There no reason to blame Zac for the drafts or the misses in FA in 2024. His FA  signings overall have been good. Last two years there were a lot of misses but that’s on the FO saving cap space for extensions that never or haven’t got done.  Bates would have been cheap by now at 10m. Only Burrow extended from the Championship runs. The quality dropped with the penny pinching. 

And the Offense you can’t really complain about.

I’d like to see Zac grow a pair and pull a Marvin and get something out the FO each year. And I’d like to see him overhaul the scouting department. He did take this team to a sb. He needs to act like it while he still can lean on 5-2. 

But they’ll likely fire Lou. Which I hate to see but you have to at this point. There will be some good DC options this offseason. Vrabel, Eberflus, Saleh. It’s got to be a coveted opening.

(11-12-2024, 01:24 PM)Wyche Wrote: I think I'd fire Tobin first, and maybe most of the defensive staff. Zacs seat should be hot though.

Did you submit that article to USA Today under a pen name?? 

(11-12-2024, 04:36 PM)jj22 Wrote: There no reason to blame Zac for the drafts or the misses in FA in 2024. His FA  signings overall have been good. Last two years there were a lot of misses but that’s on the FO saving cap space for extensions that never or haven’t got done.  Bates would have been cheap by now at 10m. Only Burrow extended from the Championship runs. The quality dropped with the penny pinching. 

And the Offense you can’t really complain about.

I’d like to see Zac grow a pair and pull a Marvin and get something out the FO each year. And I’d like to see him overhaul the scouting department. He did take this team to a sb. He needs to act like it while he still can lean on 5-2. 

But they’ll likely fire Lou. Which I hate to see but you have to at this point. There will be some good DC options this offseason. Vrabel, Eberflus, Saleh. It’s got to be a coveted opening.

When did Marv ever grow a pair and make the FO go after top Free Agents?

Agree on the DC options, those are some good ones to add.

(11-12-2024, 04:44 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: When did Marv ever grow a pair and make the FO go after top Free Agents?

Agree on the DC options, those are some good ones to add.

Must have been when he threw Palmer under the buss.

I don’t know if Marvin really got anything but let him tell it they were pretty much begging him to come back each of the last 5 years. He would act like he was one year deals. And each year was a fresh start ignoring all the prior year failures. 

He couldn’t touch Tobin but that’s where 5-2 should be better played. 

(11-12-2024, 04:18 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote: Can't many teams in the league make the same argument? "We're only a few plays from a winning record..." That's how parity in the NFL seems to work since there are many close games. I'm definitely not analyzing or breaking it down myself to demonstrate if the "a few plays from winning" statement is valid for other teams. But if it is accurate, then does it negate using the argument in favor of the head coach if the argument can be applied to the majority of coaches?

I hate the we're only a few plays away argument!! Like you say every team is a few plays away. It's just like the injury excuse. With very rare exceptions every team deals with multiple injuries every season.

All I know is this:

Since the AFCCG we've went 9-8 and missed the playoffs in 2023. And we're staring down the barrel of another lost season at 4-6. The Joe Burrow window is only going to be open for so long.

This team has to change the way it's being ran in a major way and I'm not so sure that a new HC isn't one of the things to change? It seems we've been suffering the same ailments now far too many times.

Suspect to just plain bad Oline. Now a bad D line. None or very damn few of our draft picks are developing. Zac's in game decisions have been under much scrutiny. On and on. Look I understand everything isn't Zac's fault.

BUT.... we sure seem to be headed in the wrong direction. We need to do a 180 and fast

(11-12-2024, 05:34 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote:

I hate the we're only a few plays away argument!! Like you say every team is a few plays away. It's just like the injury excuse. With very rare exceptions every team deals with multiple injuries every season.

What I've noticed the past few games is that the defense comes out and plays like their hair is on fire for the 1st half or so, then when the first thing goes wrong in the second half it's like they forget how to play after that.

(11-12-2024, 05:46 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: All I know is this:

Since the AFCCG we've went 9-8 and missed the playoffs in 2023. And we're staring down the barrel of another lost season at 4-6. The Joe Burrow window is only going to be open for so long.

This team has to change the way it's being ran in a major way and I'm not so sure that a new HC isn't one of the things to change? It seems we've been suffering the same ailments now far too many times.

Suspect to just plain bad Oline. Now a bad D line. None or very damn few of our draft picks are developing. Zac's in game decisions have been under much scrutiny. On and on. Look I understand everything isn't Zac's fault.

BUT.... we sure seem to be headed in the wrong direction. We need to do a 180 and fast

All true.

(11-12-2024, 06:00 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What I've noticed the past few games is that the defense comes out and plays like their hair is on fire for the 1st half or so, then when the first thing goes wrong in the second half it's like they forget how to play after that.

Yep, don't know what has happened with Lou and his halftime adjustments. News flash, when a Defense is playing well with say Jordan Battle...

You don't take him out and put Geno Stone in. Just one example. Battle was all over the place and making plays against the Ravens in that 1st 
half. Battle brings physicality that Stone does not and is ten times the tackler and has better instincts from what I have seen as well.

History says no.

The family hates the process of interviewing and hiring. They most likely will avoid it at all costs.

The only way it happens is a hemmorhaging of season ticket holders and possibly a highly disgruntled elite quarterback.

The only reading for saying it's possible is that it's a cheap (er) way to convince fans that you are addressing the problem. Just ask the Reds.

(11-12-2024, 02:42 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Yes we have two great players on offense and Trey on defense but.... That doesn't mean ZT is the HC to get this team to where it needs to be.

The Bengals don't do full measures. Only 1/4 to 1/2 measures. They might turn over some assistant coaches, maybe go another way with the DC but i'd bet money if you asked Joe, he wouldn't want Zac gone. Burrow is certainly pissed at the outcome of games but i think he'd name 3-5 other things before even considering Zac. And i don't really think he'd even consider it.

They better show Tobin the door. Some of Tobin's best picks are ones you can't give him credit for. Green? Burrow? Chase? Gifted to him. When your organization is as hamstrung as this one, Duke Tobin ain't winning you a SB.

(11-12-2024, 01:49 PM)Whatever Wrote: Lou will go first.  The defense is far and away the weak link in the team despite most of the premium draft capital being spent there the past several years.  Until Lou is gone, Zac's seat isn't even warm.

This is the correct approach. One would think a team which scores almost 30 points per game would be better than 4-6 but here we are. It takes solid defense from front to back to win in the AFC North and let’s be honest: Zac is 10-21 against the AFC North and the majority of those losses were solidly on the lack of defense. I still claim Zac rebuilt the Bengals to compete in the NFC West.

Unlike the NFC West, the AFC North still plays smashmouth football more often than not and the Bengals aren’t built to do this anymore.

The team needs a defensive coordinator who can coach his players into physical play against both run and pass. That’s unfortunately not Lou.

Idk how Lou survives this.

HOW ON EARTH are the Bengals 4-6?!?! ?#RuleTheJungle | #NFL pic.twitter.com/x1hMqQ7UIt

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 12, 2024

(11-12-2024, 09:24 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Idk how Lou survives this.

HOW ON EARTH are the Bengals 4-6?!?! ?#RuleTheJungle | #NFL pic.twitter.com/x1hMqQ7UIt

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 12, 2024

Let's not at all act like Zac and Pitcher have the offense working as an unstoppable force, this team still can't feel confident in gaining a yard on the ground when they need a yard on the ground..

(11-12-2024, 09:24 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Idk how Lou survives this.

HOW ON EARTH are the Bengals 4-6?!?! ?#RuleTheJungle | #NFL pic.twitter.com/x1hMqQ7UIt

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 12, 2024

Lou can say he has the sacks leader! 

(11-12-2024, 09:29 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote: Lou can say he has the sacks leader! 

More than that Lou can point to losing Dax Hill, who was looking to have found a home at CB, going down for the year with injury as a key contribution to the defensive failures. He can also point to losing both starting DTs and an aspiring rookie DT to short term injuries as an excuse for the early season struggles. Bottom line is that the front office set him up for failure by not ensuring that he had a genuine NT on the roster to start the year. And then to add insult to injury (no pun intended) the same front office teases with bringing in Howard for a workout at CB and let him leave without a deal...

(11-12-2024, 01:10 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/bengals-free-agency-risks-could-mean-seats-are-getting-hot-in-cincy/ar-AA1tVUJR?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=d0d5c49fb6b84483b58cb9415acfc216&ei=10


I mean his wet gunpowder level slow starts are killing this team! He's 4-13-1 in the first 3 games of every season so far in his tenure here. His play calling is suspect to say the least. His in game decisions are very questionable at times.

Drafting in the top rounds has been crap and player development is not happening. In fact even the free agents seem to be getting worse cept for Trey and perhaps one other.

We're 4-6 and on the ledge of dropping off the playoff contention cliff. A loss to the Chargers and barring miracles it will be, and it's all but over. Steelers twice, Broncos, and I just don't see this team (defense) reeling off 6 in a row.

Do you think MB and the brain trust will say, we better go in a new direction before it's too late with Joe Burrow. Or even could JB ask for it? You can see he's not happy during pressers and interviews.

People called me crazy when I said at the end of last year the window might be closing.
While I can still be proven wrong this year or especially next year, the Bengals will really need to buck the odds the rest of this season and make some great FA signings and draft picks to get back to their deep playoff pushes.

(11-12-2024, 09:28 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Let's not at all act like Zac and Pitcher have the offense working as an unstoppable force, this team still can't feel confident in gaining a yard on the ground when they need a yard on the ground..

Yeah you gotta love their play designs on third and short.  Either throw it to Ja'marr behind the LOS or throw a bomb downfield.