(10-20-2021, 02:25 PM)Sled21 Wrote: I am mellow....

I think we are all saving our nerves for the Ravens game.  

It'll be interesting to see the narratives around here if the team keeps winning.

If that happens at some point does that mean:


Taylor is a good coach?

Lou is a good D coordinator?

Mike Brown/Katie knew what they were doing?

Tobin is good and there is no need for a GM?

(10-20-2021, 08:39 AM)Sled21 Wrote: So has the narrative that we only got Lou because no one else would coach for Taylor died? Has Lou done enough yet for fans to say he actually was a great pick for DC, who struggled with Marvin's players his first year, and was devastating injuries his second year. Now in his 3rd year, he has a top 10 defense. Or will it take a good showing in Baltimore this week to change the narrative.

I think it might take the Baltimore game to really know but so far he has been doing a great job with this D this year no 
question. It just took a bit to build up the DL and get his players in here. Right now he is making me regret my words when
I said after last season that he should of been fired. I was wrong when I said this evidently.

Lou defenses have been inconsistent since he has been here.

In the opener of the 2019 the defense was dominant and then they went to shit for the next 8 games and we're literally the worst defense ever assembled. Then they flipped a switch for the final 7 games and they were good again.

In the first 5 games last season the defense looked solid and then injuries hit and once again became a terrible unit.

When he has his guys the unit has been decent it's when injuries hit then shit hits the fan.

Yeah Lou has definitely put a good unit together and deserves some props. But this game in particular will show how good of a coordinator he is in my opinion. Lamar Jackson has the tools that are very difficult to defend and it's gonna take a good approach to try and keep him contained while also giving him small windows to throw to receivers.

I have been hard on Lou because he deserved it.

I also give credit to coaches I don't like when they do a good job.  Hell, I even gave turner credit for turning around our run game after the bye week in 2019.

But to be honest Lou has been handed a TON of free agent talent.

Hendrickson....$15 Milion a year
Reader............$13.5
Awuzie.............$7.3
Ogunjobe.........$6.2
Bell..................$6
Hilton...............$6

And, of course, he also inherited Hubbard and Bates.

With all of this talent he damn sure better have a top 10 defense.

(10-21-2021, 07:49 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I have been hard on Lou because he deserved it.

I also give credit to coaches I don't like when they do a good job.  Hell, I even gave turner credit for turning around our run game after the bye week in 2019.

But to be honest Lou has been handed a TON of free agent talent.

Hendrickson....$15 Milion a year
Reader............$13.5
Awuzie.............$7.3
Ogunjobe.........$6.2
Bell..................$6
Hilton...............$6

And, of course, he also inherited Hubbard and Bates.

With all of this talent he damn sure better have a top 10 defense.

None of those guys you mentioned above are superstars + except for Hendrickson the majority of those guys were coming off so so seasons. 

(10-21-2021, 08:04 PM)J24 Wrote: None of those guys you mentioned above are superstars + except for Hendrickson the majority of those guys were coming off so so seasons. 

Superstars or not, Lou's been handed more outside free agent help than any coordinator in Bengals history. Someone like Mike Zimmer was able to instantly turn around a defense that'd been putrid without having to get "his guys". Doesn't matter though... Credit where credit is due. The defense is playing well.

Lamar had one of his worst games last year against Cincy in Baltimore.

Lou was severely hamstrung last year with injuries. We were literally missing nearly all of our CBs and Interior linemen at one point. I think we are finally seeing the talent that was supposed to be there last year showing up this year.

Also, look at the Indy game last Monday night. Lamar was terrible the first half, but once those corners all got hurt, he started lighting it up. Baltimore isn't a great offense, but they can be tough to defend if you let Lamar run wild

To say Lou, or Taylor for that matter, were handed free agent talent kind of dismisses the fact that they scouted and picked the players they wanted to bring in, and that they got the front office to pay

(10-21-2021, 08:10 PM)jason Wrote: Superstars or not, Lou's been handed more outside free agent help than any coordinator in Bengals history. Someone like Mike Zimmer was able to instantly turn around a defense that'd been putrid without having to get "his guys". Doesn't matter though... Credit where credit is due. The defense is playing well.

Zimmer had is share of free agents + he had a ton of first and second RD picks on his roster as well. 
We haven't drafted a defensive player in either the first nor second since Lou has been here.

(10-20-2021, 10:12 AM)ochocincos Wrote: More than that, for me.
You can't replace 32 games (2019 and 2020) with just 6 or 7 games.
I wanna see how the defense plays through the season before I feel that he's a good DC.

You can't or won't???

(10-21-2021, 08:04 PM)J24 Wrote: None of those guys you mentioned above are superstars + except for Hendrickson the majority of those guys were coming off so so seasons. 

NFL teams take all of that into consideration when valuing players on the free agent market.  And based on their value they are all high quality players.

(10-21-2021, 08:28 PM)J24 Wrote: Zimmer had is share of free agents.

In 6 years we signed two high priced free agents for his defense.  One of them (Antwan Odom) only started 17 games over three seasons.  Notice that I did not include Waynes on our current list of big name free agents).  The other (Nate Clements) was 32 and on his last legs.

All the rest were scrape heap projects.

We only used 2 first round picks on defense while he was here and they were not exactly super stars (Keith Rivers, Dre Kirkpatrick)

(10-20-2021, 06:09 PM)J24 Wrote: Lou defenses have been inconsistent since he has been here.

In the opener of the 2019 the defense was dominant and then they went to shit for the next 8 games and we're literally the worst defense ever assembled. Then they flipped a switch for the final 7 games and they were good again.

In the first 5 games last season the defense looked solid and then injuries hit and once again became a terrible unit.

When he has his guys the unit has been decent it's when injuries hit then shit hits the fan.

You're thinking of 2018 with Teryl Austin.

Our D was never that bad in 2019.

They've done nothing but add more and more players to the defense the last two seasons in FA. Spent boatloads. A good DC would be able to show at least some results without having to stack his roster.

They've also played the 13th, 15th, 25th, 26th, 28th, and 30th scoring offenses so far this year. That's 4 of the 8 worst offenses. I am going to hold off to see how Lou does over the rest of the season.

I dunno..Comparisons with Zimmer are a bit unfair since Zim had quite a bit more experience as a DC with much better teams. It's a learning process and I'm sure Zimmer would agree to that much.. The train wreck that was our defense last year would have been a train wreck for any DC...period. They were simply over-matched.

(10-22-2021, 09:49 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: You can't or won't???

You "shouldn't."
Better? lol

(10-22-2021, 10:06 AM)fredtoast Wrote:

In 6 years we signed two high priced free agents for his defense.  One of them (Antwan Odom) only started 17 games over three seasons.  Notice that I did not include Waynes on our current list of big name free agents).  The other (Nate Clements) was 32 and on his last legs.

All the rest were scrape heap projects.

We only used 2 first round picks on defense while he was here and they were not exactly super stars (Keith Rivers, Dre Kirkpatrick)

And that's what sets apart coaches from great coaches.  Great coaches can get just a little more out of their players.  Whether it's motivation or scheme.  If a coach comes in and can/will only do it one way, and has to have just *their* players to make it work, they're not a great coach.  

I understand having a team of backups is obviously a disadvantage.  But those guys all still are NFL caliber players and I think a great coach can find ways to make it work by thinking a little outside of the box.  We've also seen plenty of examples around the league where a guy falters on one team and steps up in a big way when he changes teams.  Not every player looks great in every situation, but the coach's job is to find that place to get every guy executing at the highest level. 

Time will tell about Lou.  For now, I'm really impressed and happy with the improvement.  But he still has a ways to go to show that he's completely turned that corner. 

well this game will be a pretty good test for the defense.