obvious but ZT persisted. No wonder he just started standing there with the ball for several seconds on plays (which caused two of the sacks). He knew the game plan was BS.

I imagine it went something like this.

“Coach we need to throw deep, they are sitting on the routes.”

“Stick to the game plan Joe!”

“I’m forced to take these sacks because nobody can get separation on these short routes. Defense knows what’s coming.”

“Just stick with it, it’s going to work out as we planned.”

“Fine dumb shit, I’ll throw it then to show you…” INT INT INT

“Can we please throw deep now?”

(09-19-2021, 10:34 PM)samhain Wrote: Playcalling is the worse culprit IMO.  You can't be that predictable in the NFL unless your execution is flawless. They were literally predictable enough that the Bears secondary just sat down on routes and waited for the short throws.  A coach has to see that developing over the course of a game and react.  They removed an aspect of the offense that has been at least somewhat effective this year (the deep ball) almost completely.  I thought they were going to spring it on them in the 3rd like they did with the Vikings last week, but they stuck to the same script until they got down 2 TDs.  

Marvin caught a ton of shit for not making adjustments at the half, but what I saw today was far worse than anything I ever saw Marvin do as HC here.  Marvin was conservative, but he wasn't stupid or out of his depth as a professional.  

The worst part was, when they actually attempted the deep pass, it worked.  Why the hell did they not have the confidence in their offensive personnel to try those kinds of things sooner?  They were clearly capable.  That's on the staff.  

Playcalling is more limited when your line stinks.

There's an odd parallel with ML on the deep ball. CP9 and CJ used to criticize that, too. I don't think it was the line as much as ML being reluctant to throw it deep. I think ZT is fine with throwing it deep, he just doesn't have the line to do that. I'd be happy if he just called run plays till 2022 in hopes of getting a decent couple linemen.