(09-09-2024, 09:09 AM)RunKijanaRun Wrote: I remember the tone here immediately after the SB ended. Melancholy; sure…but there was so much hope & optimism about the seasons to come. We’d arrived! Burrow/Chase/Tee were going to bring us back every other year, at a minimum! It’s just beginning! I tried to quell the irrational exuberance with my spartan, stoic reality checks, but no one listened. I knew that was the shot. And it was likely going to be the only shot for that group. I tried.

But right then, it was hard to blame them. But a team which only has the stars align correctly for it 3 times in its existence was never just going to recalibrate the aim slightly, tool up and take care of unfinished business. Team was still good and likely deserved to go back. I always say this franchise is cursed. Well, a guy almost dropping dead on our field is essentially what prevented a return trip. That kind of thing does not happen to other teams. That’s just Cincinnati Bengals Football.

Fast forward slightly to now, and the franchise is a mess. As usual. We didn’t win in the Burrow rookie contract window, and this team has never been capable of winning in anything but the most ideal circumstances. Higgins turned into Glass Joe. Chase has become public enemy #1 (sharing the spot with MB). Several draft picks and millions of dollars later, we still don’t have a good OL. Anarumo’s kinda the bum we suspected he was all along. And Joe Burrow might be broken at worst; settled in as a fragile top-10 QB at best. Zac Taylor is a disaster.

And here we sit, coming off an unbelievably bad loss to open 2024 and a few days away from being 0-2. Some say when God closes a door, He opens a window. God closed our windows & doors and put us in a porta-potti in a flooded basement. Who dey. We are cursed.

  Good post..there are a multitude of issues and when Burrow was flying they were covered up..there is no excuse for this team to play as poorly in the first game as they did especially when considering the past couple of seasons..I am a pretty patient man but Zac would have been fired right after the game..2) Burrow does look broken..something is amiss and I think the wrist is and will , unfortunately , cause him major issues..It was a terrible injury for a quarterback 3) Pilcher should have never been promoted to OC..4) As Joe Mixon runs for 160 yds in Texas..and now we have Zach Moss..a somewhat decent secondary running back..%) I look forward to your posts and honesty..but..don't have a heart attack..its going to be a tough season..you are absolutely correct..the Burrow magic has faded and now everything amiss will be exposed

most QBs yesterday had sub performance games yardage wise, how many 300 yard passers did we have, 1, 2?

but the vote of no confidence from zac is the nail to me, don't punt that ball you idiot. especially with this anarumo defense. you put your faith in anarumo than burrow? Shot of no confidence. Ain't no more yelling at the camera "don't ***** zero me" from Burrow.

Burrow has his money and it is human nature to not have the same drive, I'd take browning's "you should have never ***** cut me" and mixon's same quote for sure right now over whatever unmotivated mess the bengals are in.

Losing a football game hurts less when you've got 50 million back there. Our wins involve getting lucky, we were superbly unlucky yesterday on top of it. Like they say you can create luck, and it shows that we haven't put the work done to do so.

Games look a whole lot different if you only get 10K if you lose. Live like the rest of us. It's just entertainment though so win or lose, you get the millions. Can someone convince me anyone on the team yesterday had drive other than our punter to show he will take the starting job?

(09-09-2024, 09:49 AM)ERIC1 Wrote: 1)something is amiss with Burrow..that  ligament injury injury he suffered can easily be a career ender for a quarterback 2) as Joe Mixon runs for 160 yds for the Texans....Zach Moss @ most is a secondary running back  3) promoting Pilcher was a major mistake

Yup, I agree.  Something is not right with Burrow.  Don't know what it is.  Injury, personal, not prepared, etc.  Something just seems wrong/off.

Also, maybe that deep ball is what hurt the wrist?  Did they start showing him messing with the wrist before or after that pass?  It was obviously bothering him.

(09-09-2024, 09:09 AM)RunKijanaRun Wrote: I remember the tone here immediately after the SB ended. Melancholy; sure…but there was so much hope & optimism about the seasons to come. We’d arrived! Burrow/Chase/Tee were going to bring us back every other year, at a minimum! It’s just beginning! I tried to quell the irrational exuberance with my spartan, stoic reality checks, but no one listened. I knew that was the shot. And it was likely going to be the only shot for that group. I tried.

But right then, it was hard to blame them. But a team which only has the stars align correctly for it 3 times in its existence was never just going to recalibrate the aim slightly, tool up and take care of unfinished business. Team was still good and likely deserved to go back. I always say this franchise is cursed. Well, a guy almost dropping dead on our field is essentially what prevented a return trip. That kind of thing does not happen to other teams. That’s just Cincinnati Bengals Football.

Fast forward slightly to now, and the franchise is a mess. As usual. We didn’t win in the Burrow rookie contract window, and this team has never been capable of winning in anything but the most ideal circumstances. Higgins turned into Glass Joe. Chase has become public enemy #1 (sharing the spot with MB). Several draft picks and millions of dollars later, we still don’t have a good OL. Anarumo’s kinda the bum we suspected he was all along. And Joe Burrow might be broken at worst; settled in as a fragile top-10 QB at best. Zac Taylor is a disaster.

And here we sit, coming off an unbelievably bad loss to open 2024 and a few days away from being 0-2. Some say when God closes a door, He opens a window. God closed our windows & doors and put us in a porta-potti in a flooded basement. Who dey. We are cursed.

Well the SB was crazy too in the sense that the Rams changed strategies in the 2nd half and the Bengals couldn't counter it.

But, the worry was the Bengals had all this talent on rookie deals which is like a cheat code to win in the NFL. And a staff that had been inept but looked good. You knew Taylor would basically get a lifetime contract after that. And you knew that the young talent would get paid. And the big concern was whether the Bengals could then continue to draft and build a team with massively paid stars.

Look...IF they beat the Chiefs next week or play them tough, people will feel better I'm sure. It's another data point.

(09-09-2024, 08:42 AM)Mickeypoo Wrote: Watching the Bengals game and then watching the Rams/Lions game was like contrasting a pro team with a high school team.  

I really hope I am wrong, and I am not trying to be purposely negative, but I truly believe our window has closed and we are going back to .500 or less seasons.

We lost a lot of talent that has not been replaced.  Burrow has been physically abused and his wrist is a huge question mark that is obviously bothering him still.  That alone could be the end of Burrow's career.  Our coaching, whether it is scheme or getting players to play good football is very lacking.

You have Higgins with what seems like a constant hammy injury and Chase who is more concerned with getting a penny more than Jefferson cause feelz rather than focusing on playing a great game and prepping with the team.  The o-line is below average to maybe barely average.  Our D cannot stop a high school team run game.

Again, not trying to be negative, just trying to be realistic.  I have absolutely no reason to believe that in 6 days we are magically going to transform into some world beater team and go into Arrowhead and beat Mahomes and the Chiefs.  I expect an absolute beatdown of the Bengals.  We are a shell of our 2 great seasons.  We had our chance; the window is closed.  It just feels so much like we are back to Andy Dalton like times.  

Mahomes is far superior to Burrow at this point.  Mahomes seems like this funny, down to earth carefree dude who just wants to have fun and win football games.  Burrow is like some flamboyant pretty boy jet setting off to do fashion shows and see what kind of reactions he can get from crazy outfits.  He dumps his longtime girlfriend for some hot influencer while Mahomes quietly stays with his longtime high school sweetheart and starts a family.  As of right now burrow is not even remotely close to someone like Mahomes and our coaching staff is JV compared to a team like the Chiefs, not to mention MB still meddling.  We do have some cool social media and hype videos though to trick the fans yet again.  The Bengals org is Lucy and all of us fans are Charlie Brown.  Sad.

Anyway.  Feel free to rip me apart, but that's what I honestly think.  I REALLY, REALLY hope I am wrong.  I truly hope we roll into KC and just dismantle the Chiefs and everything looks bright again in Bengal land.  Unfortunately, what is it they say, hope is not a plan.

Who-Dey!

Completely agree with your post. Watching this team play, is like watching a bunch of guys pretending to be athletics playing weekend football. They are not even close to looking like a professional football team. I said that all preseason, that every team looked better and more prepared for the season to start.

(09-09-2024, 10:10 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Well the SB was crazy too in the sense that the Rams changed strategies in the 2nd half and the Bengals couldn't counter it.

But, the worry was the Bengals had all this talent on rookie deals which is like a cheat code to win in the NFL. And a staff that had been inept but looked good. You knew Taylor would basically get a lifetime contract after that. And you knew that the young talent would get paid. And the big concern was whether the Bengals could then continue to draft and build a team with massively paid stars.

Look...IF they beat the Chiefs next week or play them tough, people will feel better I'm sure. It's another data point.

If they beat the Chiefs next week, hell must have frozen over, I don’t see that happening.

(09-09-2024, 10:20 AM)Timanky12 Wrote: If they beat the Chiefs next week, hell must have frozen over, I don’t see that happening.

The thing about this never ending movie called the NFL is you see something every game, let alone every week, that you’ve never seen before!

(09-09-2024, 10:01 AM)Mickeypoo Wrote: Yup, I agree.  Something is not right with Burrow.  Don't know what it is.  Injury, personal, not prepared, etc.  Something just seems wrong/off.

Also, maybe that deep ball is what hurt the wrist?  Did they start showing him messing with the wrist before or after that pass?  It was obviously bothering him.

Problem is receivers can’t get separation, everyone is covered and pass has to be perfect. For all the talk about us being loaded with WR’s, nobody is open and  all we do is check down for a 5 yard pass. Doesn’t anyone do a double move any more.

(09-09-2024, 10:24 AM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: The thing about this never ending movie called the NFL is you see something every game, let alone every week, that you’ve never seen before!

I’m afraid we are going to see 50 points put up against the bengals defense.

(09-09-2024, 10:20 AM)Timanky12 Wrote: If they beat the Chiefs next week, hell must have frozen over, I don’t see that happening.

I don't expect them to win. But, we've seen this team look terrible for several weeks and then all of the sudden get it together.

I do wonder how the Higgins and Chase contracts are impacting the team though. It has to be a distraction at some level.

(09-09-2024, 10:26 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I don't expect them to win. But, we've seen this team look terrible for several weeks and then all of the sudden get it together.

I do wonder how the Higgins and Chase contracts are impacting the team though. It has to be a distraction at some level.

This team is amateur hour, not even close to looking professional.

(09-07-2024, 01:55 AM)samhain Wrote: Well, we had a nice run.  Got a good qb.  Got him pulverized behind a fecal matter o-line.  Went to a SB anyway.  It was a cool moment.  I got super drunk and ate some chicken wings that day.  Snoop had a solid halftime show.   I might have slipped on some ice in Covington.

Now some guys that catch footballs wanna play sick and talk to reporters  while pretending to be team players.  Oooh my hamstring has a boo-boo but I feel better than Eva!  22 mil for free would make me feel good, too, lol.  Dire Straits wrote a song about this upcoming Tee Higgins season.  Yeah, buddy, that's his own hair.  

How coincidental.

Our run D will suck.  You don't suck with Reader vs the run and suddenly not suck after losing him.

We are lying to ourselves.  Yes this is an obnoxious OP, but the problems are glaring.  Too many guys that don't want to be here.  Bad DL.  That won't get the job done in the AFCN.  Teams will pound us at the LOS.  Chase and Tee are all about themselves.  Joe is alone.  Run game is an afterthought.  

Guys and gals, I may be ripped.  I may have partaken in some stuff and some things.  No matter.  My sense here is bad.  Like real bad.  Like wet fart in deep sleep bad.  There's nothing about getting abused by the Browns in recent seasons that's says it will go any different in this one.  

I'm sorry guys.  I really am. I'm just being honest.  We're in major trouble.  It may not come vs the Pats.  We can shrug t off if KC works us over at Arrowhead.  No matter.  WE.  ARE. CURSED.  

Too much noise.  Not a team that's ready for a SB run.  I hate it, but we are about to get a strong dose of reality after September goes by the wayside.

I'm pretty sure some on here were talking about how much more difficult it was going to be to put a good team on the field once Burrow (and Chase) signed veteran deal(s).

Bengals now have to start getting earlier contributions from draft picks, better quality play from cheaper FAs, and the like.

It didn't make sense to me why Rankins was signed to be the NT.
Jenkins and Jackson made sense to fill that spot, but both are ouch right now.

The Bengals aren't built to stop a run-oriented team like the Patriots, Browns, etc.

Watching games yesterday, it’s pretty obvious that our defense pass coverage is horrible. Other teams, their DB’s are all over the receivers like a cheap shirt, and our guys and no where to be seen. Is it the quality of the DB’s or the defensive scheme? Either way, we can not compete with that lack of coverage on pass routes. Not to mention, we can stop the run, again.

(09-09-2024, 10:01 AM)Mickeypoo Wrote: Yup, I agree.  Something is not right with Burrow.  Don't know what it is.  Injury, personal, not prepared, etc.  Something just seems wrong/off.

Also, maybe that deep ball is what hurt the wrist?  Did they start showing him messing with the wrist before or after that pass?  It was obviously bothering him.

Why would he do the blonde hair thing if he wasnt close to 100%? I saw that as a cockiness move "look at me , im back better then ever" now it just looks ridiculous and im worried 
his contract may cripple this team for many yrs to come
That said, Im holding my opinion until week 5 or 6 as that is about when they start playing to the level we all expect 

(09-09-2024, 10:01 AM)Mickeypoo Wrote: Yup, I agree.  Something is not right with Burrow.  Don't know what it is.  Injury, personal, not prepared, etc.  Something just seems wrong/off.

Also, maybe that deep ball is what hurt the wrist?  Did they start showing him messing with the wrist before or after that pass?  It was obviously bothering him.

It's Burrow's first game since he was hurt last season. 

(09-09-2024, 10:38 AM)Timanky12 Wrote: Watching games yesterday, it’s pretty obvious that our defense pass coverage is horrible. Other teams, their DB’s are all over the receivers like a cheap shirt, and our guys and no where to be seen. Is it the quality of the DB’s or the defensive scheme? Either way, we can not compete with that lack of coverage on pass routes. Not to mention, we can stop the run, again.

The preseason games, we  were 0-3 against other teams 2nd and 3rd guys most times and the other teams 2-3 guys looked decent and had no trouble winning. I know, I know, our 2-3 string guys will be selling insurance come season start. But honestly our 1st string guys looked like 3rd and 4th string guys if there is a 4th string in the league which I know there isn't.

I remember a player quote from years ago but don't remember who said it but he said their practices were rough and exhausting and made games seem easy. Maybe Zac needs to try that principal and not worry so much about having players fresh for the season.

(09-09-2024, 09:49 AM)ERIC1 Wrote: 1)something is amiss with Burrow..that  ligament injury injury he suffered can easily be a career ender for a quarterback 2) as Joe Mixon runs for 160 yds for the Texans....Zach Moss @ most is a secondary running back  3) promoting Pilcher was a major mistake

It's called rust. That tends to happen when you miss half a season and a bunch of practices due to injury. Burrow's wrist looked fine when he was throwing the ball. Every throw was pinpoint accurate and his arm strength looked fine. That's all I cared about yesterday. I guarantee that Burrow will play at an elite level this season.

(09-09-2024, 09:49 AM)ERIC1 Wrote: 2) as Joe Mixon runs for 160 yds for the Texans....Zach Moss @ most is a secondary running back

Zach Moss averaged 4.9 ypc yesterday. He wasn't the problem, play calling was. Do you really think Mixon would have dropped 160 yards if he got 9 carries instead of 30? No, and the same people asking why we got rid of Mixon would be asking why we paid him.

I found this to be pretty funny (in a sad way).

https://theonion.com/bengals-coaching-staff-holding-breath-after-joe-burrow-endures-rough-high-five/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFMEwdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbLExekx0RYKs1Xv4bAlTnx-yUjFTRKl5I5gK4lbhXaeSCTowuttjymQeA_aem_QG5LX0dsGnASdDTT8ZIMPA

Tamaurice missing the Chiefs game, lol

(09-09-2024, 09:58 AM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: but the vote of no confidence from zac is the nail to me, don't punt that ball you idiot. especially with this anarumo defense. you put your faith in anarumo than burrow? Shot of no confidence. Ain't no more yelling at the camera "don't ***** zero me" from Burrow...

Anarumo's defense held New England to just 16 points and you blame him when the Zac Taylor schemed offense led by Burrow manages just 10.  You see the problem there?