I know it feels good to say, "we were in the same spot last year!" but it's not really comparable. It's just not.

Yes, we started slow last year and had roadblocks, but this season is just completely different in more ways than one.

The INJURIES are the biggest difference. This is more sobering than actually taking an L to the Browns. Reader, Chase, and now Chido are significantly injured. Some could be done for the year. That's 3 of your 4 best players.

Another difference - teams know how to beat us and are prepared to beat us. We aren't "sneaking up" on anyone this year. Explosive plays are down significantly. This is a problem.

And finally - the divisional record/schedule. 0-3 in the division is a REALLY bad spot to be in. We were at least 2-1 in the division last year before we made our run.

I am not trying to be a downer, but the glimmer of hope should not be "hey we did it last year, we can do it again!" because it's really not that simple.

Well said. It's unfortunate.

I thought Burrow and a loaded WR core would be enough to lead us to being elite for years, but it's looking like the best we can hope for is catching lightning in a bottle.

I think the McVey offense has been figured out. And I don't think Zach and Callahan can adapt enough or even at all.

(11-01-2022, 11:12 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Well said. It's unfortunate.

I thought Burrow and a loaded WR core would be enough to lead us to being elite for years, but it's looking like the best we can hope for is catching lightning in a bottle.

I think the McVey offense has been figured out. And I don't think Zach and Callahan can adapt enough or even at all.

I thought the offseason OL moves would put us in Bills-like dominance this season. I thought we'd be beating down teams 35-14 and didn't anticipate we'd be an average NFL team. We still have half the season to go, but it sure does feel like we'll continue the inconsistent play and end up with an average record at best.

(11-01-2022, 11:12 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Well said. It's unfortunate.

I thought Burrow and a loaded WR core would be enough to lead us to being elite for years, but it's looking like the best we can hope for is catching lightning in a bottle.

I think the McVey offense has been figured out. And I don't think Zach and Callahan can adapt enough or even at all.

This should be one of the biggest questions going into next season. It's a huge concern. The Rams are the lowest scoring team in the league and it'd be wild to see where the Bengals would be without Chase. 

We all know Chase doesn't "make" Burrow, but he has bailed us out significantly this year (and last year) with his freakish yard after the catch types of plays. It's really the only thing I have confidence in our offense doing right. 

(11-01-2022, 11:09 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I know it feels good to say, "we were in the same spot last year!" but it's not really comparable. It's just not.

Yes, we started slow last year and had roadblocks, but this season is just completely different in more ways than one.

The INJURIES are the biggest difference. This is more sobering than actually taking an L to the Browns. Reader, Chase, and now Chido are significantly injured. Some could be done for the year. That's 3 of your 4 best players.

Another difference - teams know how to beat us and are prepared to beat us. We aren't "sneaking up" on anyone this year. Explosive plays are down significantly. This is a problem.

And finally - the divisional record/schedule. 0-3 in the division is a REALLY bad spot to be in. We were at least 2-1 in the division last year before we made our run.

I am not trying to be a downer, but the glimmer of hope should not be "hey we did it last year, we can do it again!" because it's really not that simple.

Agreed. I wish that I'd tempered my expectations before the season. I thought the Bengals would be dominant and those analysts that had the Bengals third in their division (before the Watson suspension) and not even in the top ten in the league were off their rocker. 

(11-01-2022, 11:14 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: I thought the offseason OL moves would put us in Bills-like dominance this season. I thought we'd be beating down teams 35-14 and didn't anticipate we'd be an average NFL team. We still have half the season to go, but it sure does feel like we'll continue the inconsistent play and end up with an average record at best.

This was the easy part of the year, but yes. This team has way more talent than the product on the field.

Whether Pollack is the issue? Or the light training camps.

Remember the narrative in the offseason that the Bengals lack of injuries were due to smart training, etc? I guess that narrative is shot.

The McVay offense is not the problem

People here saying the Rams and Bengals have been figured out? Seriously?

Both the Rams and Bengals have horrid offensive lines that constantly get bullied.

You can’t run that scheme successfully when the line gets abused

Chase makes things easier for everybody including the line. Our secondary is garbage we will have to win shootouts the rest of the season to have a chance. Stefanski is our division Shanahan we can win shootouts im trying to stay positive.

(11-01-2022, 11:28 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: The McVay offense is not the problem

People here saying the Rams and Bengals have been figured out? Seriously?

Both the Rams and Bengals have horrid offensive lines that constantly get bullied.

You can’t run that scheme successfully when the line gets abused

The Bengals line on paper should be much better.

I think part of the pass rush issues are the plays are predictable. ie Scheme issues.

I won't stop saying that this team is extremely similar to last year--because they are. I'd venture to say the Browns are very simillar to the team they were last year too. A lot of other teams as well.

Our weakness is offensive coaching and oline play--same as last year. Teams beat us by playing in our backfield--same as last year. The main differences between last year and this year are the players we've brought in along the oline. Otherwise our roster and coaching staff is basically the same as last year too.

All in all. I would say there are 90-95% more things similar than there are things different. I was hoping for a more evolved game plan on offense but I haven't seen much of that yet.

This year is just like last year. And this team tends to play up or down to the talent they are playing.

(11-01-2022, 11:09 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I know it feels good to say, "we were in the same spot last year!" but it's not really comparable. It's just not.

Yes, we started slow last year and had roadblocks, but this season is just completely different in more ways than one.

The INJURIES are the biggest difference. This is more sobering than actually taking an L to the Browns. Reader, Chase, and now Chido are significantly injured. Some could be done for the year. That's 3 of your 4 best players.

Another difference - teams know how to beat us and are prepared to beat us. We aren't "sneaking up" on anyone this year. Explosive plays are down significantly. This is a problem.

And finally - the divisional record/schedule. 0-3 in the division is a REALLY bad spot to be in. We were at least 2-1 in the division last year before we made our run.

I am not trying to be a downer, but the glimmer of hope should not be "hey we did it last year, we can do it again!" because it's really not that simple.

Also we added players to help our line , that is different but our Oline still sucks though... 

Yea. This may end up being a lost year due to injuries and growing pains similar to how 2021 was the Ravens' lost year due to injuries.

(11-01-2022, 12:19 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: I won't stop saying that this team is extremely similar to last year--because they are. I'd venture to say the Browns are very simillar to the team they were last year too. A lot of other teams as well.

Our weakness is offensive coaching and oline play--same as last year. Teams beat us by playing in our backfield--same as last year. The main differences between last year and this year are the players we've brought in along the oline. Otherwise our roster and coaching staff is basically the same as last year too.

All in all. I would say there are 90-95% more things similar than there are things different. I was hoping for a more evolved game plan on offense but I haven't seen much of that yet.

Big plays saved us last year and made the coaches look better. The NFL has adjusted.

(11-01-2022, 11:14 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: I thought the offseason OL moves would put us in Bills-like dominance this season. I thought we'd be beating down teams 35-14 and didn't anticipate we'd be an average NFL team. We still have half the season to go, but it sure does feel like we'll continue the inconsistent play and end up with an average record at best.

I would include myself in this boat. I expected improvement--especially along the oline and with the coaching. It feels like the coaches on offense have taken a step back this year, and the oline picked up where it left off. It has been tough to watch us get out-schemed/out-coached and to see our offensive line struggle so much against good competition.

If you step back and look at this team compared to last years team, they are strikingly similar. Same strengths and weaknesses. Middle of the pack trying to fight our way back into the playoff hunt. Same as last year. 

Do I expect us to have the same magic late in the year? Maybe. We have a lot of skill outside.

(11-01-2022, 12:23 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Yea. This may end up being a lost year due to injuries and growing pains similar to how 2021 was the Ravens' lost year due to injuries.

Totally healthy, this year was probably 10-7. Maybe 11 wins.

Now, 8 or 9 wins.

But, ALL TEAMS face injuries.

OBJ got injured in the SB. Woods was out. It happens.

(11-01-2022, 12:26 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Big plays saved us last year and made the coaches look better. The NFL has adjusted.

We've had big plays this year. They've mostly come in our wins against weaker competition though. Definitely haven't had the big plays against the Ravens and Steelers that we had last year; I attribute this to our offense not evolving from last year and their defenses getting better.

Mixon was more effective last year. From what we've seen Perine looks like the better back in our offense. 

Record-wise, we are very similar. At times we look extremely out-coached in games (like we did last year). And at times we look like a good team. 

Nobody can win on talent alone. We need the coaching to improve and the offense to evolve or we'll have to re-evaluate this off-season because--as you said--'the NFL has adjusted' and we haven't evolved our offense.

(11-01-2022, 12:37 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: We've had big plays this year. They've mostly come in our wins against weaker competition though. Definitely haven't had the big plays against the Ravens and Steelers that we had last year; I attribute this to our offense not evolving from last year and their defenses getting better.

Mixon was more effective last year. From what we've seen Perine looks like the better back in our offense. 

Record-wise, we are very similar. At times we look extremely out-coached in games (like we did last year). And at times we look like a good team. 

Nobody can win on talent alone. We need the coaching to improve and the offense to evolve or we'll have to re-evaluate this off-season because--as you said--'the NFL has adjusted' and we haven't evolved our offense.

The big plays basically came in the last 2 games.

Last year, they happened A LOT more in more games.

Our big plays come against bad defensive coaches who refuse to play cover 2 against us, or who don't have the personnel to pull it off like the Falcons.

Our offensive coaches aren't innovative. Burrow and Chase made them appear that way.

(11-01-2022, 11:28 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: The McVay offense is not the problem

People here saying the Rams and Bengals have been figured out? Seriously?

Both the Rams and Bengals have horrid offensive lines that constantly get bullied.

You can’t run that scheme successfully when the line gets abused

Which is why Zac and Co need to stop trying to fit the round peg into the square hole.  Adapt to the players you have.  It's necessary because of injuries, depth and generally just for players available.  On any team.  In any season.  I'm not football guru, but the play breakdowns I've seen the past few seasons *look* brilliant but aren't developing properly because of execution.  So how long do you beat your head against the wall doing the same thing over and over insisting that it should work, even though it's not?  Even with the injuries, there is no excuse for the team to have performed like they did last night. 

(11-01-2022, 12:39 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: The big plays basically came in the last 2 games.

Last year, they happened A LOT more in more games.

Our big plays come against bad defensive coaches who refuse to play cover 2 against us, or who don't have the personnel to pull it off like the Falcons.

Our offensive coaches aren't innovative. Burrow and Chase made them appear that way.

I agree. Our coaching staff has yet to show me anything innovative. We are very vanilla with our play design. Very predictable. We don't adjust our gameplan based on who we are playing. I want to see some route combinations designed to get players wide open. Everything has been contested and that's on the coaches. They should run shotgun almost exclusively with a lot of draws to Perine/Mixon, more screens, and more quick hitters to wideouts.

There are coaches out there making due with far less than we have in terms of weapons. I hope Taylor and co. don't waste all of this talent for years to come. Hopefully they can learn on the fly or management can pony up for some real coaches. We can't win on talent alone.