Fellow miserable Bengals fans ….

I’m consistently guilty of being in the camp of piling on when we lose - driven from disappointment, but some perspective here:

The Bengals lost to:

Pats by 6 pts
*This one is inexcusable !!

Chiefs by 3 points (last minute)
*They are 9-1 and playoff-bound

Washington by 5 points (close game overall)
*They are 7-4 and playoff-bound

Rats by 3 points (last minute)
Rats by 1 points (last minute)
*They are 7-4 and playoff-bound

Eagles by 20 points — this one is inexcusable
*They are 8-2 and playoff-bound

Chargers by 7 points (last minute)
*They are 7-3 and playoff-bound

I know the record tells us - we are exactly what it says we are and we came up short when it mattered. That said, we hung w all of these playoff teams (except for Philly).

All of this said, we have also only beaten garbage teams sooo there’s that too

This team is average at best but a few tweaks and we may be ok next year. Not sure we need a giant overhaul - other than on D - to be competitive.

If we had a semi-functional defense (bottom 10 instead of bottom 5), we'd be 8-3 and headed to the playoffs. And that's with the Patriots game loss in place.

It is what it is. Hopefully, the offense remains this good next season and we fix the defense to be able to do...anything. Anything at all. We'll coast into the playoffs in 2025 if that is the case.

No excuse.

A lot of NFL teams lose close games. So knowing the Bengals lost close games doesn't do much for me as they sit at 4-7.

(Yesterday, 01:06 PM)CJD Wrote: If we had a semi-functional defense (bottom 10 instead of bottom 5), we'd be 8-3 and headed to the playoffs. And that's with the Patriots game loss in place.

It is what it is. Hopefully, the offense remains this good next season and we fix the defense to be able to do...anything. Anything at all. We'll coast into the playoffs in 2025 if that is the case.

Bingo

And that's the main reason (sorry you guys hanging on to hope) we ain't winning out. 

(Yesterday, 01:21 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote: A lot of NFL teams lose close games. So knowing the Bengals lost close games doesn't do much for me as they sit at 4-7.

They lost all the close games. If that doesn’t say something, then nothing does.

It’s like the Reds losing a lot of 1 runs game, people say it would average out. It didn’t, because they were not that consistent on offense or pitching.

You aren’t going to win if only 1 out of the 3 phases is playing well. Even if they are playing at an elite level.

You need a top defense and special teams. A top offense and defense, or top offense and st to never leave point on the board in shootouts to win in this league. 

We have 1 unit playing well. Offense. And even at an elite level with elite talent, it isn’t enough to win.

McPherson or the Defense is going to have to get fixed out of the bye. The schedule helps but none of it lends to any belief that all these warts won’t show up wildcard weekend. If we miraculously was able to make it in. In epic form. These core issues can’t really be fixed until the offseason.

Joe getting hit at an alarmingly high rate is becoming a real story to be concerned with.

(Yesterday, 01:54 PM)Timanky12 Wrote: They lost all the close games. If that doesn’t say something, then nothing does.

That and ZT and Burrow aren't rookies.  Once you have been in the NFL for a while there are no close losses, there are only losses.

(Yesterday, 02:12 PM)Goalpost Wrote: Joe getting hit at an alarmingly high rate is becoming a real story to be concerned with.

It is concerning, but it seems like we may have to consider that his play style might come with a high rate of getting hit.  
, 

We lost to the Chiefs by 1 point. Eventually we need to start winning these close games.

(Yesterday, 01:21 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote: A lot of NFL teams lose close games. So knowing the Bengals lost close games doesn't do much for me as they sit at 4-7.

Exactly. Well said, not much to add! We lost the Super Bowl, but we lost to the Super Bowl champions….

The team has Burrow and Chase as a result of being so damn bad. We really didn't have to do much to develop those guys as they are just natural superstars.
The rest of the team is the result of MFB, Duke and Zac.

Just imagine replacing Joe and Jamaar with two other guys? We'd be the worst team in the league by a long shot.

(Yesterday, 11:46 PM)2MinutesHate Wrote: The team has Burrow and Chase as a result of being so damn bad. We really didn't have to do much to develop those guys as they are just natural superstars.
The rest of the team is the result of MFB, Duke and Zac.

Just imagine replacing Joe and Jamaar with two other guys? We'd be the worst team in the league by a long shot.

They're doing an excellent job developing Burton.

Here is my problem with perspective.. it gives the illusion that because we lost close games that we are close. We are not close.

Despite the threat of Burrow, Chase, and Tee, we don't have a run game, and not because other teams are filling the box with 8 or 9 players. At the same time, other teams commonly get pressure rushing 3 players.
Our best 3rd best WR is a tight end. So is our 2nd best pass blocker.
Several times per game someone in the secondary is lost, seriously missing their assignment. We have been lucky that so many opposing QBs have missed WRs running free.
We have no CB1;we have two safeties who are incapable of getting to the sideline to close out coverage.
We have only one player capable of generating QB pressure at an acceptable rate.

I've seen and heard this argument dozens of times back through the years and it doesn't really hold water. The fact is the bulk of NFL games are close and most teams lose several games a year by one score.

There aren't many NFL games that are 55-3 or whatever? Those giant lopsided scores are by far the exception. The facts are there's not generally a giant gap in talent level from one team to the next. It comes down to desire, execution, and coaching.

(Yesterday, 12:44 PM)Whacked Wrote: Fellow miserable Bengals fans ….

I’m consistently guilty of being in the camp of piling on when we lose - driven from disappointment, but some perspective here:

The Bengals lost to:

Pats by 6 pts
*This one is inexcusable !!

Chiefs by 3 points (last minute)
*They are 9-1 and playoff-bound

Washington by 5 points (close game overall)
*They are 7-4 and playoff-bound

Rats by 3 points (last minute)
Rats by 1 points (last minute)
*They are 7-4 and playoff-bound

Eagles by 20 points — this one is inexcusable
*They are 8-2 and playoff-bound

Chargers by 7 points (last minute)
*They are 7-3 and playoff-bound

I know the record tells us - we are exactly what it says we are and we came up short when it mattered. That said, we hung w all of these playoff teams (except for Philly).

All of this said, we have also only beaten garbage teams sooo there’s that too

This team is average at best but a few tweaks and we may be ok next year. Not sure we need a giant overhaul - other than on D - to be competitive.

We do not need a giant overhaul, we need to fix a couple of problem spots. Now to do that, we need to decide if our corners suck because the D-line can't get any pressure (except for Trey) and get better pass rushers, or get better corners. Personally, I think another quality pass rusher to match with Trey fixes a LOT of problems, and I think our new DT's are going to be fine. Fig Newton and Turner andHill when they are back improves our corner situation (re-sign Hilton) Get rid of Rankins and spend his money on someone else. Offense is fine. Tee is probably gone, so maybe draft a fast receiver to put across from Chase (one that doesn't constantly have his head up his ass) Probably need to pick up some guards as well. 

(Yesterday, 05:38 PM)Dr.Z Wrote: It is concerning, but it seems like we may have to consider that his play style might come with a high rate of getting hit.  
, 

His style of play is a huge part of it, but also defenses have realized they can hit him in the headf, grab his facemask, and slam him with their body weight and the refs just look the other way. Fortunately, the league has evidently noticed and is starting to levy fines....