http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Lazors-new-staff-could-bring-some-big-changes/8915059e-5467-484b-8104-c77b6e262f45

we'll be fine on offense.

I don't know if its the blandness we have gotten used to of other bengals coaches in media sessions but Lazor this off season is impressive in how open and direct he is talking.

of course it does not mean anything until we see the actual product on the field next season but he is certainly fronting up - love it!

talking about the consistently poor yards per play, it being a 'big mans' game, also telling John Ross to 'own' the way his season went - impressive stuff.

I have said in other threads that he will never have more of a mandate, agenda for change than this off season. Great to see him looking like he is embracing that opportunity.  Who Dey  

Think he may be a good one.

If we improve the offensive line this team can make the Superbowl next season. I like Lazors style and I think its perfect for Andy.

(01-18-2018, 07:32 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: If we improve the offensive line this team can make the Superbowl next season. I like Lazors style and I think its perfect for Andy.

From what he has been talking about with the run pass options and trusting AD at the LOS I think we are looking at continuing the uptempo, put the game in AD hands approach.

He sounds like he is genuinely trying to fit around AD strengths rather than having his own prescriptive approach and forcing the players to it.

Considering he's done a couple of Bengals.com / Hobson 'fluff' articles there's actually some real clarity of thought and intent in what he says...beyond the usual ' we need to do better' chat we normally get

(01-18-2018, 07:26 PM)sonofstat Wrote: http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Lazors-new-staff-could-bring-some-big-changes/8915059e-5467-484b-8104-c77b6e262f45

we'll be fine on offense.

I don't know if its the blandness we have gotten used to of other bengals coaches in media sessions but Lazor this off season is impressive in how open and direct he is talking.

of course it does not mean anything until we see the actual product on the field next season but he is certainly fronting up - love it!

talking about the consistently poor yards per play, it being a 'big mans' game, also telling John Ross to 'own' the way his season went - impressive stuff.

I have said in other threads that he will never have more of a mandate, agenda for change than this off season. Great to see him looking like he is embracing that opportunity.  Who Dey  

LOVED that article.  It's only verbage, but the guy appears to have a vision, the fire and the ability to roll with what's going to work instead of fitting a square peg into a round hole.

I was very excited with his vision for picking his assistants.  Good thought process, and I liked how they would not let Pollack leave without a contract.

I may just be snorting Koolaid (there's a nasty thought), but it sounds like enough people are ready to put their money where their mouths are at PBS

I anxiously await free agency.   And I do mean anxiously.  Cuz it's the only way we are going to get something done - in addition to a solid draft.   It will have to be both this year.

If he's as good at designing game plans and getting the offense to execute them, as he is at explaining his position? We are in for a fun ride.

I like the idea of RPO and use of the no-huddle. If they find a defensive matchup that they like, they can exploit the heck out of it, all the way down the field. Keeping in mind, no-huddle doesn't have to be "hurry up" style, either. A team can still use a good portion of clock, while ripping off chunks of yardage down the field.

Wow, that was a good read and he has me fired up again. If the line play improves to an average to above average level this team will be fine. Also, there has to be a consistent LB playing beside Burfict. Of Course Burfict has to stay on the field too.

Good article. Kind of refreshing compared to the boring stuff we usually hear. As long as Marvin stays out of his way, I can see some progress happening.

Some serious irony wrt the organization in general in this statement...

"You have to be realistic. What we did last year did not work," " Lazor said. "You can't be afraid to let go of things that did not work. As a whole, it's been a downward trend. If that means you blow it up, then you blow it up. That's a decision we'll make. I'm not afraid to blow the whole thing up. If you look at the numbers there are some trends at the end of the year that are positive. But (they were still last in offense). There's a tendency to hold on because it's what you know, it's what you do. But you also have to be brave enough to take an honest evaluation of what is and isn't working."

(01-18-2018, 08:38 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: If he's as good at designing game plans and getting the offense to execute them, as he is at explaining his position?  We are in for a fun ride.  

I like the idea of RPO and use of the no-huddle.  If they find a defensive matchup that they like, they can exploit the heck out of it, all the way down the field.  Keeping in mind, no-huddle doesn't have to be "hurry up" style, either.  A team can still use a good portion of clock, while ripping off chunks of yardage down the field.

I thought it was interesting that he mentioned specifically yards per play.

That is actually something I thought might be a weakness , or at least a concern to watch out for

When you look at his Dolphins in 14/15 and Bengals this year the yards per reception is really low.  

Like with most things this year I guess he gets a pass because the OLine meant we had to get rid of the ball quick but his offenses have not looked explosive on the surface of it.

 I checked with Miami WR's when he was there and they were pretty good too. In 2014 he had Jarvis Landry and Mike Wallace as his WR1 & 2...and they averaged 9 and 12 yards per reception over the season which for Wallace especially is a surprise as he's a burner

(01-19-2018, 10:26 AM)sonofstat Wrote: I thought it was interesting that he mentioned specifically yards per play.

That is actually something I thought might be a weakness , or at least a concern to watch out for

When you look at his Dolphins in 14/15 and Bengals this year the yards per reception is really low.  

Like with most things this year I guess he gets a pass because the OLine meant we had to get rid of the ball quick but his offenses have not looked explosive on the surface of it.

 I checked with Miami WR's when he was there and they were pretty good too. In 2014 he had Jarvis Landry and Mike Wallace as his WR1 & 2...and they averaged 9 and 12 yards per reception over the season which for Wallace especially is a surprise as he's a burner

That's a good point.  When the run game isn't doing enough to draw defenses up into the box, and the QB has to get rid of the ball in about 2 seconds every play, routes are only going to develop so far.  Even good receivers need a full play, in order to gain good separation from defenders, every now and then.

Hobson is such a bad writer. His stuff is all over the place. I get a headache every time I read something by him. I mean, how does this even make sense:

"Lazor didn’t even really have the two hours to take his stuff from the quarterbacks coach room into the offensive coordinator’s office. Until Thursday, four months after he called his first play in Green Bay."

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not going to dismiss last season as "he had no control". That's no excuse for a completely non-exisitant offense after the pre-scripted plays run out.

I love this part...

Quote:“You have to be realistic. What we did last year did not work,” ” Lazor said. “You can’t be afraid to let go of things that did not work. As a whole, it’s been a downward trend. If that means you blow it up, then you blow it up. That’s a decision we’ll make. I’m not afraid to blow the whole thing up. If you look at the numbers there are some trends at the end of the year that are positive. But (they were still last in offense). There’s a tendency to hold on because it’s what you know, it’s what you do. But you also have to be brave enough to take an honest evaluation of what is and isn’t working.”

Don't be afraid to move on from Ogbuehi and Bodine! Don't be afraid to call fewer screens to slow receivers! Don't be afraid to cut LaFell and sign a faster WR who gets more separation!

Like anyone else I like to hear a coach who actually gives some information in his interviews instead of just "coach speak".  But I also realize that has zero to do with how good of a coach he is.  Many great coaches give the worst interviews/pressers and some guys that love to talk suck as coaches.

A lot of people think that just because a coach does not go into detail with the press about why he is losing that means he does not know why he is losing, but that is not always true.

(01-19-2018, 11:24 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not going to dismiss last season as "he had no control". That's no excuse for a completely non-exisitant offense after the pre-scripted plays run out.

Fair enough.  

The way I see it I think he did a good job straight away - basically for his first 3 games - just keeping it simple and going back to basics, limiting the gameplan and getting the ball out of AD's hand quick.  In that time the only control he really had was to work within a specific number of safe plays and rely on field position and the D - who were playing strong at that point.

Mid season'ish onwards whenever we faced a good defense (Jags, Steelers, Vikings, Bears) we were torrid and then our D was starting to crack understandably with the amount of snaps/ToP they were facing.  

I think at that point keeping things tight on O, quick passing etc ...basically what we had to do in the 3 games post Zamp was now nowhere near diverse enough once teams saw how Lazor was running things and with no-one either respecting the run game or without us able to hit any long passes the short passing game was getting choked.  

I guess Lazor could have changed it up a bit earlier but that's easy to say in the middle of the season we had and with no OLine, limited WR play.

The interesting point for me is the last 2 games ....some of those OLine changes were forced - could Lazor have forced changes earlier??  probably not with Alexander still there I'm guessing but it would be good to know if those last 2 games on offense were the exception or the new rule going into next year

(01-19-2018, 12:09 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I love this part...

Don't be afraid to move on from Ogbuehi and Bodine! Don't be afraid to call fewer screens to slow receivers! Don't be afraid to cut LaFell and sign a faster WR who gets more separation!

Hell with OC make him the GM lol

Not necessarily from this piece, but I found it interesting that he confirmed what we all kinda figured - that the offense was a composite of Jay/Hue/Zampese. Usually when a team hires a new OC, it also means "new offense". Here I guess we'd been running essentially the same offense (with a few new wrinkles) for the last 7 years, with 3 different guys.

Hopefully Lazor gets to seriously overhaul this offense and really make it his.

Rest assured Bengals fans. If Lazor is successful and we're right back into contention and even win A playoff game he'll be on the first plane on his way to coaching another team, probably within our division. 
I wouldn't be too shocked if Tomlin were ousted and Lazor named his replacement, but I'm not counting chickens before the eggs are laid..just before they're hatched.. And Marvin will give the interview of how Lazor deserves the chance to be a head coach elsewhere.. 
It would be nice if he said he's not leaving until we win at least one championship although I'm not sure how much of that imaginary scenario I'd believe..

(01-19-2018, 12:18 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Like anyone else I like to hear a coach who actually gives some information in his interviews instead of just "coach speak".  But I also realize that has zero to do with how good of a coach he is.  Many great coaches give the worst interviews/pressers and some guys that love to talk suck as coaches.

A lot of people think that just because a coach does not go into detail with the press about why he is losing that means he does not know why he is losing, but that is not always true.

Yea, giving some informative answers in an interview is cool but I don't know how impressed I am with him considering the offense was still trash after he took over.