(11-19-2023, 08:49 PM)QueenCity Wrote: Hey guys remember in 2023 when we won 2 more games when Burrow went down?  What a gutsy performance.

Said literally no one ever.

That's how I view people who refuse to acknowledge that tanking will literally make the Bengals better in 2024.

One of my lasting memories is Ryan Finley beating Pittsburgh on MNF in 2020 after Burrow had been lost for the season.

The Bengals had no hope for the playoffs. But they beat a 10-2 Pittsburgh team, with third stringer Ryan Finley. It was also the game where Von Bell laid out Juju Smith-Shuster, sending him flying backward and fumbling. This after Smith-Shuster had danced on the Bengals logo before the game.

I suppose the tankers would have preferred a loss. You know, helping the Bengals' draft position. But for those rooting for the Bengals, it was one of the more memorable and satisfying victories. 

I'd love to see the Bengals beat Pittsburgh. May not happen. But I'm sure as hell not going to be rooting for the Steelers with an eye to draft position.

As it was, the Bengals overcoming the odds in a MNF game, with a backup QB, help set the tone for the team's Super Bowl run. Something tanking would never do.

I mean if we are thinking outside the box getting Jackson Carman LG reps and offering him up as a day 3 trade prospect next offeason wouldn't be the worst idea.

(11-19-2023, 09:14 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Sure so we pick a few spots later in 2020 draft and wind up with Justin Herbert, Jonathan Taylor.

We pick a couple picks later in 2021 and take Devonta Smith and Creed Humphrey.

I don't believe in the Butterfly effect. 

(11-19-2023, 10:14 PM)Ell Prez Wrote: You really would rather have Herbert and Smith over Burrow and Chase? We all got opinions, but wow.

We also probably wouldn’t have Tee Higgins, Logan Wilson, others. Can’t change the past, but can affect the future.

(11-19-2023, 10:14 PM)Ell Prez Wrote: You really would rather have Herbert and Smith over Burrow and Chase? We all got opinions, but wow.

That's not what I said. I'd rather root for my team to win and cross the draft bridge when we get there. 

Was last year "meaningless"? I mean we didn't even get to the Superbowl. We coulda quit after our poor start and been in position to draft Bijan Robinson and Brian Branch. Unless you'd rather have Myles Murphy and DJ Turner

What about 2021 was that year "meaningless". We made it to the Superbowl but lost. We coulda quit after our poor start and drafted Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall. Unless you'd rather have Dax Hill and CTB

For the record I'm not actively rooting for the Bengals to lose out. I'm just not going to care if they do lose moving forward.

Sure we can all celebrate any potential wins but you'll have a hard time convincing me that winning 1-2 more games is for the betterment of the 2024 Bengals.

Again I urge Bengals fans to take a hard look at the Steelers. A franchise that likely will need to replace Pickett after 2 years but yet they will win 9-10 games this year with no chance at a generational QB. They are stuck in treadmill mode because they refuse to just tank for 1 season... and their fans hate it :)

Results today have mostly gone in our favour.

We beat the Steelers next week and the Jags beat the Texans we are well in the fight.

I refuse to start thinking about draft order until we know what we have with Browning in a real game.

We aren’t going to win it all but if Zac has installed this so called championship culture I’d expect us to play like we are still aiming for the playoffs and if Browning wins one who knows what a bit of confidence might do look at Dobbs.

People are being far too hasty.

(11-19-2023, 11:21 PM)bfine32 Wrote: That's not what I said. I'd rather root for my team to win and cross the draft bridge when we get there. 

Was last year "meaningless"? I mean we didn't even get to the Superbowl. We coulda quit after our poor start and been in position to draft Bijan Robinson and Brian Branch. Unless you'd rather have Myles Murphy and DJ Turner

What about 2021 was that year "meaningless". We made it to the Superbowl but lost. We coulda quit after our poor start and drafted Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall. Unless you'd rather have Dax Hill and CTB

Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Joe Burrow? Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Jake Browning? That's the difference between meaningless and not meaningless. Maybe Browning proves us all wrong takes us on a 10 game winning streak, wins the Superbowl, and we have the highest paid QB I'm NFL history ride our bench into the future. I doubt it though.

(11-20-2023, 12:32 AM)TheFan Wrote: Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Joe Burrow? Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Jake Browning? That's the difference between meaningless and not meaningless.

Bingo!

(11-20-2023, 12:32 AM)TheFan Wrote: Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Joe Burrow? Do you think we have a chance to win the Superbowl with Jake Browning? That's the difference between meaningless and not meaningless. Maybe Browning proves us all wrong  takes us on a 10 game winning streak, wins the Superbowl, and we have the highest paid QB I'm NFL history ride our bench into the future. I doubt it though.

So you'd rather have Myles Murphy and DJ Turner over Bijan Robinson and Brian Branch? We all got opinions but wow

(11-20-2023, 12:51 AM)bfine32 Wrote: So you'd rather have Myles Murphy and DJ Turner over Bijan Robinson and Brian Branch? We all got opinions but wow

So you'd rather post nonsense than reading what people say and using critical thinking? Are we a Superbowl contender with Jake Browning, yes or no? 

(11-20-2023, 12:21 AM)BengalsLUFC Wrote: Results today have mostly gone in our favour.

We beat the Steelers next week and the Jags beat the Texans we are well in the fight.

I refuse to start thinking about draft order until we know what we have with Browning in a real game.

We aren’t going to win it all but if Zac has installed this so called championship culture I’d expect us to play like we are still aiming for the playoffs and if Browning wins one who knows what a bit of confidence might do look at Dobbs.

People are being far too hasty.

I know people say 10 wins is the magic number but If the Bengals can beat Pittsburgh twice there is a realistic scenario where 9-8 can get them the 7th seed.  If they can get in then anything can happen

(11-20-2023, 12:57 AM)TheFan Wrote: So you'd rather post nonsense than reading what people say and using critical thinking? Are we a Superbowl contender with Jake Browning, yes or no? 

Yes. We are a Super Bowl "contender"  until we are mathematically eliminated from playoff "contention". 

When we are no longer a contender for the Super Bowl then I'll look toward the draft. I still won't be hoping we lose; nor will i consider any victory afterward "meaningless". 

We all have our definitions of "nonsense". 

We aren't winning the SB without Burrow...which is why it'd be nice if we were the kind of franchise that could draft good players and make the SB without him having to suffer a season ending injury where various things that keep his body together are forcefully snapped.

I get that we are making the best out of a bad situation, but I guess anything short of a SB win next year really makes all this crap for naught.  We need to nail the draft and make the most out of that 4th place schedule because if we don't we have to hope we can get it done with a lousy draft number and a 1st place schedule.  We can't make a habit out of needing Burrow to go down and the season to turn to absolute crap to set up our SB runs...eventually the Luck 2.0 stuff is going to get traction.

Then again, I guess when you win a SB no one really cares how you got there and what happened the year before.  Still, when you think of SB winning HOF QBs you don't usually think of season ending injuries setting up the run.

Hmm, I just realized the Jets are going to be poised for a similar run next year with Rodgers snapping his achilles and the Jets rolling with their craptastic bust QB for the entire season.  We shall see. They can't out crap the Patriots though, so they'll have to settle with a 3rd place schedule yellow brick road.

beat the Steelers then I don't care.

This team has too much talent and time together to lose out. The line, if they keep playing the way they have been the last 3 weeks will make it very tough. They need to step up. The defense needs to step up and play like they're capable. 

If this team loses out or only wins 1 more game, that's an indictment on everyone, that one guy (Burrow) is the only reason they go as deep in the playoffs as they have the last 2 years. 

They should have a realistic shot of winning in the next 5 games. Then they have the chiefs and browns to wrap it up. 

They have to get to 10 wins and hope that's enough, with how behind the 8 ball they are with tiebreakers. If they only win 1 or 2 more games, that's a bad bad thing for this coaching staff and team. Back's against the wall. Time to show what you're made of. You gonna play like your hair is on fire or are you gonna fold up like a little *****?

(11-19-2023, 10:54 PM)Nepa Wrote: I suppose the tankers would have preferred a loss. 

Again, it's more being realist than tankers.  I dont want to lose any game on purpose, Im not sure why this is so difficult to understand?  But the more we lose, the better players we will have to chose from.  In less than 2 months, free agency and the draft will be extremely important and the only topics for everyone on this board.

We have seen how much impact the right guy can make.  And having a much better pick each round could be vital to maintaining future success.

I don't want to be a team that uses their injuries as a reason not to compete. If I had to guess, I see 2 more wins in our future this year, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. I also see questions about the team. I remember when we lost Palmer to a knee injury and Chad Johnson allegedly lost it at halftime. It took Housh to point out that we were still in the lead in that game. Response to adversity shows character. IMO there are players and coaches on the team who ride Burrow's success and take credit. Let's see who shows up.

We have most of our team assembled. I don't think a few draft spots should make a big difference to a GM who knows what they are doing.

I don't think it matters if we try to tank or not. We don't have the team to win without Burrow. More specifically we don't have the coaches to.

(11-19-2023, 08:41 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Yes, Joe Burrow is out for the season.  Yes, the Bengals are last place in the AFC North. Ticket sales are dropping, fans are despondent, and the sports analysts are gleeful because they’ve projected the Bengals to completely implode.  Some fans even want the team to tank on purpose to secure an earlier draft pick.

I’m against tanking for any reason.  I want the Bengals to feed the NFL and the smarmy television analysts a big shitburger and make the playoffs anyway.  

It’s possible.  The defense needs to burn or shred the scheme used against Baltimore and Houston and do whatever they did against San Francisco and Buffalo.  Zac needs to switch to a run-first offense even if it means using an extra offensive lineman.

If the Bengals’ record was 4-6 or worse then I might make me more sympathetic to those who want to tank.  Let’s beat the Steelers and then move on to the next game.

Tanking should be as bad as the 1919 White Sox and Owners, Coaches, Players who get caught Tanking in the NFL should be kicked out of the game forever.   Throwing ball games on purpose is reason to get the 1919 White Sox treatment.  The allowed exception is last game of season, and teams bench 1st string to have them healthy for play-offs in NFL, MLB, NBA.

(11-19-2023, 09:45 PM)casear2727 Wrote: There is a difference in wanting a team to intentionally tank and being ok if a team loses their games.

I'd like to see some young players get more experience so they are ready for next year. 
Murphy, Battle, Turner, Jones, and Iosivas could use a ton of reps.

This sums up any contribution I was going to make to the thread. Now that Burrow is out, let some of the younger guys get more snaps. I'd have liked to have seen Jones on the field with Burrow but I'll settle for Browning-to-Jones for the TD.