Burfict would make a lot bigger impact in years past for us but back then we didn't have 2 other solid linebackers like Vigil and Brown. Vigil has stepped his game up quite a bit and Brown looks solid. So I do not think you will notice that big difference when Burfict comes back like in years past. Evans has even held up decent so far this year he gave up that one touchdown but you always get growing pains with younger players since then been pretty solid.

(09-18-2018, 01:16 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Well, Burfict in my opinion is the best LB i have ever seen in stripes so i guess we disagree big time.

Great passion, great tackler, great football mind.

He should fit in perfectly with Austin's style which is to tackle well and cause turnovers.

Burfict just better come in in shape. Should take a game or two to get in football shape though, this is a given.

All i can say is that it is nice to have this guy backing you up. I know the Stealers would love to have him on their team.

Burfict hates them almost as much as i do, probably another reason why i love the guy.

Every coach he's ever had, in stripes, say he has a football mind that they've never seen before.  He will make a great coach some day, but I do agree with Nate on this above and I will add this:

Not everyone here will remember watching Jack Lambert play, but this guy was a low grade psycho!  That is in no way a put down, because, to be an animal like he was, you almost have to be 'on that edge' of psychotic.

IMHO, as much as I hated him, Lambert was the best MLB I've seen, since I've been watching football.  The rules were alot different, and Burfict plays just like him, and yes, Burfict better figure out a way to 'change it up' or his future is dim.

I'm not a big Burfict supporter. He's a dirty player and I personally don't think the Bengals will get an even break from the zebras in big games as long as he's in stripes. That said, when he's in football shape he's definitely Top 10 and arguably Top 5 as a non-rush LB. The defense as a whole also plays at a higher level when he's out there, whether it's his intensity or his instincts that elevates them. We've seen numerous times where the D has gone from pretty good to elite overnight when Burfict has come off suspension. That's why he's still here.

He's not worth the trouble IMO. He can't be relied on, and therefore we should stop trying to rely on him.

I wanted him gone after last season and was hoping we'd draft or trade for his replacement. I was really hoping those trade rumors to the raiders were true.

Dude's got two career games left. He'll be banned after he kills JuJu in Week 6.

VB raises the level of play of everyone around him.hes a one man wrecking crew. hes a tone setter.
hes a force that gets into the head of the opposition.

Vontaze Burfict is a stone cold baller. You can find me in Section 152 (south end zone) wearing my #55 jersey.

I don't understand why people are attempting to hate on Bufict in terms of production as a player. If you want to knock him for his idiotic unnecessary roughness calls then so be it. If you want to knock him for PEDs then so be it. But as a football player, Bufict is fantastic. He is a difference maker that is the leader of this defense.

Burfict is a badass. Can’t wait to have him back.

(09-18-2018, 09:57 PM)CornerBlitz Wrote: I don't understand why people are attempting to hate on Bufict in terms of production as a player.  If you want to knock him for his idiotic unnecessary roughness calls then so be it. If you want to knock him for PEDs then so be it. But as a football player, Bufict is fantastic.  He is a difference maker that is the leader of this defense.

I agree. I would hate for our team to have to play against him. That is how I value a player. Hopefully he learns to play smarter and cleaner. Hopefully he now knows he is surrounded by a lot of good players so does not have to do too much, he just needs to play football.

Why is he good? He reads the game as well as any LB in football and then throws his body around. Yes, for him it is dangerous, but he hits with reckless abandon and would have been a hero in the 70's and 80's.

(09-18-2018, 12:58 PM)thillan Wrote: I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of this guy anymore. I used to like him, but I am pretty tired of the antics and constant suspensions, and averaging a concussion a season.

On top of that though, I feel like he really wasn't that good for us last year. I wanted to know why everyone is so excited, just in case I misread his performance last year.

Does he fit well with Austin's style of play? Is he actually still a dominant player, or are we clinging on to the past a bit?

Would love some insights from others who probably know better than I do.

Just know that there are 31 other teams who would find a place for him on their roster.

Burfict will make the entire defense better by being with the team. He understands what offenses are trying to do. He also plays faster than many faster LBers because he knows where the ball is going and gets there.

Conditioning is a concern. I really don't know how many more years he's going to play given his injury history.

(09-18-2018, 11:46 PM)BengalChris Wrote: Just know that there are 31 other teams who would find a place for him on their roster.

Burfict will make the entire defense better by being with the team. He understands what offenses are trying to do. He also plays faster than many faster LBers because he knows where the ball is going and gets there.

Conditioning is a concern. I really don't know how many more years he's going to play given his injury history.

Our LB group is improving but Burfict is the only one who consistently drives people back.

Vigil , Evans , Nickerson , Rey...they are solid , chase linebackers who -mostly- wrap their man up but they don't really knock anyone back on their heels.

Burfict coming up on a run blitz is just different to anyone else....he's a load.

RB's rarely seem to fall forward .vs. #55...and that can be the difference between 3rd & 8 and 3rd & 2.

PS: completely agree about his availability though...can only see more fines and maybe suspensions ahead

(09-18-2018, 12:58 PM)thillan Wrote: I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of this guy anymore. I used to like him, but I am pretty tired of the antics and constant suspensions, and averaging a concussion a season.

On top of that though, I feel like he really wasn't that good for us last year. I wanted to know why everyone is so excited, just in case I misread his performance last year.

Does he fit well with Austin's style of play? Is he actually still a dominant player, or are we clinging on to the past a bit?

Would love some insights from others who probably know better than I do.

I don't think he earned this suspension.  However, it is the classic "the bully is always the bully until the bully gets punched in the nose", and the former bully, the steelers, got punched in the nose...by Burfict.  And, the league lost its mind.

That hit on Brown in the playoff game was a glancing blow.  I don't care what anyone says....if he wanted to hurt Brown, he could have killed him.  Now, early Burfict stuff (the ankle twist, the ball tap) is just immature stupid stuff, but he hasn't had issues like that for some time.  The problem is, the league and their officiating crew have already labeled Burfict public enemy #1.  

As far as his performance last year or is his ability no longer there, I will offer these two points:

One, Burfict, like many players, clearly plays his best effort when he is playing in a contenting team.  When the game is on the line, the guy makes BIG plays.  He is a coach on the field, with an uncanny ability to call out defensive plays and sniff out situations so quickly that he is able to stuff them.

Two, watch the attached video.  That was in the preseason last year.  Not three or four years ago, but last year.  There might have been 3 LBs to ever play the game make that play.  I remember thinking that it was a safety (to which I was VERY excited, because I hadn't see our safeties make plays like that) and then I saw it was 55.  Flat out amazing.

The team will be in the thick of it.  His ability is still there.  He will be a big part of this defense down the stretch. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3JgiJhC5ZM

(09-18-2018, 01:14 PM)sandwedge Wrote: I don't think most of the personal fouls against Burfict has been of the "too rough on the tackle" variety, but more of the extra stuff he has done.
There have been games where he has been the game change though. When he came back for the Pittsburgh game a couple of years ago and accidently tore Bell's ACL, he woke up the team that game I felt just being on the field. 

And puttsburg lost its mind on a perfectly clean tackle.  No idea how, but the league hated him after that as well.  There was nothing dirty about that tackle, but it just added to his legacy of hate from the ones that wear piss and black.

Then, last year, JJSS assbags him in a completely dirty hit, only to have nothing done to them and a couple weeks later the steelers mimic the play with an end zone celebration.  God, do I hate that team.  

(09-18-2018, 04:06 PM)Go Cards Wrote: Believe Vigil has played real well this season.

Can not wait to see Burfict, Brown, and Vigil patrolling out there together.

But do not like how he has a target on his back and could get suspended at any moment.

This, and the nickel package of Vigil and Burfict.  Burfict has applauded how Vigil was taking to playing nickel and learning how to work together and how to quickly diagnose.  This is our real base defense and it will be very important down the stretch. 

Today was the perfect example of the type of game where you need Vontaze out there. Cam wouldn't have scored that run on 3rd and goal with Burfict surveying the field.

(09-23-2018, 09:36 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Today was the perfect example of the type of game where you need Vontaze out there. Cam wouldn't have scored that run on 3rd and goal with Burfict surveying the field.

McCaffery probably doesn’t light us up as bad with 55 out there either.

Lol, it's funny to look back now at the responses I got for this post.

What a stud we have.

(10-22-2018, 01:11 AM)thillan Wrote: Lol, it's funny to look back now at the responses I got for this post.

What a stud we have.

do you know what a winning team looks like?

Burfict looks like just another guy out there now. Even he completely forgot how to tackle