(04-17-2022, 09:32 PM)samhain Wrote: It's April.  We have a draft and a summer of camp, plus the season to play out.  Perception of the schedule almost always changes immensely when 3 or 4 actual games are in the books.  Regardless, we are in a very good position, a position that almost every team in the league would give their left arms to be in.  

I've lived through gloom and doom a lot as a fan of this team.  I'm not inviting it or wishing it onto existence when there's zero place for it.

SoS is largely useless now. Teams change a lot year to year.

I'm not sure what to think about this thread?

The team went to the Super Bowl and then spends the off-season doing the one thing it has ignored or failed to fix correctly in free agency and the draft for years, and that is addressing the OL.

With what the team has done this off-season it would be a let down if they don't win the division and make it to the AFC Championship game.

(04-18-2022, 01:17 AM)Murdock2420 Wrote: I'm not sure what to think about this thread?

The team went to the Super Bowl and then spends the off-season doing the one thing it has ignored or failed to fix correctly in free agency and the draft for years, and that is addressing the OL.

With what the team has done this off-season it would be a let down if they don't win the division and make it to the AFC Championship game.

I'm having a similar thought. What do I think about this thread? We just went to the Super Bowl, so there is no reason to be pessimistic. That said, the OP is correct. We may not win our division this upcoming season. It is important to emphasize this is also not a dramatic statement. That's how the NFL works. It's a league that excels at fostering competition among its franchises. I'm predicting we do win the AFC North, but I understand there is always a chance through injuries or some other variables that result in the Bengals not winning the North because that's how the league plays our from year-to-year.

My overall feeling is excitement for the upcoming season because I think the Bengals are a competitive team that will make the playoffs. I think we have a squad that can be special and contend for a Super Bowl. We have a team built to win and as fans, that's all we can ask for.

(04-15-2022, 05:24 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: You all need to take a breath and stop talking down the competition so much. 

Doesn't matter that Watson hasn't played in a year. Off season, preseason and the first 4 games...he'll get it figured out. He's a great QB. 

Just because the Bengals played Lamar well one time doesn't mean they've figured him out and will shut him down from now on. 

The Steelers always manage to hang around .500 at worst and Trubiski will probably be very 'Tannehill' with a better organization around him.

Not to mention the conference with the talent that's been added this year. 

I agree faulk, but with a caveat. We actually shut Lamar down somewhat the first time in 2020. We just couldn't do squat on offense that day. 

(04-15-2022, 03:09 PM)Emeritus Wrote:

With the Ravens getting back to full strength and the draft capital that they currently have I wonder what this matchup will look like. This is going to be one hell of a fight in the AFCN next season. The Steelers are what we know and will reload and the Browns already had a championship infrastructure outside of the sperm whale addition. I know we went to the Superbowl last season but how is this division won with our current roster and whats needed truly. I think we still have some questions to be answered with positional DEPTH really on all levels on both sides. Imo. Thoughts

100% agree with this. 

TBH, if our goals are to go to and win Super Bowls, we should be looking at the entire AFC at this point, not just the division. The AFC got a lot better this off-season. The Bengals got better as well, but there are still opportunities there to upgrade/fill out the roster.

I would love for the Bengals to bring in a few more pieces to fill out the depth of the team. If they could sign an additional LG, CB, and possibly an interior DL I'd feel good going into the draft.  

(04-15-2022, 03:56 PM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: I take the Ravens seriously. They will be back to form with better health and have every tiny motivation to stick it to the Bengals.

I don't take the Browns or the Steelers seriously. The Browns overall roster is thoroughly overrated in my view -- it was never a Super Bowl caliber roster in the first place, and I don't think Non-consensual Happy Ending changes that. He has a crap receiving corps at this point, and the run-first methodology isn't super sustainable in this era. The Steelers have a bad roster in general, and Mitchell Trubisky is Mitchell Trubisky.

Not sure I agree about the Browns. 

They now have a top 5 QB in the league and an upgrade at receiver in Cooper. They also have an extremely good run game. Their defense is above average as well. 

The talent is there - it just depends on a lot of unrelated football stuff at this point. 

The division is going to be challenging,but so far we don’t know yet what the status of Cleveland’s new QB will be to start off the season.If he would start day 1 then that would make the Browns a serious contender.We know the Ravens are going to be a strong opponent.The AFC as a whole is going to be viciously competitive this coming season.
Maybe more so as I’ve ever seen since I’ve been watching NFL football IMO.

(04-17-2022, 01:39 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: Right, you thrash ZT and JB any chance you can.

No I don't.  I just live in the real world.  It was people like you who pretended that ti didn't matter when burrow was leadingt he league in interceptions and we were barely a .500 team. But look what happened in the REAL WORLD when he greatly reduced his interception percentage.

(04-17-2022, 01:39 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote: Not overly worried about DW, have to see him play first. 

So you have never seen him play in his 4 year NFL career?  That certainly explains why you know nothing about how good he is.

(04-17-2022, 08:21 PM)Tony Wrote:  like they haven't been coaching a decade longer than Zac for proven orginzations...

Actually that was my point exactly.  They are proven good coaches with long winning records.  That makes them tougher to beat.

(04-17-2022, 01:20 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Our O-line should get better as the year goes along, but overall we should not have as many new starters as we did last year (Chase, Uzomah, Reiff, Carman, Adeniji, Ogunjobi, Hendrickson, Awuzie, Apple, Hilton, Wilson)

And a lot of people won't admit this, but one reason we were only 7-5 through 12 games was Burrow's league leading 14 interceptions.  I don't see that happening again.

But even if we do start out slow again, you are 100% correct that it is imperative that we are playing our best at the end of the year.  As long as you make the playoffs you can win it all if you are hot like we were this year.

That was huge, no doubt. His turnovers lost the Chicago game, and greatly hampered us with that pick 6 against the Browns.

(04-18-2022, 11:38 AM)Wyche Wrote: That was huge, no doubt. His turnovers lost the Chicago game, and greatly hampered us with that pick 6 against the Browns.

Whatever was causing that they seemed to iron out in the 2nd halff

(04-15-2022, 04:09 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: We're currently projected with the third-best odds to win the division, which is stupid to me considering we were one block away from wining the Super Bowl with a dog shit offensive line that we've now improved.

I think you put too much faith in a "by-the-skin-of-their-teeth" Super-Bowl run.  The Bengals were 10-7 during the regular season, and won EACH playoff game on a last-second play.  They're not world-beaters.... yet.

(04-18-2022, 11:02 AM)fredtoast Wrote: No I don't.  I just live in the real world.  It was people like you who pretended that ti didn't matter when burrow was leadingt he league in interceptions and we were barely a .500 team. But look what happened in the REAL WORLD when he greatly reduced his interception percentage.




So you have never seen him play in his 4 year NFL career?  That certainly explains why you know nothing about how good he is.

You really love to put words in people's mouth.

Aside from trying to make me say Jonah is atrocious, when it's clear i said the Bengals drafting of ol has been atrocious in the last decade (you know, only hitting on about 3-4/20 picks with some of those picks being 1st/2nd rounders) now you act like i've never seen DW play.

Let me clear this up for you right now.

LET'S SEE HOW HE PLAYS IN CLEVELAND FIRST. That is, if he plays much this year.

Just stop with your nonsense.

And yes, you have blasted on ZT/JB any real chance you get, although, it's getting much harder for you to do so lately.

(04-18-2022, 12:09 PM)Tomkat Wrote: I think you put too much faith in a "by-the-skin-of-their-teeth" Super-Bowl run.  The Bengals were 10-7 during the regular season, and won EACH playoff game on a last-second play.  They're not world-beaters.... yet.

The fact that Burrow was able to win us those games without an offensive line is why I'm so confident. 

We'll have a stronger line and overall roster, so Burrow will be able to lead us to comfortable wins over good teams in the biggest games.

(04-18-2022, 01:01 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: The fact that Burrow was able to win us those games without an offensive line is why I'm so confident. 

We'll have a stronger line and overall roster, so Burrow will be able to lead us to comfortable wins over good teams in the biggest games.

I would classify that as the "IT" factor that JB has, JC has it too. 
But let's see what he can do behind a better OL and JC with a year under his belt now.
I predict that the Offense will see a nice statistical boost, in the Scoring Running and passing.

(04-18-2022, 01:17 AM)Murdock2420 Wrote: I'm not sure what to think about this thread?

The team went to the Super Bowl and then spends the off-season doing the one thing it has ignored or failed to fix correctly in free agency and the draft for years, and that is addressing the OL.

With what the team has done this off-season it would be a let down if they don't win the division and make it to the AFC Championship game.

That's exactly it. They upgraded 3 spots on the offensive line. And not just with marginal talent, with really good talent.

Burrow and particularly Mixon have never had a good offensive line. This could be a huge upgrade for synergy. The success they had last year with a bad line...was impressive. Simply put, the offense is loaded. QB, WR, RB, and the line should allow them time to thrive.

Winning the division is less important than people think. Making the playoffs is important. And then from there, winning playoff games.

(04-18-2022, 12:01 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Whatever was causing that they seemed to iron out in the 2nd halff

It’s almost like he was coming back from a MAJOR injury or something…

A lot of players that have had similar injuries say it takes almost a full year to get back to 100%. And if you look at how well Burrow started playing late in the season that seems about right.

The NFL is a weird league.

In like the NBA, NHL, and MLB...you can generally see teams progressions over the season to where they get better and win a championship eventually. Generally good teams don't just fall off the map the next year minus key losses of talent.

The NFL...you see worst to 1st every year. Sometimes in 3 divisions. So for those teams to rise, others have to fall.

That said, with Burrow behind a good line...I don't see that happening.

(04-18-2022, 12:09 PM)Tomkat Wrote: I think you put too much faith in a "by-the-skin-of-their-teeth" Super-Bowl run.  The Bengals were 10-7 during the regular season, and won EACH playoff game on a last-second play.  They're not world-beaters.... yet.

Oh please. We beat KC twice. And they had won like 8 in a row coming into the first matchup. We proved we belonged. GTFOH with “skin of their teeth.” Most games in the NFL are close, and often come down to the end.

(04-18-2022, 01:24 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: It’s almost like he was coming back from a MAJOR injury or something…

A lot of players that have had similar injuries say it takes almost a full year to get back to 100%. And if you look at how well Burrow started playing late in the season that seems about right.

Yeah I think it was a lot of that. Not trusting his ability to run. Trying to force the homerun ball.

With a good offensive line, that temptation to throw the homerun ball a lot will be there too. Mahommes has to fight it too.