And I think we all knew it from the gun... Kirk Cousins lit them up.. For some reason early on, teams didn't run on the Bengals much. Andy Dalton was lighting them up. Ben is just old and the steelers offense is God awful. Trevor played well, Robinson ran all over them. The Ravens was the only real complete game they have played, because the offense made them 1 dimensional.. . Mike White , RB Carter, Baker and Chubb destroyed this defense. This is the worst defense in the league the last 2 weeks and it's not close. They were a bend and dont break defense and it finally broke.. They have been exposed... Run it , and run it a lot.. The LBS are garbage against the run.. I understand why Lou doesn't Blitz much either. The DBs aren't very good either. Apple is downright horrible and hopefully Vernon H. gets a shot. Point is, Lou didn't magically get amazing all the sudden. They were skating by and the Jets finally exposed them.. The offense was always very inconsistent from the start, till now ,and this is just what the team is.. I'm hoping for 9 wins but 7 is more realistic.. I told everyone the Jets game was a back breaker and worst than people are saying. It's how they lost these last games that really is alarming. You get upset by the Jets, and then You come home and get completely dominated by an injured browns team? Not good.. No way should this team be 5-4 with teams like the pats. Then Bengals have so much more talent. The reason why is Great coaching vs Bad coaching. All these coaches need fired... This the eternal loop of being a Bengals fan... We will see after the bye , but like the team , my confidence in the Bengals, ( the little I had) is gone...

At the start of the season the defense
Was tackling in space. Guys were trying
To strip and wrestle the ball away from
Ball carriers. Everyone was playing fast and loose

Now I see guys failing to shed blocks
Getting smoked by 3rd rate WRs.
The lack of creating turnovers is worth mentioning.
How many sacks does Mike Hilton ?
Zero. Wasnt that why he brought in?
To bring some pass rushing juice off the edge and slot?

Logan Wilson and the LBers have regressed
Only Hubbard is really playing at a high level now.

(11-08-2021, 02:19 PM)Tony Wrote: And I think we all knew it from the gun... Kirk Cousins lit them up.. For some reason early on,  teams didn't run on the Bengals much. Andy Dalton was lighting them up. Ben is just old and the steelers offense is God awful. Trevor played well, Robinson ran all over them. The Ravens was the only real complete game they have played, because the offense made them 1 dimensional.. . Mike White , RB Carter, Baker and Chubb destroyed this defense. This is the worst defense in the league the last 2 weeks and it's not close. They were a bend and dont break defense and it finally broke.. They have been exposed... Run it , and run it a lot.. The LBS are garbage against the run.. I understand why Lou doesn't Blitz much either. The DBs aren't very good either. Apple is downright horrible and hopefully Vernon H. gets a shot. Point is, Lou didn't magically get amazing all the sudden. They were skating by and the Jets finally exposed them.. The offense was always very inconsistent from the start, till now ,and this is just what the team is.. I'm hoping for 9 wins but 7 is more realistic.. I told everyone the Jets game was a back breaker and worst than people are saying. It's how they lost these last games that really is alarming. You get upset by the Jets, and then You come home and get completely dominated by an injured browns team? Not good.. No way should this team be 5-4 with teams like the pats. Then Bengals have so much more talent. The reason why is Great coaching vs Bad coaching. All these coaches need fired... This the eternal loop of being a Bengals fan... We will see after the  bye , but like the team , my confidence in the Bengals, ( the little I had) is gone...

I must say, both the offense and defense had been playing better than I expected. Prior to the season starting, I pegged both for being in the 15-20 range by year's end.

With that said, what do you mean by injured Browns team?
They had their elite RB back (Chubb) and their starting QB.
Clowney, Ward, and Peoples-Jones all ended up playing.
About the only big loss they had was their RT Conklin.
OBJ hasn't really been a big impact player since becoming a Brown, so not a big loss there.
Is rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah considered a big loss?

Part of this loss is on the players. Turnovers and drops were huge. But there's also room for improvement in the playcalling. I'd like to see Taylor and Anarumo get a little more creative based on what the opponent is giving them.

If this team ends with 7 or more wins, there's no way Mike Brown moves on from Taylor or Anarumo. They'll be back with a (hopefully) bigger investment in OL to see if they can into the playoffs next year (if they don't this year).

(11-08-2021, 03:09 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I must say, both the offense and defense had been playing better than I expected. Prior to the season starting, I pegged both for being in the 15-20 range by year's end.

With that said, what do you mean by injured Browns team?
They had their elite RB back (Chubb) and their starting QB.
Clowney, Ward, and Peoples-Jones all ended up playing.
About the only big loss they had was their RT Conklin.
OBJ hasn't really been a big impact player since becoming a Brown, so not a big loss there.
Is rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah considered a big loss?

Part of this loss is on the players. Turnovers and drops were huge. But there's also room for improvement in the playcalling. I'd like to see Taylor and Anarumo get a little more creative based on what the opponent is giving them.

If this team ends with 7 or more wins, there's no way Mike Brown moves on from Taylor or Anarumo. They'll be back with a (hopefully) bigger investment in OL to see if they can into the playoffs next year (if they don't this year).

God i really hope not.  If they are brought back it should be written that Zac can no longer be the OC and HC that he needs to hire a "real" offensive coordinator.  

I think it's possible if this defense keeps playing the way they have been the past games they could end the year in the 20 ranked area.  

The real difference is the play at DT and DE. Earlier in the season they made it easy for Logan Wilson to fly around and make plays. Ever since the Ogunjobi injury it feels like they don’t get nearly the same push we saw weeks 1-3. Feels like Logan is AWOL and it’s mostly due to the d-line.

(11-08-2021, 03:02 PM)impactplaya Wrote: At the start of the season the defense
Was tackling in space. Guys were trying
To strip and wrestle the ball away from
Ball carriers. Everyone was playing fast and loose

Now I see guys failing to shed blocks
Getting smoked by 3rd rate WRs.
The lack of creating turnovers is worth mentioning.
How many sacks does Mike Hilton ?
Zero. Wasnt that why he brought in?
To bring some pass rushing juice off the edge and slot?

Logan Wilson and the LBers have regressed
Only Hubbard is really playing at a high level now.

Do you think the defense is tired and beat up, from the offense failing so much?

(11-08-2021, 03:09 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I must say, both the offense and defense had been playing better than I expected. Prior to the season starting, I pegged both for being in the 15-20 range by year's end.

With that said, what do you mean by injured Browns team?
They had their elite RB back (Chubb) and their starting QB.
Clowney, Ward, and Peoples-Jones all ended up playing.
About the only big loss they had was their RT Conklin.
OBJ hasn't really been a big impact player since becoming a Brown, so not a big loss there.
Is rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah considered a big loss?

Part of this loss is on the players. Turnovers and drops were huge. But there's also room for improvement in the playcalling. I'd like to see Taylor and Anarumo get a little more creative based on what the opponent is giving them.

If this team ends with 7 or more wins, there's no way Mike Brown moves on from Taylor or Anarumo. They'll be back with a (hopefully) bigger investment in OL to see if they can into the playoffs next year (if they don't this year).

I honestly think Taylor is safe now... 5 wins is more than the 4 ,all of last year... Some will laugh, but you know it's true...

(11-08-2021, 04:18 PM)Tony Wrote: Do you think the defense is tired and beat up, from the offense failing so much?

They sure have been playing like it. Not much energy the last couple of weeks. 

Piss poor tackling efforts, nobody wants to step up and be a player they all relying on somebody else to make the play. These guys have went soft.

For awhile there we thought we had turned the corner.

(11-08-2021, 04:42 PM)jj22 Wrote: For awhile there we thought we had turned the corner.

I guess it depends on what you mean by turning the corner.  To me, this team is on schedule.  They were the worst team in the league 2 years ago and bottom 5 team last year.  I was hoping they would contend for a playoff spot and win 8-10 games.  They should do that.

Let's face it, we got hot and it masked the weaknesses on the team - secondary, IOL and interior pass rush.  If they can have a good offseason and address those holes, this team is in good shape.

(11-08-2021, 04:39 PM)Nati#1 Wrote: Piss poor tackling efforts, nobody wants to step up and be a player they all relying on somebody else to make the play. These guys have went soft.

This  is the defense we seen during the 2019 and 2020 season.  Either teams have figured out Lou's defense, or players got big heads and thought they're better than they truly are.  

I still think this defense finishes the season ranked around 20 in Defense and 15-20 in Offense.  

Out of the last 8 games only 1 has a less than .500 record.  We can't mask anything anymore.  Good teams are gonna take advantages of our weaknesses, IE our DL, LB, CB, and OL

The biggest problem with defense is we play big. Against the Browns all four of our DTs played over 50% of the snaps and both Reader and Larry played at least 80% of the snaps.. teams are throwing early and often against the base package and keeping our Nickle personal off the field. When we reach third down its usually a 3rd and short so that also keeps us in big personal and gets rid of exotic blitz packages.

What we need to do is get more Athleticism on the field maybe start ADG(if healthy)at Edge and move Hubbard inside as the third DT. Or scrapping the 5-2 personal and move back to a 4-3 or just play Nickle the whole time.

(11-08-2021, 04:18 PM)Tony Wrote: Do you think the defense is tired and beat up, from the offense failing so much?

I tell us what I saw that was disturbing
The Bengals offense had the ball for 20 straight plays
The Browns get their 1st possession and simply with ease drove the field. 
The Bengals defense had a gift handed to them.
Yet could not capitalize. 
They got pushed back with ease the front 4.
The offense prior to the Browns game has been put enough points up to win. 
But the defense has failed to be fundamentally sound
Plus a lack of communication in the secondary 
Is becoming more common

The defense lacks any elite talent. They have a bunch of good and below average players - no real elite play makers.

Offensive and defensive lines are the weak points on this team. They aren't deep at defensive line and the talent that they do have is getting worn down. There aren't any quality rotational pieces.

They need to stop the pass rush better and rush the passer better. This should be the focal point of the up coming off-season.

(11-08-2021, 05:18 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: The defense lacks any elite talent. They have a bunch of good and below average players - no real elite play makers.

Offensive and defensive lines are the weak points on this team. They aren't deep at defensive line and the talent that they do have is getting worn down. There aren't any quality rotational pieces.

They need to stop the pass rush better and rush the passer better. This should be the focal point of the up coming off-season.

It's a bit strong to say that the defense doesn't have elite Talent Bates, Reader, and Hendrickson would start on the majority of teams in this league.

I agree with the sentiment of the post though. The defensive Line needs one or two more pass rushers(Oassi should be back next season). Also a #1 CB would be nice. Right now Apple nor Auwzie his capable of that role. Also Wayne's isn't ever healthy enough to be our #1.

I was at the game, and it was pretty apparent that they weren't going to get pressure rushing 4 all day, yet they kept doing it for most of the game. I get that Lou s not a blitz happy DC, but you need to send some guys at some point if 4 aren't getting it done. At a lot of points, really. The secondary can't cover lately anyway (probably because opposing qbs have all day), so you might as well try to manufacture pressure.

Baker Mayfield is literally a broken quarterback right now, and he looked like one vs Pittsburgh and has at other points, too. That's a guy you have to get shots in on. He stood in that pocket for what seemed like forever on that Peoples-Jones TD. He had zero reason to be rattled and the score reflected this.

It's time for Lou to make the adjustments needed to get this defense un-figured out. Rushing 4 and shitty coverage will get them destroyed for the rest of the season. He's been given an absolute feast of free agents over the last two years. This isn't Marvin getting the toaster leavins' of other teams first round draft busts and token washed-up miscast SLBs. Lou has been given legit dudes that some other team would have shelled out big money for if we did not. If the remainer of the year looks like the last two games, he needs to be run out of here before the lockers get cleaned out.

(11-08-2021, 04:21 PM)WychesWarrior Wrote: They sure have been playing like it. Not much energy the last couple of weeks. 

That’s an astute observation as always. It has been several weeks since I’ve seen anyone on the Cincinnati defense really stick an opposing ball carrier. Maybe they’re still worn out from running after Lamar Jackson and Hollywood Brown.

(11-08-2021, 10:31 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: That’s an astute observation as always.  It has been several weeks since I’ve seen anyone on the Cincinnati defense really stick an opposing ball carrier.  Maybe they’re still worn out from running after Lamar Jackson and Hollywood Brown.

I wonder if going all in planning for Lamar threw them off.  

I don’t know what the cause is, but the last two weeks have been hard to believe. It’s more confusing than anything. How can a guy catch a pass and there isn’t a Bengdd as l on the screen? Where is he? Can we do the same thing to other teams?

Coaches have two weeks. Fix it or just go