What's your confidence in the team compared to this this time last year? Personally I have a lot more confidence this year. Last year I was worried about Zampese, Alexander, and the OL the most. All of which IMO were greatly upgraded. Lazor is a huge improvement from Zampese, and when Lazor was able to control all aspects of the offense the running game and offense significantly improved. Hell, even the OL improved after that. Alexander is gone and I think we have another huge improvement in Pollack. I think he's the kind of coach that we need right now, and I think that he will be able to make our guys work a lot better than Alexander did. We picked up two key pieces in the OL in Glenn and Price.

I think we're going to have a very solid team this year and other teams are going to have trouble stopping the run and putting points on our defense. I will be surprised if we don't go to the playoffs this year honestly, and I hope to God that we make it over that hump this year.

I have much more confidence in a winning season this year because they aren't rolling into the season with what was obviously going to be the worst OL in the NFL.

That said, I still have zero confidence in anything happening after the regular season because Mike and Marvin are still both here and in charge, and you know what they say..... fool me 15 or 28 years, shame on me. Fool me 16 or 29 years, shame on you.

(06-14-2018, 08:26 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I have much more confidence in a winning season this year because they aren't rolling into the season with what was obviously going to be the worst OL in the NFL.

That said, I still have zero confidence in anything happening after the regular season because Mike and Marvin are still both here and in charge, and you know what they say..... fool me 15 or 28 years, shame on me. Fool me 16 or 29 years, shame on you.

I would say this sums up my confidence perfectly.

I'm confident they will be a competitive team that will put up more yards and points than last year. Beyond that, I'm not confident of much else.

I mistakingly bought in to the narrative that with a speedster like Ross on the opposite side of AJ Green, that defenses will have to drop their safeties and that will help the rushing attack. We all know Ross was a huge disappointment and there was no rushing attack at all until PA was told to be quiet because and adult was speaking.

This year, my confidence is much higher because of the moves on the offensive line (mostly center!) and the new blocking scheme, oline coach, and Lazor having a full year to install. The defense has competition at almost every spot and that is a good thing. My biggest concern this year (a lot like last year) is Burfict's suspension.

Pretty stoked this season. Last season is hard to explain. Numb I guess because I wanted to be in it emotionally but really never reached that point. We’ve seen more changes this year and the team has shown aggressiveness in the offseason. With that, this season has already been more exciting than last year.

I think the Bengals will be mediocre this year. They are counting on a lot of unknown variables to contribute. Eiffert isn't healthy and I dont expect him to be productive this season, offensive line is a question mark, Burfict suspended, Jon Ross is a question mark, etc.

I wouldn't call it confidence, but I am a lot more optimistic right now than I was at this time last season. The changes we've made are a big reason for that. That and the fact Billy Price is our center!!! Lol

The team slightly exceeded my expectations last year.....I think I had them pegged for 6 wins.  I'll say 9 this season.....so a little more optimistic.

(06-14-2018, 08:02 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: What's your confidence in the team compared to this this time last year? Personally I have a lot more confidence this year. Last year I was worried about Zampese, Alexander, and the OL the most. All of which IMO were greatly upgraded. Lazor is a huge improvement from Zampese, and when Lazor was able to control all aspects of the offense the running game and offense significantly improved. Hell, even the OL improved after that. Alexander is gone and I think we have another huge improvement in Pollack. I think he's the kind of coach that we need right now, and I think that he will be able to make our guys work a lot better than Alexander did. We picked up two key pieces in the OL in Glenn and Price.

I think we're going to have a very solid team this year and other teams are going to have trouble stopping the run and putting points on our defense. I will be surprised if we don't go to the playoffs this year honestly, and I hope to God that we make it over that hump this year.

Last year I had zero confidence.. . i didn't expect them to be the browns but also didn't think they would win 7 games. 



This year i am truly baffled.  They won 7 games with a putrid o line and mediocre defense last year and definitely improved this off season.  The line is still meh this year imo but it (hopefully) has to be better than last year with price and new dude at lt.. we got a lot of talent on d but also unproven...


so... I am more excited to watch them play this year than last but I don't think it's a superbowl team or anything.. should be a fun season though. As long as we don't lose to the Steelers twice again I will be happy...

6-9 wins. Miss the playoffs.

I have more optimism at this point in time this year compared to last year for several reasons:

1- new coaching staff
2- in corollary to a new coaching staff, removing Paul Alexander from the team (who was assistant coach) makes me down right giddy
3- Glenn, if healthy, is a huge improvement over OG at LT
4- removing Bodine from the team in conjunction to drafting Billy Price at center inspires hope

I still have concerns:

1- Can Eifert play a significant amount of games?
2- Will there be improvements at RT?
3- Can Westerman, Hopkins, Redmond or someone else improve the play at RG?
4- Will John Ross be a factor?

The single yet significant factor that would crumble my optimism in a heart beat would be an unhealthy Glenn at LT or even worse, relying on OG at LT.  

I see the team winning 9 games this year.  I have little optimism that the Bengals will win a playoff game, much less, the AFC championship.  Nevertheless, at this point in the off-season you never know.  

We've had alot of changes. The one constant that matters most is Marvin. He's still here. Can this new staff help him get us to the playoffs? The last staffs got us there for a few years. Can the new staff help Marvin get his first win in the post-season? That's the biggest question for me. How much of a liability is he, really? LOL

How confident am I? Because of all the changes, I'm only confident that we will see differences on the field. I'm fairly confident that many of them will be positive. I'm still not confident about the right side of the Oline. We have no idea who'll be starting or what Pollack can do to improve the play of some guys that don't inspire alot of confidence based on past performance. That's probably not so true of the RG position, with Westerman and Redmund, but RT is still a big question mark.

Superbowl or bust every year for me baby.

(06-15-2018, 02:47 PM)Shady Wrote: We've had alot of changes. The one constant that matters most is Marvin. He's still here. Can this new staff help him get us to the playoffs? The last staffs got us there for a few years. Can the new staff help Marvin get his first win in the post-season? That's the biggest question for me. How much of a liability is he, really? LOL

Those are some good questions brother.

They've had some pretty good staffs and very talented rosters in the past and they've all failed miserably in the postseason. The one constant through all of that...still remains a constant, and that's Marvin.

I like the changes that have been made and the players that have been added. If they can stay relatively healthy and the O-line can play at a respectable level, this team should be very competitive and could have a shot at a playoff berth. 

The big question for me is how this year's team responds to big games and pressure situations...and if they get the opportunity, the playoffs.

I have optimism going into this season, but it's a guarded optimism, because I know the one constant is still a constant. Hopefully, he proves me wrong. It would be awesome to finally see a playoff win again. 

(06-15-2018, 03:09 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Those are some good questions brother.

They've had some pretty good staffs and very talented rosters in the past and they've all failed miserably in the postseason. The one constant through all of that...still remains a constant, and that's Marvin.

I like the changes that have been made and the players that have been added. If they can stay relatively healthy and the O-line can play at a respectable level, this team should be very competitive and could have a shot at a playoff berth. 

The big question for me is how this year's team responds to big games and pressure situations...and if they get the opportunity, the playoffs.

I have optimism going into this season, but it's a guarded optimism, because I know the one constant is still a constant. Hopefully, he proves me wrong. It would be awesome to finally see a playoff win again. 

One constant, however, is gone.  We learned this offseason that he had an even bigger influence on our offense than we realized......maybe he was truly a boat anchor, maybe.

I'll wait to see the pre season. the line is of a lot of importance obviously, but we still are chained to giggles at this point. he bothers me the most! the right moves have been made with our additions, but I get giddy every year only to be let down by the same things each year. Come on giggles and get this team to the promised land!!!

At this point I am much more confident than last year. After the draft last year I had no confidence in that team. Last year we didn't even attempt to address what I saw as our biggest problem which was the complete lack of ability in the offensive line. We have at least made the right moves to address the offensive line issue. Also, John Ross can come out and play the way he was drafted to play we should be in a good spot.

Any way it goes I have more confidence than last year since last year I was only confident that the team would not be good.

Well compared to last year walking the green mile feels optimistic.

I'm intrigued by the changes - especially the coaching changes and the culture change.

But I have nagging concerns about the offensive line - especially the right tackle position, the linebacker group and really the corners outside of WJ3.

I don't think we did enough to stop the run (Brown should help).  And in general I'm skeptical we did enough to improve the team enough to have more than 9 wins.

There is potential there, but it is covered with a heavy layer of question marks and same old thing concerns.

So confidence is not high.

But my hopes are  :andy:

(06-14-2018, 08:02 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: What's your confidence in the team compared to this this time last year? Personally I have a lot more confidence this year. Last year I was worried about Zampese, Alexander, and the OL the most. All of which IMO were greatly upgraded. Lazor is a huge improvement from Zampese, and when Lazor was able to control all aspects of the offense the running game and offense significantly improved. Hell, even the OL improved after that. Alexander is gone and I think we have another huge improvement in Pollack. I think he's the kind of coach that we need right now, and I think that he will be able to make our guys work a lot better than Alexander did. We picked up two key pieces in the OL in Glenn and Price.

I think we're going to have a very solid team this year and other teams are going to have trouble stopping the run and putting points on our defense. I will be surprised if we don't go to the playoffs this year honestly, and I hope to God that we make it over that hump this year.

most teams are juts as confident at this time of year and most teams feel the same about changes that have been made..only time will tell