Actually, he said that we have "the best young talent," but it's still a pretty big compliment, especially since it's hard to find a more talented group of players, regardless of age!

Quote:For the latter, Wingo had some lofty compliments for the reigning AFC champs, noting that while there may have been some elements of “flukiness” in their run to Super Bowl LVI, they are here to stay.

“You can make a very compelling argument that the best, young core of talent in the NFL is in Cincinnati,” Wingo told me in the cush “fan-cave” inside of the Caesars Palace Sportsbook. “Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon. I’m not sure, as we speak, that there’s a better core of offensive skill position players than those guys.”

Joe Mixon is a top five or top ten back, Burrow proved that he's already one of the top QBs and he did it with no offensive line, Ja'Marr is a top three receiver in the league, and Higgins is a hell of a #2 receiver!

Quote:When recounting Cincinnati’s three playoff wins this past season, Wingo noted how fine the razor’s edge was in the Bengals’ wins versus the Raiders, Titans and Chiefs, respectively. And, while he notes that the talent is there and then some in Cincinnati, he also quipped: “I just don’t know if you can count on those many things going right again.”

But, as they say, “Luck favors the prepared”. The Bengals were a good team last year that created many of their own opportunities for a successful run.

We had a lot of luck last season in the playoffs but we won't need as much luck with a better team on the field!

Quote:Wingo also noted his admiration for what the Bengals did in free agency prior to the draft. Cincinnati signed three new starters on their offensive line, while also keeping their roster largely intact.

“They did a great job this offseason,” Wingo said when I asked him about the Bengals avoiding the dreaded Super Bowl loss hangover. “They had one glaring weakness—that was the offensive line—and they have shored that up with fighters. La’el Collins, (Ted) Karras comes over—these guys aren’t just good, they’re mean, you know, and that’s what you want. They didn’t have enough nasty in that Super Bowl and that’s why Aaron Donald was able to take over the game the way he did.”

The only thing that slowed us down was our line.

There's more in the article but it's nice to hear Wingo jumping on our bandwagon!

Yeah, but his name is "Trey Wingo".. (Remembering back to the Sportcenter promo where dude is cracking up over Wingo's name)

(05-06-2022, 01:25 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Yeah, but his name is "Trey Wingo"..    (Remembering back to the Sportcenter promo where dude is cracking up over Wingo's name)

Who is Trey Wingo......



John Smith Also said he liked our roster...

I think Trey is in line with a lot of the national media. They admit that we have great talent, but we did have a lot of things go our way our last few games.

They don't dismiss us outright, but they want to see some more consistent success from us before they pick us to repeat.

And I can't really fault them for that.

(05-06-2022, 02:01 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I think Trey is in line with a lot of the national media.  They admit that we have great talent, but we did have a lot of things go our way our last few games.

They don't dismiss us outright, but they want to see some more consistent success from us before they pick us to repeat.

And I can't really fault them for that.

Agreed on all accounts.

(05-06-2022, 01:58 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Who is Trey Wingo......

Seriously?  He was the Lead Host for ESPN NFL Live o nand off for 20 years.  Joined Mike Golic in the 6-10 morning slot when Greeny left. He was ESPN's rising star a few years ago, before he went to Vegas to work for PFN and Caesar's Sports Book.

I do think there's some good talent on this team, and I'm excited to see the offense with an OL that (hopefully) isn't a sieve.
With that said, I am a bit cautious that this past postseason could have been more of a Cinderella story, so I'm not necessarily expecting a return to the Super Bowl.
I do expect the Bengals to make the playoffs though, and likely win (at least) one playoff game depending on who they were to play.

(05-06-2022, 02:08 PM)Stewy Wrote: Seriously?  He was the Lead Host for ESPN NFL Live o nand off for 20 years.  Joined Mike Golic in the 6-10 morning slot when Greeny left. He was ESPN's rising star a few years ago, before he went to Vegas to work for PFN and Caesar's Sports Book.

IIRC, Wingo left ESPN after the Golic and Wingo show got canceled back in Summer 2020 and then his contract wasn't renewed in the Fall of that year.

(05-06-2022, 02:13 PM)ochocincos Wrote: IIRC, Wingo left ESPN after the Golic and Wingo show got canceled back in Summer 2020 and then his contract wasn't renewed in the Fall of that year.

Wiki just said he "left", so I didn't specify.

(05-06-2022, 02:08 PM)Stewy Wrote: Seriously?  He was the Lead Host for ESPN NFL Live o nand off for 20 years.  Joined Mike Golic in the 6-10 morning slot when Greeny left. He was ESPN's rising star a few years ago, before he went to Vegas to work for PFN and Caesar's Sports Book.

i dont generally watch ESPN unless its the only channel carrying the game

(05-06-2022, 01:25 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Yeah, but his name is "Trey Wingo"..    (Remembering back to the Sportcenter promo where dude is cracking up over Wingo's name)

His real name is Hal Chapman and that's not much better!

(05-06-2022, 02:03 PM)Stewy Wrote: Agreed on all accounts.

I don't.

We had a lot of things go our way but you still need your players to play the game and we also had a lot stacked against us that won't be as pilled up against us this year, especially the line.

Our defense will be even better this season with more continuity with all our key players back, so we'll have stability. Burrow only needs the defense to keep us in games to win them, which they should be able to do even more this season.

Ossai will be back and he shined in the preseason with five pressures on Tom Brady and one sack.

All our projected starters on defense this season are under 30, so youth will be beneficial, especially since Lou wants to be aggressive.

We improved our secondary a lot in the draft and our pass rush with Carter.

An improved line alone could win us the Super Bowl, which is obvious since we were one block away from winning it this season, so any hate from the national media is obviously just because of the usual hate.

(05-06-2022, 02:11 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I do think there's some good talent on this team, and I'm excited to see the offense with an OL that (hopefully) isn't a sieve.
With that said, I am a bit cautious that this past postseason could have been more of a Cinderella story, so I'm not necessarily expecting a return to the Super Bowl.
I do expect the Bengals to make the playoffs though, and likely win (at least) one playoff game depending on who they were to play.

Injuries are a key. As Zac said the division comes first. It’s between the Raven’s and the Bengals. It’s a tossup. It’s who did better in the off season. Did the Bengals OL revamp make a big difference? The Raven’s OL has some issues. Linderbaum and Moses at tackle doesn’t match what they had IMO buts it’s close. They helped there safety room. We’ll see what they do about wide receiver. The Ravens may be going for a lot of tight end packages. I really think with what we did in our secondary we can counter. I may be a Homer but out rush defense was stout. Employing Hubbard as a spy on Lamar like we did Mahomes and rushing 3 and dropping 8 is tough. Their running game doesn’t scare me or their deep passing. Those games may be lower scoring this year. However I don’t know that anybody is going to be able to double cover Chase with Hurst and a better run game.

(05-06-2022, 05:02 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Injuries are a key. As Zac said the division comes first. It’s between the Raven’s and the Bengals. It’s a tossup. It’s who did better in the off season. Did the Bengals OL revamp make a big difference? The Raven’s OL has some issues. Linderbaum and Moses at tackle doesn’t match what they had IMO buts it’s close. They helped there safety room. We’ll see what they do about wide receiver. The Ravens may be going for a lot of tight end packages. I really think with what we did in our secondary we can counter. I may be a Homer but out rush defense was stout. Employing Hubbard as a spy on Lamar like we did Mahomes and rushing 3 and dropping 8 is tough. Their running game doesn’t scare me or their deep passing. Those games may be lower scoring this year. However I don’t know that anybody is going to be able to double cover Chase with Hurst and a better run game.

I don't think you're a homer for saying the run defense is stout.
Bengals were 5th in yards allowed, 13th in YPA.
I'm expecting the Bengals defense as a whole to be about the same as last year, if not slightly better with Ossai coming back and the early-round draft picks.

About the only things I'm even slightly worried about are LG and TE.
Also worried about quality depth at about all offensive positions. An injury to Burrow, Mixon, Chase, or Hurst could make this offense not look great.

(05-06-2022, 01:08 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Actually, he said that we have "the best young talent," but it's still a pretty big compliment, especially since it's hard to find a more talented group of players, regardless of age!


Joe Mixon is a top five or top ten back, Burrow proved that he's already one of the top QBs and he did it with no offensive line, Ja'Marr is a top three receiver in the league, and Higgins is a hell of a #2 receiver!


We had a lot of luck last season in the playoffs but we won't need as much luck with a better team on the field!


The only thing that slowed us down was our line.

There's more in the article but it's nice to hear Wingo jumping on our bandwagon!

What is nice about what we did in Free Agency with Collins, Cappa and Karras and bringing back BJ Hill is we probably won't
have to have that many things go our way now as games won't be as close. With the guys we added to the OL the Offense can
thrive with Burrow and a running game that keeps our improved Defense off the field and fresh.

Our Defense looks stacked after the Draft - Hendrickson, Reader, Hubbard, Hill, Ossai, Awuzie, Hilton, Bates, Bell, Dax Hill, CTB,
Logan frickin' Wilson, Pratt, ADG, Apple, etc.

It isn't just Burrow and our Offense that is stacked, our Defense looks formidable after being probably the best Defense in the
Postseason especially against the run. The Defense and McPherson were the main reasons we made it to the SB and had a chance.

I'd say we're hanging near the top talent wise.

(05-06-2022, 05:08 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I don't think you're a homer for saying the run defense is stout.
Bengals were 5th in yards allowed, 13th in YPA.
I'm expecting the Bengals defense as a whole to be about the same as last year, if not slightly better with Ossai coming back and the early-round draft picks.

About the only things I'm even slightly worried about are LG and TE.
Also worried about quality depth at about all offensive positions. An injury to Burrow, Mixon, Chase, or Hurst could make this offense not look great.

Injuries are a factor for all. You’d have to think we are in better shape this year. I’m excited. The run defense vs Tenn,KC,and LA was a lot better than during the year. The secondary will be better and more versatile

(05-06-2022, 05:39 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'd say we're hanging near the top talent wise.

Agree completely and think the Bengals will remain that way until Burrow and Chase get their payday.

Should be a fun couple of years

We were very fortunate on injuries, but also the team believed in each other and never gave up.
Last year, i see it more of a Burrow needing the Def to play strong til he could get his groove going. This next year with the improvements to the OL, i see Joe coming out the gates faster and the Def having a little breathing room.

(05-06-2022, 02:01 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I think Trey is in line with a lot of the national media.  They admit that we have great talent, but we did have a lot of things go our way our last few games.

They don't dismiss us outright, but they want to see some more consistent success from us before they pick us to repeat.

And I can't really fault them for that.

(05-06-2022, 02:03 PM)Stewy Wrote: Agreed on all accounts.

(05-06-2022, 04:07 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I don't.

Actually many in the national media are saying exactly what Fred stated.  It's clearly what Vegas thinks too.  I personally don't agree with the National Media, but they are saying it and that is all I was agreeing to.  Fred was just posting what they are saying, which is that we had a lot of luck and are dismissing us.  He didn't say he agreed either.  However any team that makes a run in the playoffs must have some things fall their way.

What are you disagreeing with here?  What the national media are saying or that they are saying it at all?  They ARE saying it, and I hope most Bengals fans don't agree with the national media, so I don't know what you're arguing.

(05-06-2022, 05:28 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: It isn't just Burrow and our Offense that is stacked, our Defense looks formidable after being probably the best Defense in the
Postseason especially against the run. The Defense and McPherson were the main reasons we made it to the SB and had a chance.

I don't want to be accused of bashing our defense, but surely you understand why many NFL fans would give more weight to the 17 game season than a 4 game run when judging the '21 Bengals. We have all seen many teams play over their heads for a 4 game stretch.

Personally I think our offense is going to jump from top third in the league (13th yds, 7th pts) to one of the top 3 or 4.  Our O-line will be much better and no way Burrow throws as many picks as he did the first 12 games of last year.
 
Our defense will be improved also, but not as dramatically.  From bottom half of the league (18th yds, 17th pts) to top third in the league.  We will miss Ogunjobi.  I think he was one of the more underrated Bengals last year.  But I think our top 3 picks will have an immediate impact.  I also think that if Davis-Gaither stays healthy he could be a key role player for our defense.

We will have the talent to beat any team, but we won't have more talent than all of the other top teams in the league.