Im just trying to take into consideration
how many difference makers we have lost to injuries.....compared to 2018 PLAYOFF TEAMS.

Eifert 7 games ( 12 overall)
Bernard 4 games
Ross 3 games
Green 3 games
Mixon 2 games
Kroft 6 games??

Glasgow played in 1 game ( 15 missed)
Lawson played in 7 games (9 missed)

I think injuries and Lazors inability to be creative
have really handicapped this season.
once Eifert and Kroft went down that hampered the vertical game.
Glasgow injury is real huge blow to the rotation
and the ability to wreck the pocket up the middle.

look at the Steelers and Chiefs. they have been relatively healthy. the Browns have been healthy as of late.
The Chargers are healthy.

Im just looking at bare facts..once Eifert and Green went down..so did the scoring offense

Add Andy to it. Just went on IR haha.

Nope. This team really isn't that good.

If anything injuries exposed our depth (or lack thereof) which has been troubling for the last couple years and hadn't improved at all.

The Defense was horrific even before we lost all the LBs to injury.

The offense started out good but all the TE injuries ruined the playbook Lazor had designed and then the Gio injury followed by the AJ injury basically left the offense with no proven weapons. Lazor is not blameless as he did not adapt well in scheme terms to the decimation of the TE position but the lack of weapons did restrict the playbook a lot.

Vigil
Lawson
Green
Eifert
Kroft
Price
Ross
Malone
Brown
Burfict

All of those guys have missed a good chunk of time this past year.
The Bengals were winning games because most of those were available.
While yes, you could say we can try again next year once those guys are back to full health, I think it shows that the depth on this team is bad and you shouldn't gamble your season on your starters remaining healthy because the depth is so poor. Every team deals with injuries but the best teams have at least serviceable depth waiting in the wings.

(11-26-2018, 06:40 PM)jj22 Wrote: If anything injuries exposed our depth (or lack thereof) which has been troubling for the last couple years and hadn't improved at all.

O come on, 13 guys on Injured Reserve is a number no team can overcome.

The LB's and OL were the suck from the get go regardless of injuries. And the defensive scheme was as well. Offense held up until the injuries hit.

(11-26-2018, 06:50 PM)I_C_DeadPeople Wrote: The LB's and OL were the suck from the get go regardless of injuries. And the defensive scheme was as well. Offense held up until the injuries hit.

Well, we started the season without 1 starting linebacker, another got hurt in game one, and the other was hurt in what...game 3 or 4???
Price got hurt in game 1 wasn't it? This whole team has been snakebit this year.

Yes they did but it shouldn't have this much of an effect. Look at 2014 we had the same type of injuries and still made the playoffs. Problem is depth at LB and the offensive line wasn't where it needed to be. I am confident in parts of this roster but those two areas need an major adjustment.

(11-26-2018, 06:41 PM)Joelist Wrote: The Defense was horrific even before we lost all the LBs to injury.

This.

(11-26-2018, 06:50 PM)I_C_DeadPeople Wrote: The LB's and OL were the suck from the get go regardless of injuries.

Price was just a rookie.  There was a chance he could have improved quite a bit over the course of the season.

(11-26-2018, 06:52 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Well, we started the season without 1 starting linebacker, another got hurt in game one, and the other was hurt in what...game 3 or 4???
Price got hurt in game 1 wasn't it? This whole team has been snakebit this year.

Brown was useless, Burfict clearly was useless and Vigil is whatever. This group was going to suck regardless of injuries and suspensions. 

And this reasoning is why Marvin will get another year. Dalton to IR especially sucks because everyone can now blame the impending 6-10 finish on injuries despite the defense being a complete shitshow.

I think that on defense it probably didn't matter much. We probably wouldn't be historically bad, but we'd still be bad.

On offense though, I find it hard to believe we wouldn't still be lighting up the scoreboard. When we had Eifert and everyone else, we were marching up and down the field without an issue. We could handle shootouts.

Those types of losses start to cause too many problems. Defenses don't have to account for other key targets, and it just shortens the playbook.

Tough season to go through. The beginning was fun, but now this recent slide feels just like last season.

(11-26-2018, 06:56 PM)I_C_DeadPeople Wrote: Brown was useless, Burfict clearly was useless and Vigil is whatever. This group was going to suck regardless of injuries and suspensions. 

Who do you gauge Brown as useless when he wasn't healthy for even one game? Injuries happen in this sport. I still think Brown Burfict and Vigil all on the field together and all 100% would be a pretty good set of backers. That's not to say I don't think we need more depth at the position.

Brown was useless before he came here, we overpaid for him like we did Minter and Rey M and Vinnie Rey.

(11-26-2018, 07:00 PM)I_C_DeadPeople Wrote: Brown was useless before he came here, we overpaid for him like we did Minter and Rey M and Vinnie Rey.

Leading the league in tackles.... yeah, useless...

This ownership with this current team building strategy and this current coaching staff would have found a way to lose even if they had drafted all star players such as Patrick Mahomes and Michael Thomas. The organization as a whole is incoherent, rudderless, and entirely uninterested in ever being the best.

On a side note: it's almost as if they WANT to be able to pull out the old injury card with the way that they have been drafting lately. The chronically/seriously injured first rounders tend to be avoided by most teams. 

The injuries aren't why this team imploded.

- Our QB was healthy up to this point
- Even when Mixon was out, we had Gio. When Gio went out, we had Mixon. We were fortunate there.
- Line has been mostly healthy, sans Price, who has been disappointing anyway
- Defense was struggling with everyone healthy...starting from game 1

This team is just bad. It starts with bad coaching and bad schemes, but we also have poor depth, weak LB's, Burfict sucks without his PEDs, the o-line is still a mess, and Dalton looks ready for a change of scenery, etc etc. Don't fall into the Hobspin trap of just looking at the list of names on the injury report and not thinking about how it actually played out.