Ha. Two weeks ago the defense were heroes for scoring two touchdowns and saving the offense.

We all knew that things would be a work in progress until Burfict could get back. Then Brown went down and we saw way too much of Nickerson and Evans. How is it with two supposed linebacker gurus on staff we have so little luck drafting and developing linebacker talent?

In spite of the flux there were signs in previous weeks that the new emphasis on pressure and turnovers was paying dividends. There was talk of records in sacks and turnovers.

Then the Steelers diagnosed his schemes and used heavy protection to erase our front seven. It will be interesting to see whether the Chiefs try to copy that and whether Austin has an answer for it.

Sorry, you may as well settle in for the ride. Leslie Frasier got two seasons and it feels like they're trying to create a succession situation so you can bet Austin is going to get at least that.

(10-16-2018, 07:05 PM)pally Wrote: because he is a new coordinator with a new system only 6 games into the season.  A season where we are 4-2

Thank You.  Good common sense answer. Maybe over some of their heads, but great answer. 

(10-16-2018, 07:47 PM)bengals73 Wrote: Not teams this bad at tackling.. There might be more missed tackles than actual tackles at this point. 

Then that would be on the players, not the DC. You reach the NFL, you should be able to tackle well. 

If you look up potential head coaches guess who's name pops up around #4 all over the place ?
You guessed it.  AUSTIN.. 
Barring radical change to our defense I have a hunch his name will fall off the face of the earth for head coach consideration . On the other hand we still have a lot of football to play and anything can happen. If it keeps going downhill he'll be toast and not in a good way Fred.. 

You only fire coaches in the middle of the season if they are MISERABLE in every single way.

And we're not talking "their defense gave up a game losing touchdown against your rivals" bad.

We're talking "did not score a single point for nearly 6 quarters and did not score a single touchdown for 2 full games" bad.

Austin is not a good coach.

But he isn't mid season firing bad.

At least not yet.

(10-16-2018, 07:00 PM)Joelist Wrote: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000974617/article/buccaneers-fire-defensive-coordinator-mike-smith

It's bad when Tampa Bay has more accountability than Marvin does. Austin should have been fired after the Carolina debacle but no he's still there like the worthless DC that he is.

Sure.  Fire the DC with no viable replacement.  Brilliant!

(10-16-2018, 07:00 PM)Joelist Wrote: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000974617/article/buccaneers-fire-defensive-coordinator-mike-smith

It's bad when Tampa Bay has more accountability than Marvin does. Austin should have been fired after the Carolina debacle but no he's still there like the worthless DC that he is.

Who are you suggesting as a replacement DC that's available?

Jim Hasslet?

I'm not happy with the results at all, but I think we need to pump the brakes a tad here.

First off, we have no real, viable option at this point to replace him with.  Second, he has implemented a new system over one that had been here for around a decade, there's going to be a learning curve.  (One I called out in the early prediction threads)  Third, outside of our top LBs, we have TURRIBLE players in those roles.  Burfict missed the 1st four, is on a limited pitch count, and dinged his shoulder against Pitt.  Preston Brown has missed, what, two games with a bum ankle?  He's currently playing hurt.  Nick Vigil went down against Pitt.  Vinnie Rey has been hurt as well.  Evans is not where he needs to be, and Nickerson is a STer at best.  Fourth, as Sunset says, the NT situation is doo doo.  When you have a couple guy(s) that are shit there, and you allow inexperienced/under talented LBs to get blockers on them almost immediately, you get a shit show.  Fifth, the opposition is neutralizing the pass rush with max protect and/or really getting the ball out fast against us. Finally, we've had a lot of Jessie Bates and Fej out there at Safety....not much experience there.

Now, I agree he better get creative with stunts and blitzes, and get there in a hurry if he wants to get the pass rush jump started, because with Billings starting, and the quick throws from opponents, we ain't gonna get there on talent alone. He's going to have to change up some things to help us out......because some key players are hurt, and the defense has a few missing parts from being all that good to begin with.

As for the all out blitz on that play.....I was against it too, but after the players talked and the presser, I understand it now.  The reasoning behind it makes it actually a pretty sound call.  McRae just got a tad out of position, and allowed himself to get picked easier.

Scheme is fine. Players have to execute the scheme.

You can emphasize tackling, but at this level, players have to deliver. Same with INTs.

Austin has to improve the blitz packages for the rematch.

Offense has to execute better. Too many dropped balls.

Tough game to lose, but this is not the time to panic.

(10-17-2018, 01:07 AM)BengalsBong Wrote: IDK maybe a ex head coach named Haslett. Not saying its time to make the switch but we got options.

Good idea, he's done wonders with that LB group.  

(10-16-2018, 08:24 PM)RobertG Wrote: That all out blitz at the end was as dumb as it gets.  Austin has to go, and Marvin should be right behind him.

Not really. They were trying to knock them out of field goal range. A run would be stuffed with that blitz. A long pass would likely get Ben sacked. Only a dump over the middle would be it, and that's what they did. He played percentages, Pittsburgh won. That's how it goes sometimes....

(10-17-2018, 09:25 AM)McC Wrote: Sure.  Fire the DC with no viable replacement.  Brilliant!

What, you don't think they can do a search, interview, hire a new DC and have him implement his system and have the players learn it before Sunday's game?????

Austin is cool. He's got my support. The last play of the game did hurt though.

(10-17-2018, 11:30 AM)Bengalitis Wrote: Austin is cool. He's got my support. The last play of the game did hurt though.

I'm not for canning Austin at this time, but I definitely don't think he's "cool".

What is it that you find so cool about him?

(10-17-2018, 11:45 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I'm not for canning Austin at this time, but I definitely don't think he's "cool".

What is it that you find so cool about him?

Well, considering the defense he has to work with, he's had our maligned Defense mentally prepared to get us a couple of wins already. I have faith he will keep the defense focused to get us that elusive playoff game. That makes him cool.  We're only almost halfway through the season, hopefully by the end of the season he can earn more praises.

(10-17-2018, 02:52 AM)Roland Wrote: Ha.  Two weeks ago the defense were heroes for scoring two touchdowns and saving the offense.

We all knew that things would be a work in progress until Burfict could get back.  Then Brown went down and we saw way too much of Nickerson and Evans.  How is it with two supposed linebacker gurus on staff we have so little luck drafting and developing linebacker talent?

In spite of the flux there were signs in previous weeks that the new emphasis on pressure and turnovers was paying dividends.  There was talk of records in sacks and turnovers.

Then the Steelers diagnosed his schemes and used heavy protection to erase our front seven.  It will be interesting to see whether the Chiefs try to copy that and whether Austin has an answer for it.  

Sorry, you may as well settle in for the ride.  Leslie Frasier got two seasons and it feels like they're trying to create a succession situation so you can bet Austin is going to get at least that.

Yuck. You're not talking about Austin as next HC are you? 

(10-17-2018, 08:07 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: You only fire coaches in the middle of the season if they are MISERABLE in every single way.

And we're not talking "their defense gave up a game losing touchdown against your rivals" bad.

We're talking "did not score a single point for nearly 6 quarters and did not score a single touchdown for 2 full games" bad.

Austin is not a good coach.

But he isn't mid season firing bad.

At least not yet.

Idk man. Our defense is ranked 29th and we're giving up 26.3 points per game. We're 16th in turnovers, which was supposed to be his specialty.

I get that we've had a couple injuries and a disappointing NT, but there's still too much talent on this defense to be THAT bad. He needs to shape up or ship out. At this point we may as well stick out the season with him, but I wouldn't be surprised if the defense holds us back from greatness this year. 

(10-17-2018, 12:06 PM)Bengalitis Wrote: Well, considering the defense he has to work with, he's had our maligned Defense mentally prepared to get us a couple of wins already. I have faith he will keep the defense focused to get us that elusive playoff game. That makes him cool.  We're only almost halfway through the season, hopefully by the end of the season he can earn more praises.

The defense he has to work with includes 3 1st rd CBs, 2 studs on the DL, a 2nd rd S that looks like he’s the real deal, and 2 LBers that have led the league in tackles...

We have a ton of talent on that side of the ball.

(10-17-2018, 12:06 PM)Bengalitis Wrote: Well, considering the defense he has to work with, he's had our maligned Defense mentally prepared to get us a couple of wins already. I have faith he will keep the defense focused to get us that elusive playoff game. That makes him cool.  We're only almost halfway through the season, hopefully by the end of the season he can earn more praises.

He'd be so much cooler, if he had a NT that could occupy two blockers at once..

(10-17-2018, 12:07 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Yuck. You're not talking about Austin as next HC are you? 

Yes.  Not advocating it. It's way too soon for that. Just saying that he was in the head coaching conversation for a lot of teams in the off season.  The fact that he turned down the Broncos HC interview after he took the Bengals job suggests to me that he's very comfortable with his opportunity in Cincinnati.

(10-17-2018, 12:41 PM)Roland Wrote: Yes.  Not advocating it.  It's way too soon for that. Just saying that he was in the head coaching conversation for a lot of teams in the off season.  The fact that he turned down the Broncos HC interview after he took the Bengals job suggests to me that he's very comfortable with his opportunity in Cincinnati.

Honestly, he was probably just a Rooney rule guy. Meaning a guy teams were wanting to bring in just to fulfill that silly rule. His resume doesn't exactly scream HC material. That said, this doesn't mean we don't view him as a potential candidate.

IMO, Lazor is the best candidate on the staff, but as silly as some might think this is, I don't think Lazor has the look or attitude of a HC. He seems too laid back. I'm not sure I've heard a peep from him since he was hired...unlike Jay and Hue, who were very vocal. 

I don't think we have any viable candidates currently with the team. Hopefully we do a clean sweep and hire an external candidate when (if?) we replace Marvin. I don't see it playing out like that though. They'll want "continuity"...as if we should want a continuation of no playoff wins.