(07-20-2022, 10:13 AM)Mer Wrote: Tbh, anything short of a SB victory this year will be a disappointment. If we made it last year with a lesser roster, we should be there again with a better roster. Unlike Most SB teams ours didn't get picked apart in FA or guys getting old and retiring. We're in our prime now. Anything short of a SB victory will stink.

If Cincinnati wants to be the next great dynasty SB victories should be the standard. I get it that things happen during the season but every player's standard should be a SB victory every season, especially with the stacked roster we have currently.

That's really not how it works. 

(07-20-2022, 10:13 AM)Mer Wrote: Tbh, anything short of a SB victory this year will be a disappointment. If we made it last year with a lesser roster, we should be there again with a better roster. Unlike Most SB teams ours didn't get picked apart in FA or guys getting old and retiring. We're in our prime now. Anything short of a SB victory will stink.

If Cincinnati wants to be the next great dynasty SB victories should be the standard. I get it that things happen during the season but every player's standard should be a SB victory every season, especially with the stacked roster we have currently.

What Mer said. SuperBowl victory or we failed this season. Our roster is much better and like you said we didn't lose much 
in the offseason, Uzo and Ogunjobi are the players we lost, Golden the LB coach. We replaced Uzo with a better pass catching
TE in my opinion in Hayden Hurst and brought back BJ Hill and added Zach Carter at 3-tech. Brought in Betcher to replace 
Golden which was a great move IMO.

Burrow won't have this good of WR's again pretty sure, finally got the OL solidified with only 1 position on the line a question
but Carman is going into his second year so he is no longer a rookie and he is very talented.

Our Defense under Lou should be much better this season as well with more of Lou's personnel and talented youth. The D
should also be much fresher cause of the improved running game and over all Offense just being better. Not needing as many
explosive plays to win games etc.

(07-20-2022, 01:37 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: That's really not how it works. 

Still, we have a better roster and in my opinion made it to the SB ahead of schedule. Youngest team to ever play in the SB.

We will need a ton of things to go our way for us to make it back this year but we upgraded our weakness big time in the OL
and I don't know how good Burrow will be with time, these weapons and a running game...

Could break records.

A SB championship for me personally sweeping the north and being last unbeaten team would be a nice consolation.

I think the variable that many are kind of taking for granted in McPherson. If he's money, we win the close games which makes life much easier in the playoffs if we get a higher seed. We will have a few blowout victories -- a true sign of a good team.

I'd be disappointed if we didn't make the playoffs. What we do in them is the question. Two good teams competing. It all comes down to who makes the big plays.

1st - No matter who we play, be competitive.  Totally within the control of coaches and players.

2nd - stay healthy.  Influenced by trainers, strength & conditioning, medical staff.  Mostly dumb luck, like last year.

(07-20-2022, 01:52 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Still, we have a better roster and in my opinion made it to the SB ahead of schedule. Youngest team to ever play in the SB.

We will need a ton of things to go our way for us to make it back this year but we upgraded our weakness big time in the OL
and I don't know how good Burrow will be with time, these weapons and a running game...

Could break records.

We arent the only team to get better either AFC is stacked   Burrow could break records or with a better OL and RUN Game we could control the clock better and not HAVE to break records to win... Cause winning matters more than yards or Score.

The standard is no more stupid questions and a Super Bowl win. Anything short of that is a failure.

On second thought, I guess the stupid questions are alright as long as we win the Super Bowl.

(07-20-2022, 01:37 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: That's really not how it works. 

Yep.
It wasn't like the Bengals easily walked in to the Super Bowl.
They had (very) tight wins against all their opponents.
Any of those games could have swung the other way.

It's easy to set expectations too high after last year.

I expect them to make the playoffs.

They should win the division and at least one playoff game. But it's the NFL and stuff happens that can throw all of your expectations out the window. At that end of things the margins get very fine. Think about it, they were one play from winning the Super Bowl. But likewise, they were one play from being knocked out of the playoffs several times during the post-season.

Edit: I forgot about the white helmets. Scratch all that and put me down for the Super Bowl win!

If we are relative healthy then playing a likely KC or the Bills would be a 50/50 game in the semis. We aren’t better on paper than them.

(07-20-2022, 01:37 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: That's really not how it works. 

I realize that. But isn't this the time of year to get excited and expect the best. Heck I did it every year in the nineties and now we have a legitimate shot at possibly multiple SBs.  

Like it or not,the expectations for this particular team this year are going to be SB or bust.I don’t care what people claim.Anything short of a SB,and they’re going to be disappointed and frustrated and sometimes even angry,for the most part.In a way,I can sort of see their point.After all,they did go to the SB last year.

They get a lot of hype.That said,as for me I would be happy with AFCNC and a playoff win.But,I would of course love to see them win the SB.As was said before,the AFC is going to be nothing short of extremely competitive this year.Just take a look at the second half of the Bengals schedule.

(07-20-2022, 07:01 PM)ezekiel23 Wrote: Like it or not,the expectations for this particular team this year are going to be SB or bust.I don’t care what people claim.Anything short of a SB,and they’re going to be disappointed and frustrated and sometimes even angry,for the most part.In a way,I can sort of see their point.After all,they did go to the SB last year.

They get a lot of hype.That said,as for me I would be happy with AFCNC and a playoff win.But,I would of course love to see them win the SB.As was said before,the AFC is going to be nothing short of extremely competitive this year.Just take a look at the second half of the Bengals schedule.

You want the team clicking on all cylinders come the playoffs. What's a better way to do it than play the tougher teams at the end of the schedule?

Expect a competitive season, playoff birth, and SB run

Goal is to beat the steelers twice, shatter offensive records, win AFCN, and then win the SB

Will be happy with being competitive all season and going to 2nd round of Playoffs, either via the Bye or by winning Wildcard game.

Although after writing this I have to admit, if the Bengals play well enough to receive the Bye in Playoffs ?

I would not be real happy losing in the first game and would want to advance to at least advance to the 3rd round in this scenario.

Win the Division

(07-20-2022, 10:13 AM)Mer Wrote: Tbh, anything short of a SB victory this year will be a disappointment. If we made it last year with a lesser roster, we should be there again with a better roster. Unlike Most SB teams ours didn't get picked apart in FA or guys getting old and retiring. We're in our prime now. Anything short of a SB victory will stink.

If Cincinnati wants to be the next great dynasty SB victories should be the standard. I get it that things happen during the season but every player's standard should be a SB victory every season, especially with the stacked roster we have currently.

This.

(07-20-2022, 01:49 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: What Mer said. SuperBowl victory or we failed this season. Our roster is much better and like you said we didn't lose much 
in the offseason, Uzo and Ogunjobi are the players we lost, Golden the LB coach. We replaced Uzo with a better pass catching
TE in my opinion in Hayden Hurst and brought back BJ Hill and added Zach Carter at 3-tech. Brought in Betcher to replace 
Golden which was a great move IMO.

Burrow won't have this good of WR's again pretty sure, finally got the OL solidified with only 1 position on the line a question
but Carman is going into his second year so he is no longer a rookie and he is very talented.

Our Defense under Lou should be much better this season as well with more of Lou's personnel and talented youth. The D
should also be much fresher cause of the improved running game and over all Offense just being better. Not needing as many
explosive plays to win games etc.

And this.

(07-20-2022, 06:43 PM)Mer Wrote: I realize that. But isn't this the time of year to get excited and expect the best. Heck I did it every year in the nineties and now we have a legitimate shot at possibly multiple SBs.  

Exactly.  What is July for if not for unbridled enthusiasm for one's football team?  Reality will settle things later.

A division title and first-round win would be my answer.  Last year was all about doing what had not happened before or what had not happened for a long time, and we did that with a division title (first in six years), playoff win (first in 31 years) and road playoff wins (first ever!)  

So, I want to shatter two more firsts this season:  first time winning the division in back-to-back seasons (we would have done that in '82 if not for the strike) and first time winning a playoff game in back-to-back seasons. 

I think the most exciting part about this team is that the window is open for at least 2-3 years (if not more). Expecting them to make the playoffs 3 years in a row is a good benchmark for me - and like we all know, when you make the playoffs anything can happen.