Zac is a mid tier play caller at best, Burrow makes him, everyone in the league or affiliated with football knows this...if you don't you're kidding yourself. Zac will go back to Dalton Zac and we will be lucky to win 1-2 more games if Burrow is in fact out.

Regardless of what you think about Zac, the team aren't exactly set up to thrive without their #1 QB. The defence is ridiculously porous and we have no reliable run game. Certainly can argue 'well that's up the Zac/Duke/etc to make sure we aren't in this spot'. But tbh we could have the best HC and playcaller of all time... we'd probably still struggle with this defence and lack of run game.

Probably a sore point to make right now, but we aren't last year's Ravens. They struggled on offence when Jackson went out last year, but they were in pretty much every game, predominantly due to the defence. We aren't in that same spot.

(11-17-2023, 09:55 AM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: Probably a sore point to make right now, but we aren't last year's Ravens. They struggled on offence when Jackson went out last year, but they were in pretty much every game, predominantly due to the defence. We aren't in that same spot.

Let's make the sore point even more painful.  Forget last year's Ravens.  We aren't even this year's Browns.  Cleveland is 6-3 with Deshaun Watson out for the season.  Their backup quarterbacks are two guys I've never heard of who haven't started on a regular basis since middle school.  However, the Turds can run the ball and play great defense; this is how a team wins without a franchise quarterback.

(11-17-2023, 09:46 AM)740Bengal Wrote: Zac is a mid tier play caller at best, Burrow makes him, everyone in the league or affiliated with football knows this...if you don't you're kidding yourself. Zac will go back to Dalton Zac and we will be lucky to win 1-2 more games if Burrow is in fact out.

It's so much more than simply play calling.  All plays are designed to be successful, it's the overall offensive scheme that is worn out and teams have diagnosed it and know how to defend against it.  They need to completely rethink and redesign the offensive game plan.

Yeah it's amazing Browns have signed away a ton of money to their QB also and yet clearly have a better team, while our whole team depends on 1 guy. I think CLE is an anomaly though. If Myles got injured I wonder what would happen, their defense is superbowl caliber for sure.

Any coach without a guy like Burro will look worse this isn’t fair

Our scheme is Burrow and Chase being superman. Without that, its going to be bad.

Some coaches scheme guys to look better.

(11-17-2023, 10:05 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Let's make the sore point even more painful.  Forget last year's Ravens.  We aren't even this year's Browns.  Cleveland is 6-3 with Deshaun Watson out for the season.  Their backup quarterbacks are two guys I've never heard of who haven't started on a regular basis since middle school.  However, the Turds can run the ball and play great defense; this is how a team wins without a franchise quarterback.

Let's make the sore point even more insufferable. These Bengals are behind the Steelers and their pathetic offense. What do the Steelers have? A bona fide Hall of Fame Head Coach.

Tomlin is light years better than Zac.

Zac's was exposed with Burrow. SF was the best offensive game they've played in 2 years, and he has done nothing he did in that game. Burrow is back in shotgun 99% of the time, and the reason the offense was so successful against SF was the mix in play-calling with him under center a ton and the play-action that came with that. Yet he went away from it after 1 game and they've lost every game since...

Who is this on? Zac or Burrow? Is Burrow just that against being under center that Zac would go away from what had worked so well that it opened eyes of the offense potential if SF playbook would have been it's identity?

(11-17-2023, 10:44 AM)BengalYankee Wrote: Let's make the sore point even more insufferable. These Bengals are behind the Steelers and their pathetic offense. What do the Steelers have? A bona fide Hall of Fame Head Coach.

Tomlin is light years better than Zac.

It makes me throw up in my mouth to admit it but you're right. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season.  Even with an inert offense the Steelers will make the playoffs -- unless the Bengals can find lightning in a bottle and beat them twice.  I'm not going to pile on Zac Taylor with more criticism; he is who he is.  The trouble in 2023 is mostly on the defensive side of the ball and particularly on third down.

(11-17-2023, 10:35 AM)Housh Wrote: Any coach without a guy like Burro will look worse this isn’t fair

the niners seem to keep moving regardless of qb. The Vikings are doing ok without Kirk cousins. The ravens, without Lamar, don’t win as many games but play competitive football. The colts are still doing as expected with Minshew.

Some of this is coach/scheme, in other cases it’s better insurance options.

We just decided to ensure our season with a guy who had never thrown an NFL pass. Go look around the league at other insurance policy’s to franchise QBs. Chiefs have gabbert who flopped as a first round pick. That said, he is a guy that had been around the block for a while and also in a good scheme. Same for the eagles picking up Mariotta.

If either mahomes or hurts goes down for the year the season is over. But in a short term IR situation, those guys are more likely to win you football games than a guy who had never (ever) thrown an NFL pass before the season.

There was no contingency plan in place. We (the bengals) just decided to take the “free” $25,000 life insurance policy at work instead of actually planning for the worst for our families.

(11-17-2023, 10:54 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: the niners seem to keep moving regardless of qb.  The Vikings are doing ok without Kirk cousins. The ravens, without Lamar, don’t win as many games but play competitive football.  The colts are still doing as expected with Minshew.  

Browns have won without Watson..... 

(11-17-2023, 10:55 AM)jj22 Wrote: Browns have won without Watson..... 

The eagles won a superbowl after losing front runner MVP.

What's going to be exposed is the Bengals offseason plan centering on the notion that Burrow will be healthy. Now they have an inexperienced undrafted QB that's 27 years old, tight ends by committee, no dual rbs, and an oline that has alternating weak links on too many plays. Burrow when healthy is good enough to carry the offense in spite of those things, but now though, well hopefully Browning is the next Kurt Warner. And if Burrow isn't out by some chance, that offseason plan is still a fail imo.

Am I the only one that doesn't think this offense is a complete disaster?

They were a top 5 passing unit last year and have looked pretty good in the games Joe has been healthy. They actually moved the ball pretty well last night but stalled when they got past the 40 yard line for one reason or another (Boyd drop, Burrow sacked). The Ravens punted just as much as the Bengals.

To me, the offensive lapses come down to guys not executing. Whether it's penalties, offensive line issues, or drops. I know that's not as sexy of an answer as "the play calling sucks!", but you need to look at each drive in the context of WHY it failed.

To fix the offense I think its imperitive to FINALLY sure up this offensive line in the off-season and to REALLY take a hard look at the running game - they need more out of it. If you can significantly improve upon those things I think this offense goes to the level that everyone wants it to go to.

(11-17-2023, 11:11 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Am I the only one that doesn't think this offense is a complete disaster?

They were a top 5 passing unit last year and have looked pretty good in the games Joe has been healthy. They actually moved the ball pretty well last night but stalled when they got past the 40 yard line for one reason or another (Boyd drop, Burrow sacked). The Ravens punted just as much as the Bengals.

To me, the offensive lapses come down to guys not executing. Whether it's penalties, offensive line issues, or drops. I know that's not as sexy of an answer as "the play calling sucks!", but you need to look at each drive in the context of WHY it failed.

To fix the offense I think its imperitive to FINALLY sure up this offensive line in the off-season and to REALLY take a hard look at the running game - they need more out of it. If you can significantly improve upon those things I think this offense goes to the level that everyone wants it to go to.

This!

(11-17-2023, 10:55 AM)jj22 Wrote: Browns have won without Watson..... 

(11-17-2023, 10:57 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: The eagles won a superbowl after losing front runner MVP.

Exactly! Even in 2015 the Bengals finished respectably -- and very nearly won a playoff game -- after losing Andy Dalton.  

Zac and the entire team already have been exposed. Even with a healthy Burrow. The first years with JB, Chase and Higgins they were new and nobody had tape on them. Only took a season for the rest of the league to catch up.

Oh C'mon folks. Everyone knows Zac is the greatest offensive mind in 4 generations of sick pregnant houseflies.. He's just scheming for his retirement so his wife can go house shopping in a new city..

(11-17-2023, 10:35 AM)Housh Wrote: Any coach without a guy like Burro will look worse this isn’t fair

Most NFL head coaches have never had a guy like Burrow.

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